• by Aaron Baar , September 13, 2016

Boost Mobile is looking to the past to guide it to the future. 

The Sprint-owned prepaid brand has launched a new marketing campaign that brings back a version of its “Where You At” line from the early 2000s. The effort is meant to return the brand to a time when it was “well-known for being different, cool and simply better than the competition,” according to Peiti Feng, Boost Mobile’s brand marketing director.

“When you mention Boost Mobile to consumers, the first thing that pops into most people’s minds is still the ‘Where You At?’ tagline,” Feng tells Marketing Daily. “While the tagline was clearly established by ‘chirp’ -- the walkie-talkie sound and function that was our unique product differentiator, we also established a broader emotional connection with under-served prepaid consumers by asking them where they are with their lives, their goals, and their passions.”  

The new effort is intended to modernize that feeling for the smartphone era, Feng says, noting that the phrase is not only relevant in today’s texting and social media culture, but can also refer to the ubiquity of everyday technology. For the new campaign, the line has been updated from a question to a statement “We are Where You At?”

The idea is brought to life in a new television commercial that features artists and athletes such as hip hop artist Desiigner, Latin-urban music duo Los Rakas, skateboarder Terry Kennedy, dancer Monica Douglas, and street artist and DJ Agana. In the spot, the notables are shown practicing and developing their respective arts and passions. The spot ends with the line “Sponsor of an unlimited world” in promotion of its “Unlimited Unhook’d” plan. 

“Boost is, and always has been, about amplifying our customers' passions,” Feng says. “The artists and athletes featured in our new “We Are Where You At” campaign were chosen as they have built their lives from passion.”

Taking its cue from the previous campaign (which included a commercial featuring Kanye West, Ludacris and The Game composing a hip hop song over cell phones), the new effort (from agency ChopShop) is meant to position Boost as more lifestyle brand than mere telecommunications company.

“As the first and arguably the only lifestyle brand carrier, Boost Mobile built its following on a heritage of music, sports, art, and an urban, freestyle, unlimited mindset that only we share with our customers, while others copy,” Feng says.

The campaign will include English and Spanish-language elements, as well as digital, out-of-home, radio and social, Feng says.