Quoted – Verizon’s Tough-Guy Droid Bullies Sissy iPhone – Technewsworld

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What’s Verizon trying to accomplish with its characterization of the iPhone as a vapid female in contrast to the testosterone-soaked Droid? Will male AT&T subscribers drop their iPhones — and their carrier — in order to prove their manliness? Will women lust after a sexy robot? Are we living in the 1960s? Has Verizon’s ad agency lost its mind?

Successful ads, particularly in the tech industry, are usually the edgy ones or the funny ones — or, best of all, both.

“Being serious and straightforward all the time is not good for the advertising industry,” said Scott Testa, a business professor at Cabrini College.

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/68816.html

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Quoted – Verizon Weaves AT&T-Bashing Witticisms Into Legal Doc – Technewsworld

Verizon Communications Inc.
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Verizon‘s aggressive ad campaign to belittle AT&T has found its way into court documents. The company apparently made a deliberate effort to use language that would translate well for a mainstream audience, rather than couching its response to AT&T’s complaint in traditional legalese. The gambit seems to have earned it a plummy PR payoff, so far. Does this suggest a new marketing role for attorneys?

More than likely, AT&T did not forsee this type of response, Scott Testa, business professor at Cabrini College, told the E-Commerce Times.

“Between Verizon’s lawyers and its PR people, I would say the company is working this issue pretty well,” he said.

In many companies, lawyers and marketing departments have opposing goals, Testa continued, with the lawyers thinking defense and marketers thinking offense.

“Some corporate cultures are headed by marketers, some by lawyers. In this situation, it seems as though they are working hand in hand,” he remarked.

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/68672.html?wlc=1258721738

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AT&T’s iPhone Dilemm

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http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/apr2009/tc20090429_594307.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index+-+temp_news+%2B+analysis

If Apple widens the circle of iPhone carriers beyond AT&T, those new partners will grab a highly profitable slice of customers

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