Brandless Ads from Suncom

A follow up on my last few post about carriers.....Suncom managed to get press from the billboards mentioned in this article from last year. Not the best PR though...

SunCom pitches new call plan

Mystery ads after loss of customers

John Murawski, Staff Writer

March 6th, 2006

The wireless company that lost 60,000 customers in North Carolina last year introduced the new plan Tuesday with advertising that deliberately omitted the company's name. SunCom has been running 14 billboards in Raleigh and Durham since last week that pose the question: "Who will your 10 be?" Six area television stations have run similar ads.

"The rationale behind the brandless ads is to build curiosity and suspense. It's form of interactive advertising, to get the public engaged in a guessing game. But it's anyone's guess whether such ads succeed or get tuned out, said Bob Lauterborn, a professor of advertising at UNC-Chapel Hill. Lauterborn hasn't seen the SunCom ads, but he says their effectiveness is dubious.

"There's this dopey assumption that people are watching your campaign and eagerly awaiting your next ad in the series," Lauterborn said. "C'mon, people are too busy. In today's world, people are not breathlessly waiting for your bloody ad."

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