Sprint Media Plan Targets Adults 25-49 with Family Messages

SPRINT MEDIA PLAN
COMM 422: SPRING 2015
FRANK DARDIS, PH.D
Danielle Cooney, Jacqueline Taylor, Jessie Taylor &
Kaylee Naden
I. Executive Summary
Sprint is an established wireless phone company that is 3rd compared to its competitors
following behind Verizon and AT&T, but above T-Mobile. The audience that will be

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targeted are all adults from ages 25-49, with a total population of 97,917,000. Of this
audience, 58.1% are married, 60.9% have children and 83.5% live with 2-5 people in
their households.
For the creative strategy, the position we plan to take is family oriented. Our slogan will
be “We take care of you because that’s what families do.” Through our advertisements,
we will express our family loyalty literally and figuratively. One example of the literal take
is the “No Questions Asked” commercial and the figurative take is the “Sprint Man”
commercial. We will actually bring families together through our promotions. Sprint will
be sponsoring a summer country concert series and give tickets away to the red carpet
premiere for Star Wars: Episode VII.
We will be a running a pulsing schedule to stay relevant all year through and to keep up
with the competition. Our heavy months will be July, August, December, November and
June. Our base months are October, January, February and May. Our spot markets are
Atlanta, Dallas, LA, Miami, Sacramento, San Francisco, Tampa St. Peters and
Washington D.C.
In regards of the bases, the lowest base reach was 73.1 and the lowest base frequency
was 3.8. In regards of the top months, the lowest reach was 94.9 and the lowest
frequency was 10.1. The total GRPs are 6349 and the total gross impressions are
6,215,771,160.
The mediums that will be used are net tv, net cable, net radio, magazines, newspapers,
digital and outdoor. The medium that generates the most GRPs is radio with 51% and
the most expensive medium is net tv with 34%.

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The budget given for this media flight plan is $80 million and after determining all the
costs for the mediums and promotions, there is over 3 million leftover for contingency.
II. Situation Analysis
I. Current Marketing Factors
● Uncover as much of the “4 Ps” as possible
o Product
▪ Sprint is a wireless provider
▪ Several different types of plans in which consumer can purchase
● Family Share Pack
● Unlimited Family
● $60 Unlimited Plan
● Tablet plans
● Data only plans
● Home & Office
● Prepaid
● Services- provides services you can use throughout Sprint
such as child lock, navigation, streamlining
▪ Source:
● www.sprint.com
o Price
▪ Family Share Pack
● $90 for entire family

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● up to 10 lines
▪ Unlimited Family
● $100 per month
● for lines 1 & 2
▪ $60 Unlimited Plan
● Single-line iPhone 6 or 6 plus price
o Unlimited talk, text & data
o $50/month
● Single-line price
o Unlimited talk, text & data
o $60/month
▪ Tablet Plans
● 100 MB- $10/month
● 1 GB- $15/month
● 3 GB- $35/month
● 6 GB- $50/month
● 12 GB- $80/month
● 30 GB- $110/month
▪ Data Only Plans
● 100 MB- $10/month
● 1 GB- $15/month
● 3 GB- $35/month
● 6 GB- $50/month

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● 12 GB- $80/month
● 30 GB- $110/month
▪ Home & Office
● Unlimited minutes
● $19.99/month
▪ Prepaid
● More flexible plans/phones for budget and lifestyle.
● No activation fees/hidden fees.
● Upfront billing with no annual service contracts.
● No monthly billing due dates.
▪ Source:
● www.sprint.com
o Place
▪ Headquarters: Overland Park, Kansas
▪ Provide wireless and wireline voice and data transmission services
to subscribers in:
● All 50 US states
● Puerto Rico
● US Virgin Islands
▪ 1,260 retail shops (after closing 10% of 1,400 shops in 2007-2008
slump)
▪ 16,000 distribution points (after closing 20% of 20,000 points in
2007-2008 slump)

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▪ Sprint users are prevalent in the South (33.3%). There are also
significant percentages of users in the Northeast (19.6%),
Southeast (18.5%), East Central (18.9%) and West Central (17.1%)
areas. Although these may not seem high in number- they are
when compared to fellow percentages within target audience.
▪ Sources:
● Hoovers
● Simmons OneView
o Promotion
▪ Sprint Drive First
● Employee signed pledges and partnerships to spread
awareness and encourage safe driving
▪ Everything’s Important (2014)
● Celebrity endorsements with James Earl Jones and Malcolm
McDowell
● Brief Brand History
o 1899- Sprint Founded by Cleyson Brown with “Brown Telephone Co.”
o 1987- Nextel Founded by Morgan O’Brien
o 1975- Sprint’s World’s first Public Data Network is launched
o 1976- decades of local expansion bring $1 billion in revenue milestone
o 1986- famous pin-drop commercials debut
o 1992- makes history as first carrier to offer commercial internet access

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o 1993- makes history as first major company to provide local, long distance
and wireless services
o 2000- Nextel Worldwide becomes largest all-digital wireless coverage in
US and 70 plus countries
o 2001- Nextel (and Nextel Partners) serves top 100 US metropolitan
statistical areas
o 2004- Sprint Nextel merger is announced
o 2005- Sprint Nextel launches operations
o Present- Sprint continued on to acquire Nextel’s 2 million customers and
fully transitioned into Sprint Nextel by 2007 along with complete ownership
of Northern PCS. After this milestone, Sprint only continued to take the
telecommunications market by storm when agreeing to take over Virgin
Mobile in 2009 and then last of affiliates, iPCS, later that year.
o Source:
▪ www.sprint.com
▪ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprint_Corporation
● How is Brand different from competition?
Sprint comes in 3rd with the top competing Wireless Providers AT&T in first,
Verizon second, Sprint third and T-Mobile in fourth. Sprint differs from these
brands in multiple ways, one of their top advantages being their history in the
market dating further back than its competitors. This allows Sprint to get an idea
of what works in the industry and what doesn’t- thus having more experience
than competitors. However, Sprint is only a national brand whereas AT&T,

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Verizon and T-Mobile are international. Sprint also lacks in Net Income and
Revenue in comparison to its competitors. Companies vary in ideals, making
Sprint stand out from the rest with its commitment to the practice of good
business ethics, small businesses and customer satisfaction.
o Who is the competition?
1) AT&T Inc
2) Verizon Communications Inc
3) T-Mobile US Inc
o How do they differ?
▪ Sprint
● Ideals:
o Focuses
▪ Long distance
▪ Rural areas
▪ Deals to small businesses
● Incorporated since 1925
● Employees: 36,000
● Shareholders: 30,000
● Revenue: 8,875,000,000
● Net Income: 151,000,000
● National
▪ AT&T
● Ideals:

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o “connect people with the world”
o do what every other provider does, but better
o wants to be known as company with better service
and better coverage
o consumers loyal, but would like to expand
● Shareholders: 1,090,662
● Revenue: 132,447,000,000
● Net Income: 6,224,000,000
● Prides themselves in coverage
● International
▪ Verizon Communications Inc
● Ideals:
o “Problem-solvers, engineers, technologists and
innovators”
o Continually changing technologies
o Connecting people every day
o Grow businesses along with economy
o Improve communities through products
o Speed, power and innovation

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● Shareholders: 664,218
● Revenue: 127,079,000,000
● Net Income: 9,625,000,000
● International
▪ T-Mobile US Inc
● Ideals:
o Make “wireless communications help”
o Lessen chaos of everyday life
o Connection= good
o “redefine the way consumers and businesses buy
wireless services”
o Diversity and inclusion
▪ Allow them to “break down barriers and rewrite
the rules”
▪ Diversity allows the company to move forward
● Shareholders: 336
● Revenue: 28,237,000,000
● Net Income: 126,000,000
● International
o Source:
▪ http://www.mergentonline.com

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▪ att.com
▪ http://www.t-mobile.com
▪ http://www.verizonwireless.com
▪ http://www.sprint.com
● What is total size of market?
o Consumers spend $296,638,000,000 a year on the top 4 Wireless
Providers (Sprint, T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon)
o Source:
▪ http://www.mergentonline.com
● What is brand’s current sales, market share, awareness, etc. Goals?
o Market share= of the $296,638,000,000 spent on the Top 4 Wireless
Providers, $8,875,000,000 is spent on Sprint. Thus, of people who own
cell phones, 2.99% use Sprint.
o Current sales= $151,000,000
o Source:
▪ http://sprint.com
● Where is brand in life cycle?
Sprint faced a major economic slump along with other corporations during The
Great Depression, but rose again after WWII. Following AT&T and Verizon as
number 3 in the nation, Sprint combined with Nextel Communications in 2005 to
become Sprint Nextel. This along with other merges brought fourth a wave of
conflicts, causing the corporation to decline again in 2007-2008. Sprint Nextel
proceeded to use layoffs and closing of shops/points of distribution in means to

