telecom

Sprint Offers To Cut Competitors' Bills In Half

Plenty of consumers wish they could take a power saw, scissors or other implement to their wireless bills every month when they see the rate plans. Sprint is giving AT&T and Verizon Wireless customers a way to do just that.

Sprint’s recently launched “Cut Your Bill in Half Event” enables customers of the two largest wireless carriers to bring a recent bill and phones into Sprint, which will then give them a plan that includes unlimited phone calls and texting in the U.S. (as well as the closest matching data allowance) for half their current rate. The offer is not available to T-Mobile customers — the fourth-largest carrier — because of the volume of customers the company believes it can grab from the two largest, says company representative Dave Mellin. 

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“We think that’s where the greatest opportunity is,” Mellin tells Marketing Daily, adding that the holiday shopping season is a prime time to lure new customers who may already be out looking for a new or upgraded phone.

The promotion is being touted through an integrated marketing campaign that includes television, print, Internet and social advertising. The television ad, from Deutsch LA, depicts AT&T and Verizon “customers” revealing the high prices they’re paying for their wireless service. When an offscreen voice asks: “What if Sprint could cut your rate plan in half and give you unlimited talk and text in the U.S?,” the customers jump at the chance, literally cutting their bills in half, with the aid of power tools and other implements, including giant scissors and swords. 

"It’s more dramatic in its ability to catch consumers’ attention” than simply depicting customers tearing their bills in half," Mellin says. 

The spot broke over the weekend, and will run on national broadcast and cable networks. The campaign will also include print, digital, radio and Spanish-language television advertising.

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