AT&T Mobility CMO on Casting Smartphones as Much Bigger Than the Device Itself
Posted in: Uncategorized
A year from now, AT&T will be a very different company. Barring regulatory blockades, it will own DirecTV and two newly acquired Mexican telecoms. And, by then, the No. 2 national carrier may be known as much for gadgets in people’s homes and cars as in their pockets. During the fourth quarter, AT&T added 1.3 million connected devices, including 800,000 LTE connections within vehicles, payoff from its entry into smart-home technologies.
The quarter also illustrated just how rapidly the wireless industry is changing. AT&T used promotions to combat offers from rivals T-Mobile and Sprint. Customer turnover rose; profits margins fell. And excluding tablets, the carrier lost around 100,000 phone subscribers.
As CMO of AT&T Mobility, David Christopher is tasked with helping the company adjust to this new landscape for wireless carriers. At his disposal is a big chunk of the nation’s second-largest ad budget — $3.3 billion in 2013 for all of AT&T — some of which is going toward untested digital platforms like Tumblr and Snapchat. He spoke with Ad Age about the shifting digital world, marketing the Internet of Things and why he doesn’t focus on noisy competitors. The following transcript has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.
Post a Comment