Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S) is launching a road show this week for its fledging LTE service, bringing "brand ambassadors" to its LTE markets so they can get face-to-face with consumers and answer questions about the new offering.
The operator's community blog announced the Sprint Mobile Tour, which is scheduled to hit various locations in San Antonio, Texas, through Sept. 16 and Dallas through Oct. 9. "We'll offer updates later about additional visits in other cities later in September, October and November," said the blog post.
Sprint said its mobile tour will feature the Samsung Galaxy S III and demonstrations showing "how easy it is to share your videos and pictures with a touch of the screen while on our 4G LTE network."
The operator's road show will, of course, also be used to promote the operator's prime differentiator, which is nationwide unlimited data service for smartphones. Sprint last week unveiled its new advertising campaign, which targets shared-data plans offered by rivals AT&T (NYSE:T) and Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ) by encouraging consumers to "Say No To Sharing" and "Say Yes To Sprint."
Sprint's ad campaign is arriving just prior to the launch of T-Mobile USA's new unlimited, nationwide data service offer for its HSPA network, which is slated to debut on Sept. 5.
 |
|
The Sprint mobile tour will stop at various locations in San Antonio, Texas and Dallas. |
Sprint said the idea behind its ad campaign is that "nobody really wants to share their data plans, especially when there are limits." Sprint contends that it is nearly impossible for users to know how much data they are consuming each time they use their smartphone because the data consumed varies depending on the activity. Therefore, when multiple users are consuming varied amounts of data, costly overages can easily occur.
"The concept of sharing a monthly data allowance across a family or group of users increases the likelihood for a surprise monthly bill due to data overage charges," said Caralene Robinson, Sprint's vice president of brand strategy and marketing communications.
The campaign was created by Sprint and its agency Team Sprint--Digitas and Leo Burnett—and includes a national TV commercial, print advertisements, social media outreach, online digital banners and retail integrations.
Last week, Sprint announced the launch of LTE service in four additional cities: Baltimore, Gainesville, Ga., Manhattan/Junction City, Kan. and Sedalia, Mo. The Baltimore market was expected to be part of the initial July launch but the introduction of LTE service there was delayed until the end of August. Sprint says it now has service in 19 total markets.
For more:
- see this Sprint blog post
- see this Sprint release
- see this Sprint video
Related articles:
Ting MVNO starts selling LTE smartphones for Sprint's network
|T-Mobile revives $30 unlimited data for postpaid smartphones
Is unlimited data making a comeback?
Sprint: Verizon and AT&T's shared data plans are more expensive
Sprint launches LTE, promises average speeds of 6-8 Mbps