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cut costs. Sprint Nextel is reported as of June 30, 2014 to have a net income of
$23 million, the best performance its seen in over 7 years .
o Source:
▪ Hoovers
● Geographic Breakdown
o Areas Service (distribution) is centralized
▪ converted to percentages:
● New England (2.83%)
● Northeast (19.6%)
● New York Metro (4.26%)
● Mid-Atlantic (12.5%)
● East Central (18.9%)
● West Central (17.1%)
● Metropolitan Chicago (6.65%)
● Remaining West Central (10.5%)
● South (33.3%)
● Southeast (18.5%)
● Southwest (11.1%)
● Pacific (11.1%)
● Greater Los Angeles (2.67%)
● Other Pacific (8.42%)
● Level of Consumer Involvement

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Consumers are typically ages 25-54, white, middle class citizen parent with a
part-time or full-time job. Between men and women it is rather split with men
consumers being 50.9% and female being 49.1%. Most popular items are
phones being the iPhone (iPhone 6) and Samsung Galaxy Note 4. Shopping
behavior of these demos include 21.2% shop to take advantage of bargains,
31.4% plan far ahead before big purchase and 23.9% look for special offers.
This can work to Sprint’s advantage because they are always offering deals
to their customers. The “Brand Loyals” are at an average rate of 31.3%. The
behavior of Sprint’s consumer shows that they are of high involvement when
it comes to remaining loyal to their brand meanwhile searching for bargains or
deals.
● Sources:
o Simmons
o Sprint.com
o http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/mobidia-verizon-sprint-
customers-use-lte-data-more-att-t-mobile-subs/2014-11-19
● What methods have been used to sell the product
o Sprint uses a media mix to promote and sell its products including national
TV commercials, print advertisements, social media outreach, online
digital banners and retail integrations (advertisements seen on online
shopping websites).
o Source:
▪ Sprint.com

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STRENGTHS
-More experience in industry than
competitors.
WEAKNESSES
-3rd out of competing top 4 Wireless
Providers
OPPORTUNITIES
-customers typically searching for
bargains and deals therefore should
have promise within “Cut Your Bill in
Half” offer
THREATS
-lower revenue and net income than
competitors
-Corporation is not improving at a
promising enough rate to veer away
from decline in brand life cycle
II. Advertising/Creative History
Sprint’s Positioning/Differentiation from Competition
The following information is found on hoovers.com. Before Sprint gained its name that
we all know now, its original name was the Brown Telephone Company and was
founded by Cleyson Brown in 1899. The company went head to head with the Bell
monopoly in Abilene, Kansas. The Brown Telephone Company was one of the first non-
Bell phone companies in the western US. In 1905, Brown formed Union Electric, which
provided phone equipment; while in 1910, Brown established its first long distance
circuit called Home Telephone and Telegraph. In 1911, he joined with additional Kansas
independents as United Telephone. However, in 1925, Cleyson sold his electric utility to

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expand in telephone services, which formed the establishment of the Telephone and
Electric. In 1942, the company changed its name from Brown Telephone Company to
United Utilities. The Company expanded in 1952 and became the second largest non-
Bell company in the US. As the 1960s came around, the company was sure to move
with the times. The company concentrated on nuclear power plants, satellites, and
cable television and purchased North Electric in 1965, which was the US’s oldest
independent phone equipment maker. In 1972, the company underwent its second
name change and was renamed from United Utilities to United Telecommunications.
After many decades of expansion, the 1 billion company served more than 3.5 million
local telephone lines coast-to-coast. In the 80’s, United Telecommunications and GTE
Sprint teamed up to combine their long-distance systems. The Company launched a
long distance service under the Sprint brand name that we know the company as of
today.
1899: Cleyson Brown founded the Brown Telephone Company and was one of the first
non-Bell phone companies in the western U.S.
The following information is found in the book “Success Leaves Clues: Practical Tools
for Effective Sales and Marketing” by John Stanton.
1986: The famous “pin drop” commercials raised brand awareness for Sprint.
● As AT&T and MCI were going back and forth on who could charge less, Sprint
decided to stand out from the crowd with these commercials.
● Through these commercials, Sprint demonstrated its fiber-optic system and how
much better their sound was compared to their competitors.

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1996-1999: Once AT&T said “we all have fiber optics” in response to Sprint’s “pin drop
commercials,” Sprint responded with the “dime a minute” advertising campaign.
● At this time, no one knew the cost of a call because it varied from the location,
time of day, etc.
● So Sprint was straightforward with their price because it
was only “a dime a minute.”The spokeswoman of this
campaign was Actress, Candice Bergen, and these
commercial became so famous that she was known as the
“Dime Lady” (“Advertising Mascots – People”).
● This was deal was more difficult for AT&T to match because it required changes
to the billing system software.
● When AT&T finally came to the scene to compare to Sprint’s “a dime a minute
campaign,” Sprint had decreased its billing even further.
▪ Fridays were free for small businesses
▪ 10 percent cash back for loyal customers that stayed with the
company for one year.
2000: This following information is found on adage.com. Sprint became the first major
telecommunications provider to present call waiting and tie it into the Sprint 1000 long
distance calling plan.
● The commercials were 30 second TV spots with actress, Sela Ward.
● This commercial was targeted to Sprint’s current consumers to tell them that,
“They will never have to miss another call while surfing the internet.”

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2001: Sprint broke its first online commercial that advertised their offerings to their
small-businesses.
2002: Sprint launched a multimedia campaign called “Symbols” to reinforce its position
in the business-to-business market.
● The campaign featured:
○ print ads, digital media, and high-impact direct mail designed to drive
traffic to the campaign-specific website at the time,
www.sprint.com/fineprint.
● The ad campaign emphasized Sprint’s ability to integrate voice and data,
wireless and wireline, local and long distance, and domestic and international
capabilities.
2003: A witty 30 second commercial aired that was a play on Tolstoy’s novel, War and
Peace. The commercial highlighted Sprint’s new feature about instantly sending
photographs through the air.
2004: Sprint launched a $100 million ad campaign that advertised the wireless phone
plan that adjusted to a “customer’s month-to-month actual minutes usage rather than an
arbitrarily set of amount of minutes.”
● This was an integrated campaign that included TV, print, radio, and Internet that
ran for two-three months.
● Also promoted its picture phones and customer service.
2005: Sprint combined with Nextel Communications. Therefore, Sprint Nextel launched
an integrated advertising campaign to introduce its new brand.

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● The tagline to the campaign was “Yes you can” and was aimed to the business
and consumer users of communication services.
● The campaign included a media mix of TV, print, outdoor, and online advertising.
2008: The company hit a home run with its direct mail campaign to coincide with the
start of the Major League Baseball season.
● Dick Dickey, the director of direct, e-mail, and SMS marketing for Sprint “wanted
to drive qualified leads to our sales reps for Nextel Direct Connect and location-
based service in the Sprint portfolio.”
● The target audience were “telecommunications decision-makers and influencers
at companies with more than 1,000 employees.”
● The outcome was large box that contained an authentic baseball bat with
promotional pieces reading, “Swing for the fences.”
2009: Launched a network-focused campaign to position itself as a “hive of human
interaction” called the “What’s Happening Now?” campaign. The campaign spanned TV,
out of home, print, and online.
● The campaign aimed to display all the things that people can do on its network.It
took a different approach compared to Sprint’s competitors’ approach of
emphasizing coverage and reliability. (Verizon’s “Can you hear me now?” and
AT&T’s “More bars in more places).
● It was the first carrier to give its network a name: “Now Network”
● Sprint’s Now Network pushed consumers to “get connected and plugged into a
fast-changing world.”

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2011: Sprint retired its “Now Network” for a Beatles-inspired theme, “All. Together.
Now.”
● The campaign “highlighted Sprint’s unlimited, flat-fee plans for text messaging,
mobile web and calls, while other carriers continue to moved toward tiered
pricing models, where heavy users pay more.”
● Sprint used the mobile-gaming phenomenon, like “Angry Birds,” and other social-
media smartphone apps to tell its story.
2012: The following information is from sprint.com. This was the year Sprint launched a
marketing campaign to encourage consumers to “Say No to Sharing” and “Say Yes to
Sprint.”
● This campaign highlighted the advantages of a truly unlimited data plan for each
individual user compared to a family or a group of users sharing one data plan
that is offered by its competitors.
2014: During this time, the campaign “Everything’s Important” came about.
● This campaign greatly differed from their competitors’ advertising campaigns
because the competitors usually talk about one another by using “industry jargon
and coverage maps.”

