AT&T Has Olympic Dreams for Call Vantage

In what is not a surprise to me (I commented on this months ago on KenRadio.com’s World Technology Roundup using our Crystal Ball and the Wayback Travel Machine) AT&T is using their position as a global sponsor of the 2004 Olympics to propel CallVantage into the family market.

When the Olympics begin so too will a four spot television ad campaign.

My thoughts are who ever created the ad campaign really looked back over time at past AT&T campaigns and did an excellent job at reminding those of us old enough to recall them (and with enough brain cells undamaged) about the glory days of the long distance wars and of AT&T while saying, “we’re back, we’re new and we’re building on who we were, but we’ll be different for times have changed and AT&T has changed with them.” Anthem clearly resonates that as does a feeling of trust. Using the people who make the product is also a nice, human touch for a technology oriented product that doesn’t need to be so technical.

But I really like the Locate Me spot. The humor in it is wonderful. The Do Not Disturb spot is cute too, but Locate Me really was something many people can relate to. The other aspect of the spots I sense is the idea of family. Very subtle, but there. Lastly, this is clearly a home phone line replacement campaign, and not aimed at SOHO. I think that’s smart messaging. SOHO is an elusive market to reach via Mass Media, as I know you know. It’s a much better PR reached market still.

The closing line of the spots, referencing broadband clearly seeks to seperate AT&T’s CallVantage from both wireless and traditional wireline offerings.

As ads go, these are not super flashy or overdone. Instead they are a very strong statement about the product and on point with current messaging about the product, present real world problem solving solutions and are clearly about reinspiring trust in a brand that has always been reliable to many people in the USA. In that regard they hit the mark and really meet the multiple goals and challenges AT&T has today as they reinvent themselves.