MyTouch Doesn't.

I was going to do a post about some print ads today (The Good, The Bad, and The One That Makes Me Giggle), but with the announcement that the iPhone 4G is finally coming to Verizon on February 10th, I thought it was fitting to gripe about another less-than-wonderful television commercial. In this case it's not just the commercial, it's the whole campaign.

Back in April 2009 I blogged about the Microsoft ads that were the answer to the Mac v. PC campaign. For me, the Microsoft campaign just did not match up to its competition. Now T-Mobile is stepping up against AT&T and the iPhone to advertise their MyTouch 4G.



I will start by saying this: PLEASE get your own idea. This whole "Hi, I'm this. "Hi, I'm this." is turning into, "Hi, I'm *insert brand* and my marketers aren't creative enough to come up with their own original idea for a commercial!" Beyond the lack-of-creativity in this campaign comes a lack of good strategy. The big push seems to be based on the fact that an iPhone needs WIFI to make video-chatting possible and a MyTouch does not. Neat. Except the last time I checked most people weren't lining up to buy an iPhone because it has video chat. The iPhone boom started long before the video chat option came along and clearly isn't the biggest selling point of the iPhone.

Nothing really compares to the iPhone. What T-Mobile needs to do is create a campaign that shows the features of the MyTouch without trying to make it "better" than xyz. When the Droid was first released an entire "Droid Does" campaign was launched. Rather than talking about how the same features available on both phones were better on the Droid, it pointed out the features that "Droid Does" that iPhone doesn't. Sure it still dissed the iPhone, but it left viewers with a taste of the capabilities available with the Droid instead of a picture of a less-cool-wannabe-iPhone.

More than one T-Mobile spot points out the video chat feature and the carrier network. Apparently T-Mobile feels strongly that AT&T is bogging down its customers with its super-slow network. There has been a lot of complaints about AT&T service, but Apple fans have a level of brand loyalty like no other. Have you met a non-AT&T customer that gave up their iPhone for a different phone to switch to better service? There's not many out there. Wait, what's that? Enter stage left: Verizon. Another network option for the same phone. Time for a new marketing strategy, T-Mobile.

The Magic of Macy*s

My favorite ad on television right now is the ad for Macy's 150th Anniversary.  The commercial is a composite of memorable Macy's moments including the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and pop-culture references.  The commercial has a nostalgic feeling that really attracts me to its message.

I think what is so powerful about this commercial is the strong connection it makes between the viewer and the Macy's brand regardless of whether or not the viewer has ever shopped at Macy's. It sheds light on how much of an impact the retail store has made on our culture.  For example, no matter how boring or how repetitive the Macy's Thankgiving Day parade is, I have watched it every Thanksgiving for as long as I can remember.  Any Project Runway fan could tell you that Macy's has been featured on the show, one of the challenges resulting in the winning designer's design being sold in the store.  There's also Johnny Carson, Seinfeld, and Snoopy.  If there is not one thing in this commercial that the viewer cannot identify with, he or she has been living under a rock for the past 150 years.