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● However, Sprint used this campaign to highlight all the great things that their
company had to offer and gave “their customers a voice by celebrating all they
do on their phones.”
● These commercials featured famous actors such as James Earl Jones and
Malcolm McDowell which gave the commercial a sense of integrity mingled with
humor (lbbonline.com).
● Also in this year, Sprint launched the “Framily” (Friends + Family) campaign.
● The plan was supposed to “give people a reasonable amount of data, with
monthly payments decreasing as more people joined the plan.”
● However, the plan was complicated and caused people to miscalculate how
much it would cost as the time passed.
● Even the CEO, Marcelo Claure,
acknowledged that the commercial was
awful and did a poor job communicating
what Sprint was trying to offer.
● There wasn’t a compelling value

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proposition at Sprint,” said Claure. “We were marketing a hamster talking to
people.”
● The Framily plan was eventually replaced with the Family Share Pack
(digitaltrends.com).
Advertising/Creative History: Advertising and Promotion
● Just recently, on March 1st 2015, Sprint released a commercial that was perfect
for their target audience.
● The commercial is centered on a man who “tries to take a stroll through nature,
ride the bus to work and get in a nightclub all while lugging a zombie around.”
● The message: “If you want to take AMC's The Walking Dead wherever you go,
there's an easier way than what the guy's putting himself through. Sign up with
Sprint for the best value in wireless and watch the hit show anytime, anywhere.”
● The part that made this advertisement so brilliant was that it was aired during
The Walking Dead commercial break (sprint.com).
● The following information is from sprint.com. The company also has many “Sprint
Social Contests” and “Social Promotions” currently going on:
▪ #CutYourBill Samsung Giveaway ("Sweepstakes")
▪ #CutYourBill Celebrity Dress Giveaway ("Sweepstakes")
▪ #HelloNexus6 Unboxed Community Contest
▪ #MeettheBands Unboxed Community Contest
▪ HTC One E8 Sprint Posada Sweepstakes
▪ Sharp Aquos Crystal Community Contest

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Since 2005, Sprint has partnered with schools, nonprofit organizations, and product
developers on numerous programs to promote responsible driving and discourage
texting while driving on behalf of its customers and employees.
● The partnerships include:
● Sprint’s Don’t Drive Distracted Pledge: “Sprint asks that its employees and
customers make a commitment to driving responsibly by signing the Sprint Don’t
Drive Distracted pledge.”
● Thumb Wars: “Sprint supports DoSomething.org’s Thumb Wars campaign,
which provides thumb socks as a visual reminder to help stop teens from texting
while driving. In addition to providing thumb socks, the campaign educates teens
on the dangers of texting while driving, asks them to pledge to stop texting while
driving, and encourages them to be ambassadors of this initiative by sharing it
with their family and friends.”
● DriveCam: “Sprint also works with companies that develop wireless embedded
communication solutions to reduce distracted driving. DriveCam offers a driving
safety program based on a video event recorder wirelessly enabled by Sprint.
When g-forces indicate distracted driving, it sends a video to DriveCam, which
then provides a professional safety analysis that fleet managers or parents of
teens can use in coaching their driver. American Family Insurance makes it
available as its Teen Safe Driver ProgramSM at no charge for its customers.”
● FleetSafer: “Sprint is working with Aegis Mobility to help commercial fleet
operators promote safe, legal and responsible use of smartphones. FleetSafer is

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the first solution to help ensure compliance with Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration rules requiring mobile phone calls made by interstate truck and
bus drivers to be both “one-touch” and hands-free. The application ensures that
smartphones and tablets conform to the organization’s safety policies and best
practices regarding texting, emailing or communicating while driving.”
● Uconnect Access: “Sprint and Chrysler Group developed a new wireless
in-vehicle connectivity experience that promotes driver focus and provides driver
assistance. Chrysler Group’s Uconnect Access in-vehicle communication system
helps drivers maintain their focus on the road by using Bluetooth®- equipped
mobile phones for hands-free calling and texting and features one-touch 9-1-1
calling, roadside or vehicle assistance.”
● NASCAR: “Through its sponsorship of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series™, Sprint is
spreading the word on the importance of attentive driving through a public
service announcement featuring Miss Sprint Cup Kim Coon and NASCAR Sprint
Cup Series driver Kasey Kahne.”
● “AAA: Sprint and AAA joined forces to spread the word about avoiding
distracted driving. AAA members who sign a pledge to drive distraction-free
receive a “dnt txt n drV” tire-tread wristband and an “I’ve pledged, have you?” T-
shirt.”
● One recent advertising campaign that supported Sprint’s well known belief for
responsible driving was “Sprint Drive First.”

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● The Senior Vice President-Corporate Communications and Corporate Social
Responsibility, Bill White said. “During this holiday season, Sprint is especially
pleased to release a new ad campaign that will help drivers focus on driving,
further educate consumers about responsible driving behavior, and hopefully
save lives.”
● The ad campaign promoted the “Sprint Drive First” application. Its features
include:
▪ Locks an Android Mobile phone when the phone’s GPS senses
motion that rises above 10 miles per hour
▪ Directs incoming calls to voicemails and silences alerts that distract
the driver
▪ A customizable auto-response can be sent to all text messages,
which are held only when the driver halts to a stop.
● The first TV commercial to highlight this app featured the famous NASCAR
driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr. (“Sprint Drive First App TV Spot Featuring Dale
Earnhardt, Jr.”).
Advertising/Creative History: Sprint Nextel Wireless Media Mix
This is the amount of money Sprint spent on advertisements within the last year.

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Advertising/Creative History: Benefits That Sprint Promises
● Above all things, Sprint is committed to the privacy of its customers.
● Sprint has a “Sprint Corporation Privacy Policy” that explains how Sprint “will
collect, access, use or disclose your personal information.”
● The policy covers:
▪ Information Collected
▪ Use of Personal Info
▪ Information We Share
▪ Network and Information Security
▪ Information Choices and Changes
▪ Children
▪ Contacting Us
▪ Updating this Policy
▪ Your California Privacy Rights
▪ International Privacy Policy
● The current offer that Sprint has right now is the “Cut Your Bill in Half” Event.

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● If you’re an AT&T or Verizon customer, Sprint will take your bill and cut it in half.
● On top of that, you’ll get “talk and text anywhere in the US,” and Sprint will match
your data.
Advertising/Creative History: Current Perception and Attitudes
● One of Sprint’s main goals is to keep customers and employees satisfied. This is
how the “Sprint Ninjas” came about.
● “Sprint Ninjas” is a social media program that empowers the employees working
at Sprint.
● Ninjas are very knowledge of Sprint’s products because it is a “community where
Ninjas can talk among each other and share knowledge and tips.”
● On top of that, the best Ninjas, a.k.a. Product Ambassadors, educate employees
and customers on online forums all around the internet how to use Sprint’s latest
devices. The incentive? The Product Ambassadors get to keep the phone that
they are educating others on.
▪ Therefore, the employees and customers are both educated and
happy (arikhanson.com).
● Sprint is number one among all national carriers in customer satisfaction most
improved.

