Bellevue, Wash. – T-Mobile will support the Aug. 5
nationwide rollout of its second Android-based 3G smartphone with a major mid-August
ad campaign.
The launch of the $199 touchscreen-equipped MyTouch
3G will be backed by a TV, print and online ad campaign focused on
consumers’ ability to personalize the device. Size of the campaign was not
disclosed.
The smartphone features onscreen QWERTY keyboard and dialing
keypad. It will join the carrier’s first Android-based phone, the G1,
launched last October with touchscreen and horizontal-sliding keyboard. The
carrier will offer “additional ones” [Android phones] in the second half, added
Cole Brodman, chief technology and innovation officer.
The MyTouch ad campaign, themed 100 Percent You, will be the
carrier’s second ad campaign to focus on a single handset. The first such
campaign supported last October’s launch of T-Mobile’s first Android-based
smartphone, the G-1. The carrier’s budget for the new campaign will be “similar”
to the budget for the G-1 launch, said Andrew Sherrard, VP/GM of T-Mobile’s MyTouch
program.
The campaign will highlight notable personalities and how
they personalize their phone through replaceable shells and an OS that lets users
select the widgets, applications, Web links, music playlists or folders that can
be launched from home-screen icons.
Beginning today,
existing T-Mobile subscribers who order the device during a pre-sale period ending
July 28 qualify for MyTouch 3G delivery before the Aug. 5 national retail
launch. Retail outlets participating in the national launch include all
T-Mobile-owned stores, Best Buy and the cellular kiosks in Wal-Mart,
Costco and Sam’s Club. T-Mobile is also in discussions with other major
retailers to offer the phone, Sherrard said.
Major indirect retailers will support the launch of the $199
device with their own advertising, Sherrard added. In a departure from past
practice, the carrier’s indirect retailers will also support the launch by purchasing
compatible accessories from T-Mobile, Sherrard said. Excluding different
colors, the number of accessories designed exclusively for MyTouch is about 24,
including a tabletop charging station, cases, covers, protective shells,
holster and dockable battery extender to extend talk time up to 50 percent.
Also to support the launch, salespeople in T-Mobile stores
and in indirect channels have been trained to set up the phone, including its email
applications, and personalize the phone for customers before they leave the
store, said Brodman. Consumers will also be able to schedule one-on-one
appointments with T-Mobile salespeople and attend workshops at T-Mobile stores to
learn about the phone, he said.
Although user customization of home-page icons is a feature
of the first Android phone, T-Mobile is making customization the main message
in its ad campaign, its sales-training program and its in-box tips-and-tricks
foldout panel. With the G1, T-Mobile found that many purchasers haven’t
discovered the G1’s customization capabilities, Sherrard said.
Both phones feature
deep integration with Google services and offer additional customization
through over-the-air downloads of applications from the Android Market web site, available to all Android-phone users. A new
application joining the more-than-5,000 apps is Geodelic’s Sherpa application,
which features GENIE (Geodelic ENgine for Interest Evaluation) technology to automatically
customize location-relevant recommendations of nearby retailers, restaurants
and attractions based on a user’s likes and dislikes. It will be available free
as part of a downloadable App Pack bundle that includes up to 10 free apps, all
recommended by the carrier.
The MyTouch differs from the G1 in several ways. It’s
thinner and lighter, given the lack of slide-out QWERTY keyboard, and it comes
with larger battery with 16 percent more capacity. Unlike the G1, MyTouch
supports Microsoft Exchange for corporate email and basic Microsoft ActiveSync functions
for basic enterprise security, said John Lee, senior product manager for
Android phones.
The MyTouch $199 price requires a two-year service contract
and one of two Android-specific data plans at $25 or $35 per month, both
including free T-Mobile Wi-Fi HotSpot access.
