Virgin, like Boost, seeks older consumers
March 5, 2009/
Boost Mobile decided to ditch the youth marketing and try for an older, more mature demographic. That paved the way for their new unlimited plan, which certainly appeals to a wider audience than the teenagers and 20-somethings they previously targeted. Now it looks like Virgin Mobile will take a similar tack. Their new ad campaign is certainly aimed at a more general audience than the youths they’ve been targeting since 2002. The new campaign’s slogan is “Take Advantage of Virgin Mobile,” and the ads feature people a bit older than Virgin’s previous target demographic. From the above-linked MediaPost article:
Ari Merkin, chief creative officer of Toy New York, which has been on Virgin Mobile’s roster of agencies since the wireless carrier’s 2003 launch, says that the focus on workaday urban environments and lower-middle-class people in the ads is a deliberate effort toward authenticity, given the economy and the target–younger consumers but older than the teenage customers originally targeted when the company launched. “We are casting a wider net with the message than the typical audience,” he says. “Originally it was a teen audience, and the brand is more grown-up now, These are young adults making their own money and their own decisions, and realizing that adult cell phone plans aren’t all they are cracked up to be.”The moves by Boost and Virgin affirm what Neil Lindsay and I discussed on the Prepaid Podcast: Prepaid is gaining appeal. These two companies, previously focused on one demographic, realized that if they want to truly expand their subscriber base they have to open up their demographic. Now, though, they’re entrenched in a battle with bigger players. The difference is that now prepaid has a fighting chance. ]]>
Posted in Virgin Mobile
Prepaid is definitely primed to significantly expand its appeal. The reality is that other countries (ex. Europe) have always been predominantly prepaid. There’s a stigma in North America with respect to prepaid that just doesn’t make sense anymore; particularly now that prepaid customers don’t have to make value sacrifices like they did in the “old days.” As phone selection and quality also begin to mirror postpaid options, prepaid will continue to gain in appeal. How much would you be willing to pay for your handset to avoid signing a contract?
http://www.prepaid-wireless-guide.com/subsidies.html#INV
It’s about time! Their site is much improved, including a wider selection of ringtones, including more jazz, classical and classic rock. Their handsets are also venturing into “grownup” territory. As a new owner of the X-tc, I was pleased to see a greater allotment of characters for texting—a welcome break for those of us with elderly parents who only understand whole words and not “text-ese.” The display is about double the size of the Wild Card’s internal screen, which seems puny and toylike in comparison holding the two devices side-by-side. It also enables full-size viewing of photos on social networking sites such as Facebook. Attempting such a thing on the Wild Card was futile and frustrating, bringing up “network gremlins” in lieu of the desired images. Also, the font size can be made larger for viewing Websites, a boon for “older” eyes, or smaller, for minimizing scrolling. While video capability is still not available, I could view fully animated GIFs for the first time. There are still a few utilities missing that Virgin should provide on their Website for download—a reader to open PDF documents, JavaScript for their OpenWave browser and Adobe Flash Lite for Mobile. Opera Mini is a step in the right direction. One can only hope…