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● According to the American Customer Satisfaction Index, across all 47 industries
measured, “Sprint is the only U.S. company to go from last place to first place in
its industry during that four-year period of 2008-2012” (sprint.com).
STRENGTHS
-Sprint has campaigns that differ from the
competition. For instance, the direct mail
campaign that coincided with baseball season
and the Now Network.
-Sprint is an advocate for responsible driving.
-One of Sprint’s top priorities is customer
satisfaction.
WEAKNESSES
-Some of Sprint’s commercials do not properly
communicate what Sprint has to offer.
OPPORTUNITIES
-Sprint should promote responsible driving more
because it separates them from the competition,
and this will put them in a positive light to many
viewers.
-Sprint’s campaigns do well when they position
themselves completely different from the
competition. That being said, they should focus
on more campaigns that do just that.
THREATS
-Sprint is constantly launching campaigns and
plans to ultimately try to play catch-up with the
top competitors. While AT&T and Verizon have
established brands, Sprint’s brand is constantly
revamping. Therefore, people may be confused
on what Sprint has to offer and what they
consistently stand for as a brand.
III. Competitive Considerations: Verizon Wireless, AT&T and T-Mobile
Sprint is the third highest cell phone carrier in the nation. It’s leading competitors
include Verizon (#1) and AT&T (#2). Sprint has over twenty million users, which is less
than half of its closest, upper competitor, AT&T. Right behind Sprint with over eighteen
million users is T-Mobile. T-Mobile is the closest to Sprint competitively, but it is still

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lower in most categories. People use the different providers for different reasons, and
the following pages will explain each competitor.
___________________________________________
Verizon
Sales/Market Share/Awareness:
As of December 31, 2014, Verizon employed 177,300 full-time employees (“Verizon
Communications Inc. 2015). Verizon’s corporate office is located New York, New York,
but can be found in 150 countries and 2,700 cities (“Verizon at a Glance”). Verizon’s
Share of Voice for this sector accounts for 38.4% of all cellular users (Simmons
OneView). Mergent Online declares that as of December 31 of the preceding year,
Verizon’s revenue was equivalent to 127 billion dollars, over 9 billion of that being net
income. The net income decreased from 2013 to 2014, but the revenues grew. The
following chart comes from Hoover’s and provides a snapshot of basic financials for
Verizon over the past year.
BASIC FINANCIAL INFORMATION

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Fiscal Year-End December
Financial Filings SEC
2014 Sales $127.08B
1-Year Sales Growth 5.42%
2014 Net Income $9.63B
1-Year Net Income Growth (16.28%)
©2015 Mergent, Inc. Financial Data provided by
From January 2014 to December 2014, Verizon Wireless spent $868,645,400 in
advertising of their services. The majority of their advertising dollars went towards
Network TV ($464,649,900). Other major spending contributions came from Cable TV
($183,731,900) and Internet Displays ($108,323,800). It was also a prevalent brand in
newspaper, outdoor, national newspapers, and magazines (Ad$pender).
Position/Mission:
According to verizon.com, the position of Verizon is described as “problem-solvers,
engineers, technologists and innovators.” Verizon focuses on continually changing
technologies and connecting people every day through their services. Their goal is to
grow businesses along with the economy and improve communities through their
products. They wish to be known for their speed, power and innovation.
Differentiation:

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According to the Simmons OneView database, Verizon has over 60 million users. This
number places in the top spot for cellular/wireless services and allows them to claim the
16th spot in the Fortune 500 (“Fortune 500, 2014”). Verizon was incorporated in 1983
and has been making imprints in the telecommunications field ever since. Verizon offers
two different plans: business or personal. Of those who use cell phones for business
purposes, 35% use Verizon as their plan of choice.
___________________________________________
AT&T
As of January 31, 2015, AT&T had 253,000 full-time employees (“AT&T Inc.” 2015).
The amount of people employed by AT&T is larger than Verizon. The corporate offices
of AT&T are located in Dallas, Texas, but their services reach far wider than here. Their
website, att.com, states that they serve customers on six continents; their voice
coverage includes 225 countries. AT&T’s Share of Voice is ever so slightly larger than
Verizon’s coming in at 38.5%. Looking at Mergent Online, AT&T’s revenues as of
December 31, 2014 equaled over 132 billion dollars. Of this large sum of revenues, 6
billion of it can be considered under the net income. There was a vast drop in net
income from 2013 to 2014, approximately 12 billion dollars. The chart below provides
important financial information obtained from Hoover’s.

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2014 Sales $132.45B
2014 Net Income $6.22B
1-Year Net Income Growth (65.89%)
Prescreen Score Low Risk
From Janaury 2014 to December 2014, AT&T Wireless spent a total of $850,445,100 in
all advertising media. Their number one category of ad spending was Network TV,
equaling $364,834,600. The next two leading categories were Cable TV
($264,869,700) and Internet Display ($86,233,400). Magazines and national
newspapers were the next two largest categories adding to the overall dollars
(Ad$pender).
Position/Mission:
“Our mission is to connect people with their world, everywhere they live and work, and
do it better than anyone else. We're creating new solutions for consumers and
businesses to help them mobilize their communications and entertainment” that is how
AT&T defines themselves on their website. They focus on doing the same thing all
other providers give, but doing it better. AT&T wishes to be known as the company who
provides better service and better coverage, and they are working towards that. Their

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users are loyal, but they wish to expand. One thing that they really like to put focus on
is “mobilizing people’s worlds” through their advanced services, according to att.com.
Differentiation:
AT&T has over forty-eight million users, according to Simmons OneView research. Yet
again, AT&T outperforms Verizon and claims the 11th spot on the Fortune 500 list for
2014 (“Fortune 500, 2014”). AT&T began as a corporation in 1983 and has been in
constant battle for the number one spot in cellular providers ever since. Uses for
AT&T’s services vary; of people who use cell phones for business purpose, 23.1%
choose to use AT&T, and people who choose the personal use of AT&T phones equals
30.8%. The use of AT&T’s family plan, based on Simmons OneView data, is the most
likely to be used, with those looking to purchase the family plan being 18% more likely
to choose AT&T.
__________________________________________
T-Mobile
T-Mobile’s headquarters are in Bellevue, Washington. Statistics from T-Mobile are not
as recent, but they do provide a good idea of the competition they provide. As of
December 31, 2013, Mergent Online claims that T-Mobile employed 40,000 full-time
employees, but their website currently states that there are approximately 45,000
employees. More statistics taken from their website state that their services reach 239
million Americans throughout the country. Simmons OneView tells us that of all cellular
users, 9.06% of them use T-Mobile. The Share of Voice accounted for by T-Mobile

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equals 22.9%. The following chart shows the basic financial information from T-Mobile
in 2013 and is received from Hoover’s database. Being that the information is not as
recent as Verizon and AT&T, we cannot get a full idea of how T-Mobile has grown or
decreased from 2013-2014, but is it useful to know that vastly increased from 2012 to
2013.
2013 Sales $24.42B
2013 Net Income $35.00M
Prescreen Score Low Risk
The time period between January 2014 and December 2014 cost T-Mobile Wireless a
total of $506,503,700 in ad spending dollars. The biggest medium in which they
advertised is Network TV, spending $235,118,600. Network TV was followed by Cable
TV ($150,458,500) and Internet Display ($61,922,900) with the most advertising dollars
spent (Ad$pender).
Position/Mission:
T-Mobile’s website claims that their goal is to make “wireless communications help”
lessen the chaos of everyday life. They hold a strong belief that “connection is good”
(“About T-Mobile”). Another claim made on the website is that T-Mobile wishes to

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create innovations for services and products. They wish to “redefine the way
consumers and businesses buy wireless services.” T-mobile.com also states that
diversity and inclusion are two big must-haves in their company because it allows them
to “break down barriers and rewrite the rules.” T-Mobile prides themselves in all forms
of diversity because they believe it is a great way to get their company moving forward
and becoming better known and used.
Differentiation:
Simmons OneView research tells us that T-Mobile has eighteen million users. T-Mobile
became an official corporation in 2004. Many more statistics have been achieved
through the use of Simmons OneView, including, but not limited to: 9.23% of of people
who use phones for business purposes use T-Mobile, and 9.87% of people who use
them for personal purposes use T-Mobile. These statistics show that while T-Mobile
does not have large use amongst people, it still accounts for a decent amount of the
entire cellular owners audience.
___________________________________________
Taking all of this information into consideration, we are able to look at Sprint and see
where they are strong or weak in comparison with the competition. The following will
show you the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that Sprint has as
opposed to its competitors.

