The Jordan Philips Marketing Blog - Internal Branding - Employee Engagement

Sprint is without a clue!

First, the news. Reported today in Ad Age, Gary Forsee resigned as the CEO of Sprint. I am sure that losing more than 340,000 customers in the third quarter had something to do with it. What I want to talk about is why, but before I do, there is something you should know. Sprint is one of America's biggest companies. They have a ton of resources and even retained one of the country's largest Ad agencies. Sprint is spending about $1.8 Billion in the market and guess what...it's just not working. As a stop gap measure, they changed the creative in mid-stream and put their account into review. Below is a commercial for their Sprint Ahead campaign. Watch it and then keep reading.

Are you thinking the same thing I am...What Was THAT? It looks nice and pretty but the message is all over the place. When you were a kid, did you dream about having a small screen on your phone? ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!! This is the kind of stuff that is plaguing the marketing industry and it's the reason why our industry is under fire.

This commercial has nothing that's either of value or substance. At least not enough to make the average consumer go...HEY...I need to look into that...or WOW...how cool is that...I have to get one. This is an example I think of where Lovemark style advertising can go wrong. It's trying to be emotional and thought provoking but it's not...believe me...it's far from emotional...and its definitely not on the same playing field as the great work being done at Dove. This commercial comes off as a real snoozer and from the looks of it, Sprint customers agree.

So here is the real problem with Sprint. They are boring. Their products simply are not innovative. Then again in the telcom industry anything compared to the iPhone looks pathetic. In almost every category other than design, they are way too similar to their competition. Does anybody really see a difference between Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, AT&T etc.?

Things Sprint should be thinking about:

1. How can we completely re-invent the product. Could we work with Motorola or Nokia, Ziba Designs, etc...someone...to compete against the iPhone. Sprint's current phone line just isn't sexy.
2. How could we change up the phone plans to better reflect our customer's needs and increase our profitability?
3. How could we market directly into highly defined niches where Sprint can be of value and create buzz?
4. We need to dump the Sprint Ahead campaign...it sucks...Sprint needs a message of design, coolness and value...I will say it again...Sprint needs to demonstrate that they are in the same lifestyle as their consumers...right now they are not...right now they are big telco...YUCK!
5. How could we re-think the entire retail experience...design, training, facilities, etc ?
6. How can we make it easier for people to switch away from their current carrier to Sprint?
7. What are the lifestyles of our customers and how do we tap into them...and influence them?

Bottom Line: This is a company lacking in innovation and vision who also isn't connected with their customers. No matter how much money you may have, it still can't buy you affection. I think a change at the top is a good thing. My advice...hire someone closer to Steve Jobs and further away from suit and tie guy.   

Gotta love TED

I know...many of you are going to hate me for this but TED recently posted a bunch of previous speakers videos on their site. Yes...I know...that means many of you will be spending hours watching these. So go ahead be mad at me for showing you where to get all of the great brain food. What else would you be doing with your time...watching TV or working...you can thank me later.

Steve Jobs & Apple

Is Apple the only company out there who gets design? Have you seen what they just did with the cell phone...it's called the iPhone. WOW. So here is my question...where the hell has Verizon, Sprint, Cingular...etc...been? Are they asleep at the wheel? Why does Apple have to show everyone how to do it? Guess how much they are going to make on this? Hint...A lot.

Interview with Paul Bennett (IDEO)

Design & Emotion recently did an interesting interview with Paul Bennett from IDEO. It is worth checking out. It covers a lot of ground on innovation, branding and experience.

Symbiosis of Marketing and Innovation

Often times when I talk about marketing I find myself talking about innovation. Innovation is absolutely critical to marketing. If the product itself isn't unique then you will have problems marketing it. On the other hand, great products which you think would take off in a flash often don't because of bad marketing. These two things, marketing and innovation are directly tied together. They are symbiotic.

Take a look at this video of a completely new way to interface with your computer. This isn't Sci-Fi, this is real and it is amazing innovation. Now the question is how will it be marketed?  How would you market this?

Braun Innovation

Braun has been doing a great job lately at capturing the holiday market with innovation. Apparently their competitors like Rayovac / Remington are asleep at the wheel. Men's electronic shavers are a great holiday gift idea and Braun is working their magic. They are running great ads that promote their activator system that screams innovation with this oddly shaped honeycomb type foil system. Its claim is that it catches more hair on a single pass. For any guy who has ever used an electric shaver, you know you spend plenty of time and effort going over the same spot again and again. I would anticipate these to be flying off the shelves.

Here is the point. Braun is hitting the nail on the head here with great timing of a traditional campaign and showcasing their innovation. Perhaps the lesson to take away from this isn't by looking at Braun but by looking at Remington. They aren't innovating, they aren't trying to get a piece of the holiday market, and they aren't understanding their customer.