No, no, Verizon didn’t rush out the Prada far ahead of schedule or anything like that. Rather, they are combatting the iPhone release with a trick of their own: staying open late. We know, we know: that doesn’t sound like a profitable proposition on the surface. But we can’t help but think (and Seth Godin would agree) that Verizon should be taking a customer service approach to this release (whereas they were focusing on the negative until this week). It’s really the most efficient way to battle a new product surrounded by massive hype. What exactly does this move accomplish? Foremost, it makes it very clear that Verizon will be open not only all day, but later than normal (whereas AT&T and Apple stores will close at 4 p.m. to gear up for the 6 p.m. release — and probably close on time unless transactions are still pending). So while some suckers are waiting in line to get an expensive toy, you can be looking for cheaper and better products and services (that’s the message Verizon is sending, not necessarily our opinion).
Customers will be able to pick up the latest in hot devices including, the LG VX9400 for $99.99 after a $50 rebate with a two-year contract and receive a free Music Essentials Kit that gives them all the tools they need to take their music with them wherever they go. Packaged for immediate fun, the Music Essentials Kit includes a stereo headset, a cable for music transfer from a PC to the LG VX9400 and a 2GB memory card that can store up to 1,000 songs.See what they did there (and this is in the first paragraph of the press release)? That’s incredible value for $100. It ever so subtly suggests that splurging for a $500 iPhone is simply not worth it when these services — though not as neat and fancy — are available for 1/5 the price. The release also centers around their V Cast service, which is another good way to remind people that Verizon, too, has advanced multimedia capabilities. It even mentions a GPS program that can be downloaded to V Cast phones. Basically, they’ve said that they have everything the iPhone has and more — for a far cheaper price and with vastly superior service. And they did it all without mentioning anything about the iPhone. We definitely appreciate this kind of marketing effort. [PR Newswire]]]>