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STRENGTHS
-No-contract plans with no hidden fees
-Unlimited data plan available (unlike leaders,
Verizon and AT&T)
WEAKNESSES
-Low coverage
-Low variety of media usage
OPPORTUNITIES
-Variation of offered plans
-Plan pricing
THREATS
-Device offerings/innovation
-Focusing only on business/corporate plans
IV. Target audience
The following information was found using Simmons OneView
Demographics:

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Psychographics:
Psychographics of the total Sprint users (20,164,000):
Leisure activities/hobbies:
● 69.9% listen to music
● 59.3% dine out (not fast food)
● 49.5% read books
● 46.1% play card games
● 40.6% go to the beach/lake
● 35% play board games
● 32.7% go to bars/night clubs
● 31.8% cook for fun
● 29.6% bake for fun
● 26.5% like gardening
Sports interests:
● NFL football
o 33.9% are very interested in NFL Football
Television Viewing:
● 31.9% watch television from 8:00-8:59 PM
● 34.1% watch television from 9:00-9:59 PM
Shopping behavior:
● Impulsive buying
o 25.5% are average when it comes to impulsive buying
o 20.8% are far above average

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● Brand loyal
o 31.3% are average when it comes to brand loyalty
● Approval seeking
o 27.9% are above average when it comes to approval seeking
● Informed consumers
o 22.1% are average
Views:
● Family-centered
o 27.9% are average when it comes to being family-centered
● Work-centered
o 26.7% are average
o 19.5% are above average
● Social isolation/life dissatisfaction
o 27.8% are below average
● Religious conservative
o 24.8% are average
Self-concept:
● Brave/courageous
o 30.2% are average
o 22% are above average

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● Affectionate/passionate
Internet activity:
● Internet satisfaction
o 30% below average
● Research/information gathering:
o 21.2% below average
o 35.1% average
● News-seeking
o 19.6% average
o 19.1% above average
o 21.6% far above average
● Commerce
o 25% below average
o 27.1% average
Technology:
● Early adopter
● Smart shop
o 24.5% are average
o 22% are far above average

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● Tech shy
o 24.5% are below average
Mobile World:
● 26.2% are social connectors
● 22.6% are mobile professionals
Tech Adoptions
● 33.8% are wizards (can’t imagine life without the internet and electronics; want
technology to continue to progress)
● 28.5% are apprentices (willing to incorporate technology into their lives; price-
sensitive when it comes to technology)
Food lifestyle
● 26.4% are reformed traditionals (realize they should make healthier choices in
food rather than what is convenient)
Health and Well Being
● 27.8% are weight reformers ((always struggling with health food choices-healthy
vs. unhealthy eating)
Sprint males:
● Food lifestyle
o 29.5% are reformed traditionals (realize they should make healthier
choices in food rather than what is convenient)
o 24.4% shop for food that is convenient and easy
o 19.3% shop for variety on a budget
o 16.6% are weekend cooks

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o 10.3% are true foodies
● Health and Well Being
o 27.4% are belong to “the invincibles” category (not concerned about their
health, eat whatever they want, and almost never get sick, but they used
OTC meds to solve their problems when needed)
o 25.4% are image shapers (looking good means being healthy;
convenience and healthy choices align for this group.)
o 20.4% are weight reformers (always struggling with health food choices-
healthy vs. unhealthy eating)
o *15.0% are healthy holistics (committed to exercising and making the right
healthy choices)
o 11.8% are trusting patients (rely on doctors and meds, but follow a healthy
lifestyle)
● Retail shopping
o 28.3% are virtual shoppers (the internet helps them find bargains)
o 25.4% belong to the “upscale clicks and bricks” category (knowledgeable
consumers who are always researching and comparing prices before
making a final purchase)
o 17.0% just purchase the essentials
o 13.8% are status strivers
o 8.5% are mall manics (shopping brings enjoyment to them)
o 7.0% are original traditionalists (loyal to brand, stores, services, and their
country; also the most environmentally responsible shoppers)

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● Mobile World
o 27.8% are mobile professionals (cell phones help them stay in touch with
their professional and personal lives; more likely to own a smartphone)
o 21.4% are mobirati (grew up with cellphones and cannot imagine life
without them; a main part of their everyday lives)
o 21.1% are social connectors (cell phones are the key to keeping up with
friends and social events)
o 15.7% are basic planners (only use their cell phones for the basics)
o 14.0% are pragmatic adopters (cell phones became a big deal during their
adulthood, more functional than entertaining to them)
● Technology Adoption
o 36.3% are wizards (can’t imagine life without the internet and electronics;
want technology to continue to progress)
o 24.1% are apprentices (willing to incorporate technology into their lives;
price-sensitive when it comes to technology)
o 21.0% are journeyman (internet is their source of information, commerce,
entertainment, and connection with others; the latest technology is not
their main priority
o 18.5% are novices (resistant to adopting a technology-focused life;
extremely limited engagement with new technology
● Economic outlook
o 33.6% are confident spenders (unaffected by today’s economy; financially
secure and willing to take on investment risks)

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o 22.6% are facing financial challenges
o 20.9% are fiscally fit (optimistic; feel financially secure and well positioned
during the current downturn)
o 12.5% are economically indifferent (don’t have a sense that the economy
is slowing down or getting better)
o *10.4% are financial nesters (do not expect the economy or their financial
situation to improve in the near future, but they still make purchases)
● Automotives
o 40.6% are concerned about speed and performance over auto safety
features, tend to favor SUVs
o 25.8% like to change their cars frequently, choose a car for image and
status rather than practical qualities
o 15.9% like new cars, appreciate American-made automobiles and other
options in a car, enjoy driving and have pride when it comes to their
vehicle (reflects their image)
● TV Product Placement
o 37.9% are indifferent (neutral attitudes towards TV product placements,
disengaged when remembering products placed in TV shows)
o 25.9% are noticers (devoted to television and noticed products that are
placed in shows, less likely to remember the product and don’t feel the
placement affect their shopping behavior
o 21.7% are rejecters (TV product placement has a negative effect, negative
attitudes form towards the products being placed)

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o 14.4% are emulators (engaged with the product placement, try and
purchase the brands or services they saw on the show)
Sprint females:
● Food lifestyle
o 23.2% are reformed traditionals
o *16.6% shop for food that is convenient and easy
o 35.5% are weight reformers
o 22.6% are image shapers
o 15.9% are trusting patients
o 15.7% are part of “the invincibles” category
o 10.3% are healthy holistics
● Retail Shopping
o 37.9% are status strivers
o 21.0% are virtual shoppers
o 19.2% belong to the “upscale clicks and bricks”
o 11.1% are mall manics
o *6.2% are original traditionalists
o *4.5% just purchase the essentials
● Mobile World

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o 31.4% are social connectors
o 18.4% are mobirati
o 18.2% are basic planners
o 17.2% are mobile professionals
o 14.7% are pragmatic adopters
● Technology Adoptions
o 33.1% are apprentices
o 31.2% are wizards
o 21.0% are journeymen
o 14.7% are novices
● Economic Outlook
o 25.8% are facing economic challenges
o 21.4% are confident spenders
o 20.8% are fiscally fit
o 18.6% are economically indifferent
o 13.4% are financial nesters
● Automotives
o 26.3% are practical drivers
o 17.2% believe the true value of a car is in its longevity and reliability

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o 38.1% are noticers
o 29.9% are indifferent
o 23.5% are rejecters
o 8.5% are emulators
Race: White (Sprint users)
● Food lifestyle
o 25.1% are reformed traditionals
o 24.2% shop for food that is convenient and easy
o 30.0% are weight reformers
o 25.1% are image shapers
o 20.4% are part of “the invincibles” category
o 13.4% are trusting patients
o 11.1% are healthy holistics
● Retail Shopping
o 25.4% are virtual shoppers

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o 24.5% belong to the “upscale clicks and bricks”
o 24.3% are status drivers
o 13.0% just purchase the essentials
o 7.9% are original traditionalists
o 5.0% are mall manics
● Mobile World
o 26.6% are social connectors
o 20.7% are mobile professionals
o 19.1% are basic planners
o 17.0% are pragmatic adopters
o 16.6% are mobirati
● Technology Adoption
o 33.0% are wizards
o 30.0% are apprentices
o 20.5% are journeymen
o 16.5% are novices
● Economic Outlook
o 30.0% are facing challenges
o 25.0% are confident spenders
o 17.9% are fiscally fit
o 13.7% are financial nesters
o 13.3% are economically indifferent
● Automotives

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o 17.9% are practical drivers
o 12.4% believe the true value of a car is in its longevity and reliability
o 32.2% are noticers
o 32.0% are indifferent
o 24.2% are rejectors
o 11.6% are emulators
Geographical breakdown of the total Sprint users:
● Region- South: 33.3%
● Region- Northeast: 19.6%
● Region- East Central: 18.9%
● Region- South East: 18.5%
● Region- West Central: 17.1%
● Region: South West: 14.8%
● Region- Mid-Atlantic: 12.5%
● Region- Pacific: 11.1%

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● Region- Other Pacific: 8.42%
● Region: Metropolitan Chicago: 6.65%
● Region- New York Metro: 4.26%
Media use of the total amount of Sprint users:
● Internet Activity
o Far below average: 9.78%
o Below average: 19%
o Average: 26.6%
o Above average: 17.3%
o Far above average: 21%
● Newspaper involvement
o Below average: 31.9%
o Average: 18.6%
o Far above average: 13.1%
● Magazine involvement
o Average: 21.4%
● Radio involvement

