Add to del.icio.us     Digg this

Apr. 13, 2009

Virgin Mobile says it is now offering a new $50 prepaid plan. Boost Mobile certainly didn’t waste anytime putting out a news release saying that Virgin’s new $50 plan quickly adds up to a $72 monthly charge when text messaging, Internet and various telecom taxes are added to the bill.

It's no secret that Boost Mobile and Virgin have been at war with each other for some time now, and today's actions prove it.

In February, Boost Mobile offered its own $50 plan that includes unlimited nationwide talk, text messaging and multimedia messaging, wireless Internet access and even walkie-talkie services. It says it doesn’t add any more taxes or fees on top of that $50, which would explained why it's now lashing out at Virgin.

Boost offered a similar service in October 2007 when it went into a few selected markets with a CDMA offering akin to what Leap Wireless, Cricket Communications and MetroPCS were doing. But add-ons were still in the mix, contributing to that ever-dizzying array of pricing options for consumers, admits Boost’s chief marketing officer, Neil Lindsay.

Lindsay says it’s a law of averages, and if someone uses so much bandwidth that it lowers the experience for others, then they’ll investigate, similar to how it works in the desktop Internet world.

Boost’s latest plan, which uses the iDEN network, isn't intended for business users who make lots of calls every day, but in general, it averages out between those customers who use a lot of network resources and those who don’t.

Then Boost company executives said “this is crazy,” Lindsay said. “You’re being too clever for the business model and the customers,” most of whom want text, voice and the ability to check weather or sports scores without paying extra fees.

The big benefit of an all-inclusive offer is it doesn’t lead to confusion, Lindsay added.

He says Boost Mobile had no intention of offending anyone, and the visual wrongs work to stand out in the minds of its target market. Lindsay added that Boost’s latest ads are effective in getting their message across.

The ads are designed in a way to point out a wrong and the fact that Boost is trying to make it right in the cellular world. Testing has shown the ads scored well on their ability to break through clutter, and they scored also well on recall and getting people to talk about them, he says.

“We have a lot of people who love them and a bunch of people who hate them,” Lindsay said. “But the point is we had a point to it... There have been a lot of conversations going on, so it’s worked great for us.”

Boost Mobile’s ad agency, 180-LA, is coming up with other ideas as well. In Chicago, Boost has actual paper shredders at bus stops designed to shred cell phone service contracts.

Now that's a bold ad if we've seen one lately!

Add to del.icio.us     Digg this

    This article was featured on Business 5.0 and on Tech Blog.

Source: Tech Blog.