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Cricket Game Show Video Pays Off On Social Media

People like money, and a new Cricket Wireless marketing video is betting that people will think favorably about a cell service provider that gives money away.

The 3:44 video (see below) posted on the brand’s YouTube, Instagram and Facebook accounts was shot at the Santa Monica Third Street Promenade. In the video, a game show host flanks the “Cricket Wireless Winning Wheel” and invites passersby to give a spin to the carnival-like contraption. 

Top prize is $50, but whatever a contestant gets is theirs to keep. Most of the winners are  over the moon at their good fortune. Way over the moon, in fact. 

But… “there’s a catch,” the host says to one guy who won $20. “You can either take the money or take $500 and give it away and make somebody’s day.”

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That scene repeats itself with other passersby-turned-contestants. Most people do the charitable thing, leading to teary scenes between the donor and the recipient and then a “surprise” Cricket payoff. 

The video is a part of a new “Smile, You’re On Cricket” tagline introduced in February though the video’s soft sell doesn’t do much pitching of the service owned by AT&T.  But viewers must like its empathetic pay-it-forward vibe.

“We published this video from Cricket’s Facebook page, and our goal was that people would want to share it,” Cindy Rozier, assistant vice president of marketing, tells Marketing Daily. “We were hoping they’d find it moving, relatable, or it would make them smile, and as a result they’d want to share it online with their friends and family.”

In its first seven days online, Cricket claims, it had 5.3 million views and that it has led to more than 238,000 engagements. Cricket has 151,000 YouTube subscribers and more than a million Facebook followers. The company is also using some Facebook advertising to support the video.

Money—as in not spending it—is a big pitch for Cricket, and judging from its recent advertising, price is more of an emphasis than speed or coverage (that, in fact, is identical to AT&T’s). A month ago, it offered consumers who switched an unlimited data plan for $40 a month for the next year, pegging the promotion to the tax refund season.

“Customers are choosing — and staying with — brands that provide great service, that they can relate to, and provide the best value,” says Rozier. The latest video joins a couple others Cricket has posted earlier. There is no TV campaign planned, she said.

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