telecom

Virgin Mobile Takes On AT&T's T-Mobile Acquisition

VirginMobile

Virgin Mobile USA is turning its manufactured celebrity spokescouple into a pair of attack dogs taking on the impending acquisition of T-Mobile by AT&T in a new advertising campaign breaking this week.

In a new set of television commercials, Virgin Mobile's "Sparah," a manufactured celebrity couple intended to attract tabloid coverage, encounters a T-Mobile lookalike in the company's signature all-white setting, calling the place "boring." The T-Mobile lookalike agrees the set is boring, and it will only become more so when the company is taken over by AT&T, "who ranks last in customer service."

After an AT&T representative appears (a balding man in an ill-fitting suit), Sparah asserts that T-Mobile's customers could switch to Virgin Mobile, while the setting shifts to a nightclub party. After preaching a value message about Virgin Mobile and Android phones, the scene cuts to the faux T-Mobile spokeswoman being aggressively hit on by the AT&T representative and saying, "I'm contractually obligated to enjoy this."

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"There's clearly a blurring between what was once a hard line between post- and pre-paid [phone service]," Bob Stohrer, vice president of marketing for Virgin Mobile USA, tells Marketing Daily. "T-Mobile has traditionally played well in the value space, and we saw an opportunity to line up against them."

Ironically, the T-Mobile commercials were initially created as a subtle jab at AT&T and its successful iPhone. Those commercials were modeled on Apple's famous "I'm a Mac," and depicted the T-Mobile spokeswoman as a hipper, prettier contrast to AT&T's network and its data speeds. Once AT&T announced its intention to acquire T-Mobile in March, the ads' tone shifted to one focused on price, value and 4G speeds (and no overt mentions of AT&T's problems).

"We have seen that there are T-Mobile customers that have concerns about the proposed takeover," Stohrer says. "We want to make sure that the T-Mobile customers who have concerns have other options beyond just riding it out."

"Virgin's new ad proves that our successful Monthly4G no annual contract plans are putting pressure on their business," says Hernan Daguerre, director of communications, T-Mobile. "And this is because consumers looking for a great prepaid rate plan also want cutting-edge devices on a nationwide 4G network, which is exactly what they get from T-Mobile. It's flattering to see their marketing efforts center around our advertising properties, but consumers will see right through their gimmicks."

Virgin Mobile's Sparah couple was introduced in May as a way for Virgin Mobile to tap into its target's seemingly insatiable appetite for celebrity gossip. The couple -- a combination of two unknowns created via a casting call of thousands -- has been featured in commercials, digital webisodes, social media and other advertising. They live a contrived life in a house in the Hollywood hills, and have a stylist, publicist and other tools to try and achieve their A-list dreams.

"Using Sparah for these spots is a natural evolution of how we created their trajectory," Stohrer says. "We wanted to create a couple that had appeal beyond being just spokespeople. What we've seen is that Sarah and Spencer, both as a couple and individually, have caught on in popular culture."

The new commercials featuring Sparah and the fake T-Mobile spokeswoman will run on cable and broadcast networks through the middle of September. The campaign also includes cinema spots, national print, digital and point-of-sale materials daring customers to find a better plan for Android smartphones.

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