Alltel Wireless Underdog turned top dog
Marketing jujitsu shakes up the wireless category.
Underdogs happen to be one of our specialties.
And if anyone in the overcrowded wireless category was an underdog in 2004, it was Alltel — outspent 18 to 1 by the likes of AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile. With the big guys spending $4.5 billion on marketing every year, Alltel knew they couldn’t outspend them.
So they had to outsmart them. And that started with bringing CE’s diverse creative and strategic thinking to the table for a little marketing jujitsu that shot Alltel from the fifth spot in the category to No. 2 in unaided recall in just a few short years. That was all it took to capture the attention of the big guys — and in 2008, Verizon bought Alltel.
KEY RESULTS:
- Despite being significantly outspent, Alltel outperformed its competitors with the lowest cost-per-acquisition and an increased customer base in 2009. And while consideration among its competitors declined, consideration among noncustomers grew for Alltel by 140%.
- Alltel was a double Effie winner in 2008, receiving a Silver in the David and Goliath category and a Bronze in the telecommunications category.