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o Average: 30.1%
● Television involvement
o Average: 28.7%
● Quintiles
o Radio all day
▪ 21%
▪ 20.1%
o Radio drive time
▪ Quintile 1: 21.7%
o Television all day
o Television Prime Time

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o Outdoors
▪ Quintile 1: 22%
The purchaser is the same as the user, but they aren’t the only users. The purchasers
range from the ages 25-44. The ages 25-34 make up 24.5% of the Sprint users and the
people between the ages of 25-44 make up 20.2%. The purchasers are also the users
of the product, but the users are also younger too. The users are also younger and are
on their family plans purchased through their parents/guardians.
Strengths
-Sprint users are split almost evenly between the
genders so both genders could be targeted
-Sprint users watch television during Prime Time
which can be a good time to place advertisements
and target people.
Weaknesses
-Because advertisements are so prevalent in
media, the fact that media involvement is average
at best, puts Sprint at a disadvantage
-69% are not brand loyal so that means that they
may not be loyal to Sprint

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Opportunities
-69.9% of Sprint users like listening to music so
advertisements could be placed where music is
typically found (Spotify, Pandora, YouTube, etc.)
-The users are interested in NFL Football (33.9%)
so Sprint can work on running more
advertisements during NFL games and even
incorporate NFL players in their advertisements
Threats
-31.3% of users are average when it comes to
brand loyalty, which is not bad nor great for
Sprint. The customers could very well leave once
their contracts are up
V. Timing Purchase Cycle
Sprint plans are typically bought at the store, it is bought consistently throughout the
year and since only 21.7% of Sprint users are very informed consumers, the majority of
customers aren’t very invested when it comes to making a purchase. How invested and
involved the customer is varies with every purchase (Simmons).
There are numerous plans Sprint provides that apply to specific characteristics of the
individual. There is Family Share Pack, Unlimited Family, $60 Unlimited Plan, Tablet
plans, Data only plans, Home & Office and Prepaid. Families are more likely to sign up
for the family plans, individuals for the individual plans and more business type
organizations for home & office. Plans require 24 month "installment agreement" and
the behavior of those who purchase these plans go as follows:
● 88.4% of Sprint users, have annual or multi-year plans
● 5.15% have no contract plan
● 5.49% are more likely to switch cell phone service providers if better offer

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● 13.3% actually did switch plan in sight of a better offer
● 37.8% said they actually stick with the plan
● 28.3% would switch if the quality was bad
The following info was gathered from AdSpender.com. Advertising/promotion spending
was the heaviest for Sprint during the whole month of June during 2014 with
$342,324.00
For AT&T, their heaviest spending for advertising was during March with
$123,377,400.00.
For Verizon, their heaviest spending for advertising was during September with
$89,680,000.00

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For T-Mobile, their heaviest spending for advertising was during September with
$69,702,000.00.
The following information was gathered from Hoovers.com. The time of
day/week/month/year, etc. does not affect the sales of the product. The sales are pretty
consistent throughout the quarters.

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STRENGTHS
-The sales are consistent year-round
-Sprint outspent the leading competitors in
advertising in certain months
WEAKNESSES
-They are not spending as much in total advertising
than the leading competitors
-They do not advertising on television as much as
the leading competitors
-Sprint is not utilizing as many medias as the
competitors, like syndication and radio for example
OPPORTUNITIES
-An opportunity would be to increase ad
spending in certain categories where other
competitors are not as prominent
-Sprint and the competitors are not present on
the radio, so this be a great opportunity for Sprint
to standout and enhance their sales
THREATS
-If they continue to not advertise as much as the
leading competitors, they may continue to not be
as notices as the others
-While Sprint spends a large sum of their
advertising spending in national newspapers, their
customers’ newspaper involvement is below
average so if they continue to do this, they may be
wasting their money and should be placing it
elsewhere.
III. Creative Strategy
Communication Objective
After much research, we have chosen the target audience of males and females ages
25-49. Within this target audience, the majority are educated, middle-upper class,
employed, married and with children. These common characteristics of our target
audience allow us to position our media plan in a direction that is family-oriented.

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Through our advertising, we aim to accomplish winning over our consumer’s trust. The
advertisements of our media plan execute our loyalty to families if they choose Sprint as
their telephone provider through our Family Warranty Plan. Our Communication
Objective is to gain trust from present consumers meanwhile win the trust of potential
consumers as well.
Positioning Statement
Competing telephone providers have history of turning away users when faced with
accidental damage. We aim to stand out from the market competition as the company
families can trust when life runs its course and accidents happen. Our brand position is
to implement Sprint in consumer’s mind as the company to rely on for their families and
go to when accidents happen.
Sprint’s Promise
In order to gain the trust of our target audience, Sprint wants current and future Sprint
users to think of us like a family. Through any uncontrollable situation that life happens
to throw at our consumers, Sprint will not only be there for our consumers figuratively,
but literally as well by financially covering their phone damages.
Tone
Sprint will gain the trust of the consumers by speaking to them in a friendly manner
intertwined with humor to make Sprint more approachable and appealing to our target
audience.
Tagline and Slogan

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The slogan of Sprint’s campaign will be, “We take care of you because that’s what
families do.” This slogan explains to our consumers that they can trust us to take care of
them financially with our Family Warranty Plan. But on a deeper meaning, consumers
will trust us as a company as a whole because we will be associated as a fellow family
member being there to support them figuratively along with literally.
Executions
- ”No Questions Asked” TV spot :30
The “No Questions Asked” commercial stars a mother in distress when facing the daily
chaos mothers endure. After misplacing her phone, she discovers it in the mouth of her
pet English Mastiff, covered in dirt with her toddler by its side. It is concluded that the
phone is obviously damaged; therefore the mother rushes to Sprint ridden with anxiety
over the misfortune of her phone. When asked, “What brings you in today”, she pauses
to tell the horrific story but much to her surprise, is interrupted by the Sprint employee to
tell her that she is covered regardless. This spot is meant to convey Sprint’s loyalty to
families in a literal manner. Our commercial’s goal is to build a trustworthy relationship
with our target audience, ensuring that we are there for them just like a fellow family
member would be thus inserting our slogan, “We take care you because that’s what
families do.” This is meant to emphasize how Sprint and its consumers are one family
while advocating our Family Warranty Plan. The commercial will run consecutively
throughout the months allocated for advertising.

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“No Questions Asked” Commercial Script
(SPRINT STORE) EMPLOYEE AND MOTHER
A mother enters looking disheveled. Her hair is awry and clothes covered in mud. A
toddler sits on her hip. A sprint employee approaches her.
EMPLOYEE
Hello Miss (looks confused as he takes in mother’s appearance) What brings you
in today?
(CAMERA ZOOMS IN ON JUST MOTHER’S FACE AS IT CONTORTS INTO A LOOK
OF DISGUST)
(SCENE CUTS TO FLASHBACK: MOTHER IS SEEN EXITING HOUSE ONTO DECK)
MOTHER
Honey, have you seen mommy’s phone?
(CAMERA ANGLE SWITCHES TO BEHIND MOTHER’S BACK) SCENE
A dog (English Mastiff) is seen digging a hole in the yard with mother’s cellphone in its
mouth. Mud is being flung everywhere: all over the dog, child and yard. The toddler
stands beside him pointing to dog in response to mother’s posed question.
(CAMERA PANS IN ON DOG’S HOLE) SCENE

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The dog proceeds to drop the phone into the hole and turns around to squat.
(SCENE CUTS TO MOTHER’S FACE AGAIN, HER FACE IN THE SAME
CONTORTED EXPRESSION)
(SCENE IS BACK TO SPRINT STORE WITH MOTHER, TODDLER AND EMPLOYEE
ALL SEEN IN THE SHOT) EMPLOYEE
Don’t worry, we got you covered.
(MOTHER SIGHS IN RELIEF AND FOLLOWS EMPLOYEE AS HE LEADS HER OUT
OF THE SHOT)
(GRAPHICS OF YELLOW BACKGROUND AND CELLPHONE SEEN) IN BOLD:
SPRINT’S FAMILY WARRANTY PLAN
VO
Sprint’s Family Warranty Plan. 1 accidental damage per phone covered, no payment
required. Following damages repaired for a low price- so you and your family can stop
being punished by fellow phone companies, and start being a family again. (PAUSE)
Sprint. We got you covered. (PAUSE) No Questions Asked.

