• by Aaron Baar , February 25, 2010

  Now that its 4G coverage is approaching a nationwide footprint, Sprint is beginning its efforts to tell the world about it.

"We're getting to the point where the efficiencies gained through a national message are better than those gained through spot advertising," Chris Schaper, senior advertising manager, tells Marketing Daily. "We also really want to stake our claim as the leading 4G carrier in the space." In a new national marketing campaign, the Overland Park, Kan. company demonstrates how many of the tasks people like to use the Internet for -- downloading music, streaming movies or playing online games -- can be accomplished on the go via its 4G connection. The campaign asks and answers the question: "What can you do with 4G?"

The new marketing campaign, which will include television, online, print and experiential executions, will showcase the company's Overdrive 3G/4G Mobile Hotspot, which allows up to five devices to connect via a wireless mobile broadband signal. Television, print and online banner ads will feature the device, as will a revamped microsite dedicated to the 4G coverage. "The effort is to bring another dimension to what 4G is all about," Schaper says. "[The Overdrive] brings a whole other set of benefits to the table that allow you to connect more devices than you've been able to do in the past." The television commercial shows a man streaming movies via the Overdrive to his wireless phone while waiting in line at the airport. He later streams a videoconference on his laptop while at a restaurant, and then plays online games with his friends while sitting around a campfire. The spot ends with Sprint's "widget wall" that has become a Hallmark of Sprint's Now Network positioning. Each box in the wall shows a different person using the Overdrive device for a different task.

"It's really the culmination of a campaign that's been building toward the launch of 4G," Schaper says. "We've been alluding to it, but now we're at the tipping point of its promise."

On the site, videos depict a man who takes his Overdrive "everywhere I go." As he notes that the device allows five people to connect at once, four other people follow him around in his apartment, at work and on the tennis courts. "With the Overdrive, I'm my own mobile hotspot," he says, "which is the way it should be. Pretty soon it will be that way for everyone."

Sprint's 4G coverage is available in 27 markets, and covers a population of more than 30 million. The company will continue to expand coverage throughout 2010, covering a population of 120 million in markets such as Boston, Houston, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. by the end of the year.