Alltell Kicks Off $100 Mil. Rebranding Effort, Ads

[TNDan21]

Alltell Kicks Off $100 Mil. Rebranding Effort, Ads

Wed Apr 27, 6:46 PM ET

Last Friday, hundreds of Alltel Communications' employees gathered outside its Little Rock, Ark., headquarters to form a human-sized rendition of the company's new logo--just in time for a passing satellite to snap a screen- saver-worthy photo.

With a merger underway that will make it a Top 5 cellular service provider in the U.S. (following regulatory approval), the $100 million advertiser is thinking big--and taking on much larger rivals with a new brand and advertising overhaul breaking May 2.

The new effort is the first from Interpublic Group's Campbell-Ewald since winning the business in November. And it's all about "love."

It is about "treating customers with respect and fairness," said Frank O'Mara, evp, marketing. "It will not only completely integrate into our advertising, but permeate everything we do," including a redesign of the company's 450-plus retail locations, mostly in Midwest and Central states.

Like the big four carriers-- T-Mobile, Cingular, Verizon, and Sprint--Alltell will tout price, calling plans and technological advancements. And it plans to do so with a campaign that illiustrates how happy they make their customers.

The campaign breaks with six TV spots, each of which shows customers feeling the love from such benefits as Alltel automatic minute banking on bills, no-fee rate-plan alterations and unlimited calls to a designated "home" wireline phone number.

In "Scream," for example, an Alltel rep is talking to a customer, who keeps hearing others in the store yelping and screaming. When the rep tells the man that he can change his rate plan without signing a contract, the man himself screams in delight.

And in "Tissue," a man is shown comparison shopping in a supermarket for tissues, then we see he is an Alltel rep, handing out a tissue to a woman moved to tears by the unlimited calls options.

After mentioning Alltel's various benefits, all of the spots are united by the tag, "What's not to love?"

Work from former shop, Omnicom's DDB in Chicago, emphasized Alltel's reliability and service under the tag "Alltel, you got that right."

The telecom is also exchanging its disco-era, all-caps insignia for a more contemporary, casual, all-lowercase logo in softer colors to differentiate itself. "The logo is the first visible step in the evolution of who Alltel is," said Jeff Scott, president, integrated accounts for Warren, Mich.based Campbell-Ewald. The addition of the word wireless "is a very public statement [that] signals they're moving into a modern world," he said.

Alltel's first-quarter earnings would suggest the same. The company's wireless side--its major source of revenue--grew 14 percent from a year ago, to $1.35 billion.

Also last week, Alltel struck a deal with designer-spokesman Ty Pennington of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, who will appear in Alltel ads.

Alltell Kicks Off $100 Mil. Rebranding Effort, Ads

[wgray8231]

They got Ty? He's been huge recently. I wanna know just how he had time to design all 7 (or something like that) lines of stuff for Sears recently.

That's cool that alltel (formerly ALLTEL) is changing things up. I like the satellite photo idea and the commercials sound good.

[TNDan21]

Originally Posted by wgray8231

They got Ty? He's been huge recently.

Yep, they got Ty. He's also tied it with a $1 million home sweepstakes that Alltel is currently running. Check out the link below for more details.

Alltel Txt2Win

[MOTOhooligan]

Originally Posted by TNDan21

Last Friday, hundreds of Alltel Communications' employees gathered outside its Little Rock, Ark., headquarters to form a human-sized rendition of the company's new logo--just in time for a passing satellite to snap a screen- saver-worthy photo.

Just in case you're wondering, here is the new logo and satellite pic. I wonder why the new logo is not on their website yet?

[TNDan21]

Originally Posted by rancidhooligan

I wonder why the new logo is not on their website yet?

The official kick off for the rebranding and new commercials isn't until May 2nd. I'm guessing that on monday the new logo will be on Alltel's website.

[MOTOhooligan]

Originally Posted by TNDan21

The official kick off for the rebranding and new commercials isn't until May 2nd. I'm guessing that on monday the new logo will be on Alltel's website.

Makes sense... I always wonder why companies announce rebranding before it is official. Why not just rebrand and then send out the press releases?

[wgray8231]

Originally Posted by rancidhooligan

Makes sense... I always wonder why companies announce rebranding before it is official. Why not just rebrand and then send out the press releases?

The rebranding may confuse the press. They need to be warned of such events.