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- ”Sprint Man” TV Spot :30
The “Sprint Man” commercial is created to appeal to our target audience who are family-
oriented and help their family members through any form of crisis and vice versa. The
family in distress in our commercial is designed to remind the target audience of their
own family. The family is literally stranded on an island and desperately needs help.
Therefore, when the family writes out “Sprint” in the sand, Sprint Man comes in a matter
of seconds. This situation represents that no matter the predicament that our TA and
their family is in, when they call; Sprint answers. The commercial ends with Sprint Man
single-handedly rescuing the whole family off the island. This symbolizes that no matter
the sticky situation that our target audience happens to face, Sprint will always be there
to save our customers when they need help; no family member left behind. This
commercial is our figurative approach that Sprint is always there for our families, thus
reminding them with our slogan: “We take of you because that’s what families do.” This
advertisement will run repeatedly throughout the months that our media plan allocates
for.
“Sprint Man” Commercial Script

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(FAMILY IS SEEN STRANDED ON AN ISLAND) FATHER, MOTHER, SON,
DAUGHTER AND DOG
(JUST MOTHER AND FATHER ARE SEEN IN SHOT) MOTHER
(Turns to Father) Honey! How are we ever going to get out of here!?
(HEAR KIDS COMMOTION IN THE BACKGROUND/DOG BARKING) SCENE
Camera pans over to dog and children assembling an “S” made out of rocks/twigs/etc.
(CAMERA CUTS BACK TO FATHER AND MOTHER) FATHER
Good idea kids! (Mother and Father run over to assist rest of family)
(CAMERA PANS OUT TO BIRD’S EYE VIEW OF BEACH, WHERE FAMILY HAS
SPELLED OUT “SPRINT”) SCENE
Family is seen waving next to “Sprint” jumping up and down.
(MAN APPEARS HOVERING IN THE AIR, SIMILAR TO SUPERMAN BUT WITH THE
COLORS OF YELLOW AND BLACK WITH AN “S” PRINTED ON HIS CHEST) SPRINT
MAN
Don’t worry family in distress! Sprint Man has you covered!

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(SPRINT MAN SEEN SWOOPING TO THE FAMILIES RESCUE, PICKS THEM UP
AND FLIES THEM OFF THE ISLAND) SCENE
Sprint Man carrying family into the horizon with the sun setting. Camera is behind
characters.
VO
FATHER
We love you Sprint Man!
VO
Sprint’s Family Warranty Plan. 1 accidental damage per phone covered, no payment
required. Following damages repaired for a low price- so you and your family can stop
being punished by fellow phone companies, and start being a family again. (PAUSE)
Sprint. We take care of you (PAUSE) because that’s what families do.
IV. Promotions
Five Country Concert Series
Because our target audience is very family-oriented and we want to coincide with our
TA’s family values, we will be bringing the family physically together through our

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promotions. Since families typically spend quality time together on summer vacations,
one of our promotions will be a concert series that will be held on beaches in the
summer time because we discovered through research that 50% of our target audience
go to the beach when they go on vacation. Therefore, Sprint will hold a country concert
series in five spot locations.
We will hold country concerts because 21% of our target audience prefer traditional
country music, and we don’t want to hold concerts under such categories like Rock and
Hip Hop because we want this to be a family-friendly concert with appropriate music for
all the ages that tend to vary from family to family. Our concerts will mostly be held
along the Gulf Coast in Orange Beach, Alabama; “East Beach” in Galveston Island,
Texas; Panama Beach and Daytona Beach, Florida; and Pismo Beach, California. We
will have most of our concerts along the Gulf Coast because less than 1% of our TA live
in Alabama, 5.81% live in Florida, 9% live in Texas, and 12% live in California.
To raise awareness about Sprint sponsoring these concerts, we will hold a contest at
the beginning of each concert. In order for the audience attending these concerts to be
eligible to acquire backstage passes, they have to follow Sprint’s Twitter account and
tweet at us with the hashtag, #SprintSummerSession before the show begins. Then,
winners will be randomly selected at the beginning of the show based on selected
tweets to meet the country superstars before the concert begins.
It costs $200,000 to sponsor an individual concert. Therefore, we will allocate
$1,000,000 to sponsor the five country concert series. In order to adequately raise

64
awareness about our summer promotion, we will heavily advertise in the months of July
and August especially in our spot markets.
Star Wars Sweepstakes
The Star Wars Sweepstakes promotion is another event we are using to “bring the
family together”, meanwhile generate awareness for both the movie and Sprint’s brand.
The idea behind the contest is the winner receives two tickets to “Star Wars: Episode
VII, The Force Awakens” red carpet premiere in Los Angeles on December 18 of 2015.
Sprint promotes its “family-oriented” positioning by physically awarding followers a
chance of a lifetime to share with their loved one meanwhile stimulate their liking
towards our brand in response.
The contest will be held via one of our social media handles, twitter. Audience
members are automatically entered into the pool of potential winners by tweeting
@sprint with the hashtag, #StarWarsSweepstakes by a certain date. Following
deadline, we will draw from the pool of tweeters in a raffle-like system, where 5 people
will be awarded with a pair of 2 tickets to the red carpet premiere. The winners will then
proceed to be flown out, 1st class, by Sprint to the destination where they will be treated
to free transportation, dining, limo service and hotel stay over the course of a weekend.
The total cost of this promotion is $28,700. Breaking it down, purchasing the tickets to
the red carpet premiere for 10 attendees would result in $7,500. Flying out the winners
via 1st class would add $15,000 onto our promotion along with $6,000 for hotel stay with
3 nights in total. Limo service to the red carpet premiere and back would then add an

65
additional $200. Included within these prices are also transportation, free breakfast and
complementaries throughout the duration of their stay.
Star Wars was our movie of choice because it hits all factors that apply to both our
target audience and the goals we intend to accomplish within our promotion. 45.8% of
our target audience prefer action/adventure movies over all other movie genres and our
promotions are geared towards “bringing the family together” while advocating our
family-oriented positioning. So, we proceeded to explore upcoming movies within the
action/adventure genre that families would be interested in. Star Wars thus became our
promotion’s movie focus because it not only was an action/adventure movie, but a film
that both adults and kids have shown interest in- therefore making it the perfect
opportunity to bring the family together.
We will advertise this promotion strictly through our twitter handle with a digital ad. This
ad will run throughout the months of November and December, leading up to the
premiere of the movie.
V. Media Objectives/Rationale
1. Target audience
Objective:
Our target audience envelops a wide range of people due to the commonalities among
them. For Sprint, we chose to target adults between the ages of 25-49 because they
live similar lifestyles and have similar demographics. Both genders are in the target

66
audience because 50.3% are males and 49.7% are females, leading to an almost even
split. We gathered various information about our target audience regarding their
demographic and psychographic profiles and their lifestyles in general. After studying
our target audience, we found that a majority of our audience are educated, middle to
upper class, married and have children. In regards of these factors, we felt able to really
work with them and found a positioning that is family-oriented. Then, by studying their
psychographics and lifestyles, we found various mediums and channels that will help us
reach our audience effectively.
Demographics:
● Race
○ White (71.2%)
○ African-American (13.6%)
○ Other (9.3%)
○ Asian (6.0%)
● Ethnicity
○ 80.7% Non-Hispanic
○ 19.3% Hispanic
● Gender
○ Male (50.3%)
○ Female (49.7%)
● Some college or more
○ 56%
● Employed

67
○ 74.9%
● Income
○ 68% make $50,000+
● Homeowners
○ 65.1%
● Married
○ 58.1%
● Children in Household
○ 60.9%
Psychographics/Lifestyle:
-Music
● 66.6% listen to album oriented rock
● 62.5% listen to 80s pop/rock
● 60.2% listen to hip hop/rap
● 51.8% occasionally watch Nascar Racing
-Movies
● 69.9% have attended movies in the last six months
● 45.8% like action/adventure movies
-Outdoor activities
● 58.2% have attended a theme park in the last 12 months
● 57.9% go to the zoo
● 53.1% go go-carting
● 51.4% go to the beach/lake

