Sprint, Hesse kickstart new ad campaign

Sprint Nextel is putting its marketing muscle behind a new advertising campaign to highlight the carrier's value proposition, an effort that marks the return of CEO Dan Hesse as the company's pitchman.

sprint adThe carrier, which has been struggling to get back to positive net subscriber growth, is highlighting the difference between its plans and the unlimited voice plans recently unveiled by Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility for $69.99 per month. Sprint's slogan for the new campaign: "Our $69.99 is worth more than their $69.99." Sprint points out that its $69.99 Everything Data plan includes unlimited mobile-to-mobile minutes with any U.S. mobile number through its "Any Mobile, Anytime" feature, as well as unlimited texting and data.

The advertising campaign also marks Hesse's return to center stage for Sprint. He has appeared in a handful of Sprint's ads, most recently touting the carrier's Any Mobile, Anytime offering.

Although it's still bleeding subscribers, Sprint said in the fourth quarter that its rate of subscriber losses has slowed dramatically. There is some evidence that the consistent focus on value is working for Sprint. During the company's fourth-quarter earnings conference call, Hesse said that Any Mobile, Anytime was "probably the largest single contributor" to Sprint's net add improvement in the quarter.

For more:
- see this TV ad
- see this release

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