Monday, April 02, 2007

Who's to blame for Sprint Nextel's woes?

Today's AdAge article, Goodby Scoops Up Sprint's $1.2 Billion Business, quoted Mark Schweitzer, Sprint's chief marketing officer, "Goodby's sterling reputation and creative talents are second to none and together we will deliver a more integrated and strategic brand execution,"

I wish Goodby luck on this one. Merging a top consumer oriented mobile carrier (Sprint) with the top business oriented mobile carrier (Nextel) was a bad idea and I am not sure if any branding is going to fix that. Among casual users the products are too clunky and have no style; while business users are now alienated with varied services that are just not needed.

Sprint, together with Nextel may never "power up" and the agency may end up taking the blame.

Consumers love to love HP and the the Goodby campaigns enhanced that image. Meanwhile consumers and business users alike seem to love to hate Sprint Nextel right now. How does any agency counter that?

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