[MOTOhooligan]

Originally Posted by wgray8231

The rebranding may confuse the press. They need to be warned of such events.

LOL!

[Gideon H]

Originally Posted by rancidhooligan

Hey I like it! Maybe I can finally start to not dislike alltel now, lol.

[MOTOhooligan]

Originally Posted by Gideon H

Hey I like it! Maybe I can finally start to not dislike alltel now, lol.

Why do you hate ALLTEL? Oh, sorry, I mean alltel.

[Gideon H]

Basically the customer service likes to piss people off a lot, including me. Also, I don't like how they held onto the T720 and tried to pass it off as a good phone for years and years. They have a decent phone selection now, though.

Another thing they like to do is try and charge you EXTREMELY high deposits. For example, they tried charging my mom almost $1000 for a deposit and her credit isn't that bad. Sprint was only going to charge her $200-something.

[MOTOhooligan]

Originally Posted by Gideon H

Basically the customer service likes to piss people off a lot, including me.

Well, soon I'll be an Alltel customer service representative so I can piss you off.

[Gideon H]

Lol I'll be sure to listen who's name I hear when my call is answered. As soon as I hear Aaron, I'll be sure to hang up before you have time to say your last name . And it's not like I have a reason to call Alltel anymore, anyway .

[EdwardP]

Originally Posted by Gideon H

Basically the customer service likes to piss people off a lot, including me. Also, I don't like how they held onto the T720 and tried to pass it off as a good phone for years and years. They have a decent phone selection now, though.

Another thing they like to do is try and charge you EXTREMELY high deposits. For example, they tried charging my mom almost $1000 for a deposit and her credit isn't that bad. Sprint was only going to charge her $200-something.

They rebranded the Simple Freedom web site some time ago and the lettering of that logo appears to be the same as what is used in the new Alltel logo.

I can relate to your issues with their customer service. I e-mailed them a good month ago, asking if they have resolved the outgoing e-mail issue from Simple Freedom prepay phones that are activated in Verizon service areas. The phone indicates the msg was sent, the account was charged, but the recipient never receives the e-mail. Simple Freedom customer service never replied to my inquiry.

[ZaphodB]

...what merger is going to make it a national carrier? Did they buy US Cellular while I wasn't looking?

[Matt]

Originally Posted by ZaphodB

...what merger is going to make it a national carrier? Did they buy US Cellular while I wasn't looking?

Western Wireless.

[TNDan21]

I've found Alltel's customer service to be pretty good and they are one of the better wireless company's to deal with. Alltel is one of the best wireless company's in the US and it's ran very well. Forbes recently cited Alltel as the best ran phone company in the US.

[TNDan21]

Originally Posted by ZaphodB

...what merger is going to make it a national carrier? Did they buy US Cellular while I wasn't looking?

Alltel isn't a national carrier. Even with the buyout of Western Wireless they are still going to lack coverage in many major cities. They are just going to be a very large regional company. I guess in a way you could say they are going to be semi-national. They are going to be too large for a regional carrier really with scattered coverage through out the US. However since they will lack coverage in many major cities I can't call them a national carrier either.

[TNDan21]

Facts about ALLTEL after the buyout of Western Wireless is complete:

ALLTEL will be the nation’s fifth-largest wireless carrier with 10 million domestic wireless customers serving a population of 72 million in 33 states, covering about 25 percent of the U.S. population and 56 percent of the land mass in the contiguous United States; 1.6 million international wireless customers in six countries serving a population of 50.6 million; and 3 million wireline customers in 15 states.

The combination builds a stronger wireless presence for both retail and wholesale operations. The company will have a retail presence in 33 states and will become a leading independent regional roaming partner for each of the nation’s top four wireless carriers.

ALLTEL will have nearly $10 billion in annual revenues and operating income before depreciation and amortization of nearly $4 billion. ALLTEL’s revenue mix increases to 70 percent wireless, the fastest-growing area in the communications industry.

ALLTEL will add wireless operations in 9 new states: California, Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming. The transaction also significantly expands its wireless operations in several other states, including Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas.

[Matt]

yeah, 72.5M covered POPs is not much. Even T-Mobile which gets lots of criticism for its coverage has 229M covered POPs (not including roaming agreements).

[MOTOhooligan]

Yeah but the, "56 percent of the land mass in the contiguous United States," is pretty damn impressive... to bad hardly anyone lives in that 56%.