• by Aaron Baar , July 10, 2013

With the major wireless carriers spending hundreds of millions in marketing dollars to win new customers, breaking a new brand into the category can be a difficult proposition. It helps to have a sense of humor. 

Republic Wireless, which is looking to make a name for itself with a $19-a-month offering for unlimited data, talk and text, is putting its tongue firmly in cheek with a new brand campaign launching this week. The effort from agency VIA in Portland, Maine, introduces the character of H. Bud Chadwickson, a southern gentleman who considers himself “America’s fact checker,” and his trusty sidekick, Giles. Through a series of short videos, the campaign looks to introduce Republic’s value proposition with Bud’s favorite line, “That’s just the fact.”

“The campaign is really about building awareness for our brand,” Noreen Allen, chief marketing officer of Republic Wireless, tells Marketing Daily. “We’ve had some really great PR coverage, and that’s really helped grow the base, but we need more than that.”

The videos, which will run as traditional advertisements, but are cut short enough to be shared virally, take a cue card from onetime independent presidential candidate H. Ross Perot. Using a similar direct tone and poster board charts and graphs, H. Bud talks about the technology fueling Republic’s low costs as well as the media’s positive reviews about the product. Speaking directly to the camera, “H. Bud” (as the company likes to refer to him), uses folksy language to speak about the differences between Republic and the other companies. “These smartphone guys are working us over like a baby tick on a Carolina hog’s ankle,” he says in one spot. His assistant, Giles, is in charge of manning the charts and graphs.

“There was something fresh and compelling with Ross Perot,” Greg Smith, chief creative officer at VIA, tells Marketing Daily. “He really changed the discourse in that election. We wanted to channel that, but we didn’t want to make it too serious.” 

H.Bud will also appear extensively online, with his own Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts. He also has an active Wikipedia page, and consumers can challenge him to a game of Words With Friends. 

The videos will run on national cable networks such as TBS, TNT, Fox News and Comedy Central, for the next four weeks in a bid to raise some name recognition before Republic announces its expanded slate of devices this fall, Allen says. “Your mobile phone is your lifeline to the world, so it’s less likely to be something consumers are going to try out [on a whim]. We want them to know this is a brand you can trust,” she says. “This campaign is running in July and August, and we’ll be announcing [new devices] this fall. This is a great time to be building awareness.”