AT&T Ads Locate 'Discoverer' Of The Internet

by Laurie Sullivan, Sep 18, 2008, 7:00 AM

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Accessing the Internet at faster speeds is the premise behind two new AT&T Mobility 30-second ads running on a variety of cable television stations through Oct. 19.

The ads target professionals who tote laptops that provide Internet access to download presentations, submit orders, or send emails. These road warriors want the freedom to wirelessly connect to the Internet beyond the capabilities of today's cellular phones.

The series puts Bill Kurtis, the acclaimed journalist credited with covering the Charles Manson trials and breaking the story on Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, in the midst of another grandiose news story, discovering the Internet.

The latest spots, "Rainbow" and "Yeti," were created by BBDO. Whether finding a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow on a grassy countryside or discovering Yeti in the Arctic, the two ads continue the theme from earlier this year when Kurtis discovered "Amelia" Earhart and the "Fountain of Youth."

At the close of each ad, he says "I'm Bill Kurtis, and I've just found the Internet." That discovery, says Vance Overbey, executive marketing director at AT&T Mobility, was made possible by AT&T's 3G cellular laptop modem.

Aside from the 3G mobility ads, AT&T also launched "Beat City" to target 18- to 34-year-olds. In that ad produced by Stardust Productions, the digital character listens through headphones to a variety of music--from rock to hip hop to techno--on a Sony Ericsson W350 Walkman phone as the song morphs into various musical beats as the landscapes changes to convey moods.

The phone's colors--red, blue and black--and music features aim to reinforce the idea that phones make a statement about the person carrying it, says Overbey. "It's the thinnest flip phone in the U.S. that comes with a Walkman 2.0 music player and FM radio," he says.

The colors of AT&T's phones are typically blue, black, white or red, though the company's print and television spots focus on the color orange, so consumers can easily relate the phone in the ad to the company. "We did a red promotion around Valentine's Day for the Blackberry," he says. "The phones may come in a variety of colors, but we typically stick with orange in print ads, so people know the ad is from AT&T."

The "Beat City" ad will run on network and cable television stations through Sept. 28, followed by a campaign that could promote the LG Shine, but plans have not been finalized, Overbey says.

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