In what is clearly another step in a true channel marketing strategy, AT&T today announced their CallVantage service being available through online e-tail giant, Amazon.com.
When you look at the series of announcements AT&T has made in the past two weeks that are all around access to CallVantage via sales and distribution, you can clearly see marketing being executed at its finest and even more validation of the recent Olympic campaign they launched to provide air cover and generate broad based consumer awareness for everything that was to follow.
First they announced a series of agreements with the largest cable companies last week. They followed that up with the BestBuy announcement on Monday and today it’s Amazon. What this means is now they have covered the direct channel via web sign up on their CallVantage web site or by inbound telemarketing to the AT&T Call Centers; and in direct via the retailers. What they have also done via the CableLabs relationship is enabled “off-net” but broadband addressable cable customers who don’t already have high speed access but who can, and desire an alternative to the local telephone company, the ability to sign up for both broadband and phone service with one phone call.
This is marketing at its finest and the roll out of a well crafted plan and messaging strategy. The commercials tell the story and builds interest. The PR announcements educate and inform the consumer market where and how they can activate service, but the most important aspect, where the CallVantage service can be bought is now clearly only as far away as a short drive to BestBuy, a phone call to AT&T or mouse click to a familiar and trusted online retailer Amazon, all backed up with access assured by the cable company relationships.
That’s marketing.
In an era of hype without substance, AT&T with their CallVantage campaign has clearly reminded the market that they know how to ‘reach out and touch’ the customers they want to serve. Heck, they’re just about grabbing them….