AT&T Mobility (NYSE:T) is rolling out a new advertising slogan, "Mobilizing Your World," to highlight the activities and businesses its network enables. The company is shedding its "Rethink Possible" tagline for its ads, which it has used since 2010.
The carrier is launching the new campaign with four different TV ads that are airing starting this week during the Masters golf tournament, which counts AT&T as a sponsor.
The new brand campaign is likely going to get a major push from AT&T. As the New York Times notes, the Kantar Media division of WPP reported that AT&T was No. 3 on the list of the largest American advertisers in 2013, spending $1.8 billion in advertising, up 15.2 percent from the $1.6 billion the company spent in 2012. Only Procter & Gamble and General Motors outspent AT&T last year, Kantar Media said.
Esther Lee, senior vice president for brand marketing, advertising and sponsorship at AT&T, wrote in a company blog post that "the campaign and this line tell people not only that we are making everything mobile-enabled, but that we are also making a complicated world seamless and interoperable. And, when everyone and everything works together, life gets better as a result. Or, creatively said, the world just sings."
AT&T's four spots make use of the Beach Boys' song "Wouldn't It Be Nice" to make mobile communication more in line with actually singing, and highlight how the company's network connects a range of devices, from smartphones and tablets to trackers parents can use to find lost kids. Two of the ads are specifically focused on how businesses get connected, such as florists and food truck owners.
Lee noted that while "Rethink Possible" represented "a new direction for the AT&T brand, it was based on timeless truths about our company. We drive relentless innovation for human progress."
"We explore beyond what's possible today to envision the future. The launch of 'Rethink Possible' ensured that the external expression of our brand reflected this timeless truth about AT&T as a company. 'Rethink Possible' captures fundamentally who we are, our character, our aspirations," she wrote. "So, while you won't see 'Rethink Possible' at the end of our commercials anymore, AT&T remains a 'Rethink Possible' company and this line will remain our company signature on all corporate assets like our vehicles, our employee apparel, our annual report and our leadership conferences."
Lee wrote that the new "Mobilizing Your World" campaign the gives AT&T the "ability to simply, clearly and directly tell people what we do. What value do we create today? How does that help define and differentiate us from every other company that participates in the 'mobile revolution?'"
Lee told the Times that consumer research spurred the change, and the company found that the "Rethink Possible" phrase did not convey enough of the idea that AT&T is "driving the mobile revolution" through innovation.
The new campaign is a better way to express "the specific value we're creating" for consumers, she added, and that "it's not just about making a phone call."
"Mobilizing your world" also relates to home automation, health care and "all the things coming down the pike," Lee said. "It says, 'It's amazing what tomorrow will be, and tomorrow is here today.' "
For more:
- see this AT&T blog post
- see this NYT article
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