When it comes to marketing, it would be a mistake to take advice from the current responsible parties for AT&T’s marketing and general business strategy – they only seem to know how to react to what Verizon is doing.
I’m not proud to be an AT&T customer
To be clear, I’m an AT&T subscriber, though not a proud one though. I have experienced first-hand the amazing “truth” to their “fewest dropped calls” claim. I think I actually had two occur when trying to talk to my wife in the same conversation. But, I have an iPhone, and I love it. I’m intrigued by Android phones, and I will probably eventually switch to one, on the principle of open source, if for no other reason.
When it comes to companies I give my hard-earned money, I typically keep it in the realm of those that I’d be at least marginally proud to say I patronize their business. AT&T, however, has rapidly lost my confidence – and I certainly don’t recommend them to anyone. Simply put, if the iPhone could be on a different network, I would probably switch in one swift moment.
Verizon has recently put intense pressure on AT&T, and though I don’t agree with companies calling out their competition in their marketing (I wrote about these two companies before, here), I think Verizon has made their point quite effectively. Verizon has positioned themselves as a clearly better company than AT&T, though not through their own campaigns; they have done it through the reactions in AT&T’s campaigns.
They hired Owen Wilson to let people know that AT&T has a faster network than Verizon, amongst other such claims – something even I take with a grain of salt because of my experience with the dropped calls issue. About the only thing I can see that AT&T has done in the last 5 years that was clearly an innovative step was their invention and registering their Rollover minutes program.
Learning From The Big Dogs
AT&T is on its heels and in a completely defensive stance. They have no angle, and all of their marketing has been directed at answering the claims and marketing of Verizon. Verizon is even affecting their price points. Around January 15, 2010, Verizon announced that their unlimited calling plans will be decreasing in price from $99/month to $69/month. Just over a week later, AT&T has responded by doing the EXACT SAME THING.
When it comes to marketing, many small businesses can learn incredibly valuable lessons by watching what the big companies do. AT&T, in this case, is clearly a company to learn what not to do when it comes to marketing. Simply reacting to competitors’ marketing efforts is a perfect recipe for rapid decline and certain death for companies. If AT&T doesn’t shift its own position to a more proactive approach with its marketing, it will quickly lose the battle.
What do you think?
Do you think I’m wrong, is AT&T doing the right thing, or is Verizon kickin’ ‘em in the butt? Tell me what you think in the comments below.
