AirTouch Positions Brand To Stand Out in the Wireless Wars; First Wireless Company To Have an Emotionally Aspirational Brand
January 9, 1998 08:00 AM
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 9, 1998--In the hectic, fast paced '90s, people are looking for ways to do all the things they have to do and still find time to do what they want to do. Recognizing that fundamental human need, AirTouch is positioning itself to be known as the wireless company that enables people to better balance their lives.
"People who use wireless services recognize that it changes their lives and they tell me their stories all the time," said Sam Ginn, chairman and chief executive officer of AirTouch Communications ATI . "To rise above the competitive fray, we want to stand for more than the sum of our network coverage and the features and services we offer."
The company is launching a major branding effort that goes beyond the functional equities of making wireless easy to buy and use. The new branding initiative positions the company in an emotionally aspirational way that customers say they already identify with AirTouch. Research shows that the emotional connection customers feel toward a company captures their attention and engenders their loyalty.
To launch the new brand message, the company plans to introduce an advertising campaign on Super Bowl Sunday. It will feature a mix of television, radio and print ads in 35 media markets in the 17 states(a) where cellular service is offered under the AirTouch brand name.
Created by TBWA Chiat/Day, the campaign will remind people that AirTouch is the company that helps transform their lives. In focus groups, customers say that AirTouch service gives them more control over their lives. They enjoy not being anchored to waiting by the phone anymore. Many parents describe the opportunity to balance demands of work and home better because they can keep in touch with family members or the office while on the go. Comments like "You would need to pay me a million dollars to take away my phone" and "You could go back to cooking over an open fire but why would you," underscore how powerful the benefits of wireless are for active people who want to live life to the fullest.
The branding effort was supported by Edgar, Dunn & Company of San Francisco, a management consulting firm that has helped create a number of well known global brands such as Holiday Inn Worldwide and Nutrasweet. The brand supports the AirTouch vision to enrich peoples lives around the world through wireless communications.
In 1994, the company adopted the AirTouch name after extensive consumer research. "As a global cellular and paging company, we believe AirTouch is in a unique position to own this brand positioning because of our focus on wireless," explained Ginn. "We're building from the expertise and equities associated with our name and describing a benefit that's a natural extension of who we already are to our customers," Ginn said. "Our goal is to use our inherently consumer-friendly name and brand personality to create a strong consumer brand."
Research shows that about half of the people thinking about buying cellular service do not have a brand they prefer. Of those with a brand preference, few say the preference is strong. "We believe this brand positioning will differentiate AirTouch and foster the kind of brand preference that will sustain our success as competition intensifies," Ginn said. Since competition entered its markets in late 1996, AirTouch has reported record financial results and experienced record low customer turnover (churn).
AirTouch Communications is a global wireless communications company, with interests in cellular, paging, personal communications services and the Globalstar satellite system in the United States and 11 other nations: Belgium, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, South Korea, Spain, and Sweden. The company, based in San Francisco, serves more than ten million wireless customers worldwide.
For a fax copy of this or other recent AirTouch press releases, please call 1-800-344-7531 or visit our web site at www.airtouch.com
On January 5, 1998, Wireless Week, a leading industry magazine, awarded AirTouch its Carrier Excellence award. For the complete story visit the Wireless Week web site at www.wirelessweek.com
(a) Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. |
