• by Aaron Baar , June 10, 2011

Cell phones can be notoriously balky. Calls get dropped, reception goes in and out, and the devices are somewhat fragile.

Regional telecom Insight Communications attempts to get people, particularly younger consumers, to add a land-line for those important calls and business. "What we set out to do was create a campaign that was a competitive comparative positioning for Insight phone service," Pam Halling, senior vice president of brand marketing for Insight, tells Marketing Daily. "We wanted to have something that was memorable and gave our product a bit of personality."

A series of television commercials from the Darling Agency in New York depicts the dangers of relying solely on a cell phone for communications. In one spot, a man in an office (presumably the Oval Office) tries to connect with a "prime minister" via a cell phone. He has to move around the room trying to find the place with the best reception. In a second commercial, a woman drops her cell phone in a sink while doing dishes. The action in the spots is framed by the shape of a wall phone jack. The image is reinforced by a voiceover, acting as a narrator of the spots, who introduces himself as "Jack. Phone Jack."

"The universal [image] is a wall plug that everyone knows about and has in their home," Halling says. "We thought that was the device that would get attention."

The spots speak of Insight's offer of unlimited calls, voice mail and caller ID for $25 a month as "Phone 2.0." "The idea behind that is to get the phone plugged in, but also to get plugged in with Insight because there are more things to come," Halling says. "Insight 3.0 will have really phenomenal features. If you're not part of it now, you're going to be missing out on something pretty incredible."

The campaign, which primarily targets people 20-39 (with a secondary target of older consumers looking to save money on their current phone charges) will run on cable channels in the Midwest, including CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, Fox News, ESPN, and Food Channel, among others. The commercials will also air in local and regional broadcasts of ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and the CW.