On the subject of a company’s advertising very clearly crushing its competition (until you think about what you’re looking at) we have Verizon’s new “There’s A Map For That” campaign. Take a look at this one-two punch:
These maps show the area covered by Verizon and AT&T’s respective 3G network. On the left we can see that Verizon covers just abot everywhere while AT&T covers pretty much nothing. The message is clear: Verizon’s phone rocks the casbah and AT&T’s phone is utter junk.
Here’s what Verizon is hoping you don’t catch: the maps are pretty close to identical. See, they’re not trying to sell their phones to land; they’re trying to sell them to people. So the question isn’t “how much area does this network cover?” but “how many people can use it?”
Here’s a population density map of the US:
The more red a county is, the more people that live there. This is slightly misleading, because the brightest shade of red represents anywhere between 330,000 and 55,000,000 people. All other shades combined represent lesser amounts. The vast majority of the US population lives in the bright red spots. Any product that works in those bright red areas is going to work for almost everyone living in the US, and any product marketed there will reach almost everyone.
So let’s overlay AT&T’s coverage map on top of the population density map…
…and yeah, it looks like AT&T’s coverage is just about good enough for everyone in the country. But you wouldn’t know that just by glancing at Verizon’s map! They’ve got the populated areas of the eastern seaboard covered, the relevant parts of California, Texas and Florida. They’re missing Wyoming, but you don’t live in Wyoming. You’ve never met anyone who has ever been to Wyoming. Nobody lives in Wyoming. There are fewer people in Wyoming than there are in my county, which is somewhere in that blue, shapeless mass partway down the west coast of Florida. If you go to Wyoming for any reason the census bureau just writes you off because you legally no longer exist.
Neat trick, Verizon, but probably not 100% accurate. Of course you knew that, and it was the entire point, and it’s why AT&T is suing you. (Not that they should be suing you. What they should be doing is designing a better ad. I guess crying about it is just easier.)
Loading tweets...
Verizon – the clear choice if you’re going to be doing most of your internet surfing during road trips. Otherwise, meh.
(I actually have seen at least one “response ad” from AT&T about maps, but it wasn’t particularly memorable.)
I think that the ad is clever, and in point of fact, Verizon makes good sense… for CORPORATE AMERICA. You see, the original ad was to combat the ‘App for that’ campaign, obviously aimed at the I-phone, and the fact that Verizon can’t sell the product. Verizon’s clear message is that if you are a business person, looking for a useful tool that will work anywhere in the US, then use a Verizon Blackberry (Droid, smartphone, whatever). If you want a TOY for use in your own home, then get the I phone and download gadgets to your heart’s content. My company has researched the AT&T I-phones, and the problem is that 14 out of our 16 offices are in ‘White Areas’ on AT&T’s map. The funny thing is that most of the AT&T ads in response to this campaign are equally lacking. The one I like the best is the ‘hold my phone while i surf the web’. The only difference between the Verizon and AT&T phones is that on the AT&T phone, i press the HOLD button while i surf and then push the RETRIEVE button when i’m done rather than pressing HANG UP while i surf and then pressing REDIAL when i’m done. Whoa, that extra 3 seconds while the other person is answering the call is just VITAL… and the ‘Millionaire’ reference is just BUNKUS! Your friend is in another room at the studio. the “Phone a friend” friend is not ALLOWED to use the internet.
Bottom line. APPLE Products = TOYS, I-Phone = APPLE Product, AT&T = IPhone, ergo.. AT&T = TOYS. That’s what Verizon is selling and it’s not a bad product at all.
I just hope that the DROID is as good a toy as the I Phone is.
I live in one of the prominent blue areas, and I still hear complaints from people I know who use AT&T (which is admittedly cheaper than my Verizon plan). On the other hand, those maps are only for 3G coverage, not total coverage. It’s not like you can’t use AT&T with just a standard flip-phone.
Incidentally, AT&T’s response ads are just “But we have the iphone! See? We’re cool! THREE-GEE THREE-GEE”
Wyoming is REAL. It’s half an hour from my house. I’ve BEEN THERE, man. I’ve gone into it and returned several times, with no apparent ill effects… though sometimes I came back to discover it was a different day than what I thought it would be.
There were a few people there who claimed to be properly from Wyoming, though I’m not entirely convinced they weren’t Coloradans employed in an elaborate plot to deceive travelers.