68
● 49.6% have used public transportation in the last 30 days
-Other activities
● 58.2% go to bars/nightclubs
● 58.5% shopped online in the last 12 months
● 55.9% dine out
-Shopping habits
● 28.2% are virtual shoppers
● 23.7% are knowledgeable consumers who carefully research purchases online
and compare prices before buying
-Media involvement
● Radio: 70.1% average or above average
● Television: 64.3% average or above average
● Magazines: 60.4% average or above average
● Newspapers: 43.8% average or above average
Media:
We will use various mediums in order to get the advertisements around. We will use
radio as one of our main mediums because the target audience are heavy listeners.
78.9% of our target audience listen to the radio from Monday through Sunday. Most of
the radio is listened to during 6 AM-11 AM (54.4%) and 3 PM-7 PM (57.2%) indicating
that that tend to listen on their drives to and from work. When it comes to radio
involvement is 70.1% average or above average. This percentage paired with the
frequency of the advertisements will lead to an efficient way to reach our target
audience. We will target print outlets such as magazines because 57.3% read monthly

69
publications so advertisements can be placed in various vehicles, which will be different
monthly publications that suit the members of our target audience. 48.1% read
newspapers so newspapers will be used as well. We will also target television since that
is such a hot medium and we want to stay relevant with the competition. 45.4% of our
target audience has cable and the most popular networks with our target audience is
CBS (46.2%), ABC (45.9%) and FOX (45.6%) and 70.9% watch television between the
hours of 7-11 PM. Digital channels will be used as well because 68.6% of our target
audience use social media. For our final medium, we will use outdoor advertising
because our target audience like to do outdoor activities. For example, 61% like sight-
seeing.
The following chart (Chart 1) shows how are GRPs were spread across the media used.
The following chart (Chart 2) shows the percent of our budget allocate to each medium.

70
2. Reach/Frequency Objectives
OSTROW MODEL
Part I: Marketing Factors That Affect Frequency
Established brand? -.2
High market share? +.1
Dominant brand? +.1
High brand loyalty? +.2
Long purchase cycle? -.1
Product used occasionally? +.2
Need to beat competition? +.2
Advertising to older consumers/children? +.1__
+.6
Part II: Copy Factors That Affect Frequency
Simple copy? +.1
Copy more unique than competition? +.1
Continuing campaign? +.2
Product sell copy? -.1
Single kind of message? +.1
To avoid wear out: new messages? +.1
Larger ad units? -.1__
+.3
Part III: Media Factors That Affect Frequency
Lower ad clutter? +.1
Compatible editorial? -.1
Attentiveness high? -.1
Continuous advertising? +.2
Few media used? +.1
Opportunities for media repetition? -.1__
+.1
1.0 + 3.0 benchmark = 4.0 minimum Frequency

71
The Ostrow Model was the basis of the lowest frequency, 4.0, used in the
plan. The number is moderate because Sprint is a decently established brand,
but it does not have as much share and awareness as its higher-ups.
Throughout our 12-month plan, we did what we could to stay as close to this
efficiency as possible. Those months that did not stay around 4.0 went above
the minimum. The lowest frequency used throughout the plan was 3.8 and the
highest was 10.1. The efficiency is at a level that will maintain stop of mind
awareness. According to this determination and the base reach of 75.0, the
lowest monthly GRP should be 300. We exceeded the lowest level of reach and
lowest average frequency for our base months. The lowest reach of our plan is
73.1, and it falls into the moderate category. All of our numbers are relatively
met throughout the plan. Some months were not as close to those numbers
required, but they were close enough to still prove efficient. The numbers used
created an efficient level of reach and frequency to both create and keep
awareness of Sprint.
For Reach/Frequency Objectives, we chose multiple media to help us achieve
our goals. Over Net TV, Net Cable, Net Radio, Digital, Outdoor, Magazines and
Newspapers, the monthly GRPs were able to excel to new heights and allow
goals to be achieved. July, August, and December were chosen as Spot
Markets to reach more of the Target Audience in prime times. The Target
Audience enjoys outdoor activities and are family-oriented, so the times that both
of these would be prominent were expressed in Spot Market months. The Target

72
Audience chosen is an avid radio listener, so this was a prime medium. After
radio, there were few TV advocates, but TV is an important medium to explore
because of what it is able to achieve. Digital media comes into play with the
realization of online shopping and social media usage being important to these
people. Digital is a good way to reach many people at a lesser cost. Many
people enjoy reading Monthly Publications, so we chose to do some magazine
publications. Some enjoyed newspapers, so that is another medium chosen.
The target audience enjoy outdoor activities, so it is important to cover outdoor
media as well to ensure reaching as many people as possible. While some
media are not prominently used by the target audience, the knowledge of their
slight presence was worth our spending.
With our target audience, we pursued further research to find out which mediums
they used most. Results showed preferences in radio, magazines, and network
television. Therefore, our reach and frequency will be based around those
specific mediums. We will create the appropriate amount of commercials, print
ads, and digital advertisements to generate a suitable reach and frequency that
each month calls for. Our creative strategy is family oriented, therefore all
advertisements and promotions will convey that message.
● Total GRPs for the entire year (National/Spot) = 6348
○ Summer
June: 93.3 Reach and 6.4 Frequency for 599 GRPs
July: 94.8 Reach and 10.1 Frequency for 958 GRPs, 359 GRPs in spot
markets

73
August: 94.8 Reach and 10.1 Frequency for 958 GRPs, 359 GRPs in spot
markets
○ Fall
September: 85.0 Reach and 5.1 Frequency for 437 GRPs
October: 74.7 Reach and 4.0 Frequency for 301 GRPs
November: 93.3 Reach and 6.4 Frequency for 599 GRPs
○ Winter
December: 94.9 Reach and 10.1 Frequency for 958 GRPs, 359 GRPs in
spot markets
January: 73.1 Reach and 3.8 Frequency for 276 GRPs
February: 74.8 Reach and 4.0 Frequency for 301 GRPs
○ Spring
March: 84.1 Reach and 4.2 Frequency for 352 GRPs
April: 84.6 Reach and 3.9 Frequency for 327 GRPs
May: 73.1 Reach and 3.8 Frequency for 276 GRPs
All of our GRPs have been calculated into total Gross Impressions and determined to
be 6,215,771,160.
3. Media Budget Objective
The budget provided was $80 million, and this was allocated to different sources
wisely. Overall, the majority of the budget was allotted for media used, in total
approximately $75 million was spent to cover these expenses. Other promotions were
allotted slightly more than $1 million. The promotions include a 5 series beach country
concert to bring families together at a place they are frequently found. This promotion

74
was given $1 million in funds. The other promotion running will be 5 trips to the red
carpet premiere of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. This promotion was allotted
$30,000 to pay for airfare, hotel, transportation, tickets, and miscellaneous expenses.
After accounting for all of the media advertising and promotions, over $3 million of the
budget has not been spent. With these leftover funds, there will be money in reserves if
any of these approximations turn out to be more expensive than accounted for.
For the duration of this campaign, it will be run nationally, but we will also have focus in
a select number of spot markets. The spot markets for this campaign include: Atlanta,
Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, Sacramento, San Francisco, Tampa, and D.C. These eight
markets contain many people in our Target Audience and are also some of the largest
markets in the nation. With this in mind, our strategy can be defined as both offensive
and defensive: we are defending those markets that have been prominent while also
reaching out to markets made up of people with similar demographics and
psychographics. Many of these cities are located in the south, and that is where our
Target Audience is prominent; both there and the west which is accounted for in our
California and Texas spot markets.
In the campaign, much of our spending will take place in the summer months, shortly
followed by the holiday season. Our Target Audience are avid outdoors people, so
doing more variety of advertising in the summer months and running our one promotion
here will be a cause for extensive spending. The holiday season, November-
December, coincides with the Star Wars promotion we will be running. The concert
series will take place at beaches along the gulf coast and in California: Panama City,

75
Florida, Daytona Beach, Florida, East Beach in Galveston Island, Texas, Orange
Beach, Alabama and finally Pismo Beach, California. The concerts will be of the
country genre because we wanted to bring families together and felt country music was
the most suitable to do so, and also our Target Audience enjoys this genre. With the
family-oriented approach, outdoor summer activities were of large interest, so this was
one of the best suited choices. The Star Wars promotion that will run was chosen
because our Target Audience enjoys Action/Adventure movies, and this is also a
suitable movie for children, so it is family-oriented. Star Wars has both an older and
younger crowd attraction because of the numerous things done with it to appeal to both
generations. The promotion plays to this idea.
The schedule will be taking pulsing approach. We believe that this is the best approach
because it will keep Sprint in the minds of all consumers. By pulsing throughout the
year, we are able to keep our brand name out there and increase awareness amongst
adults ages 25-49 who are likely to be buying their first family plan in this age range.
4. Geographical Objective
The geographical regions that are used throughout this plan are useful for the
amount of our target audience that live there. The areas chosen will achieve our
goals of reaching current users and expanding to new users of the same demographic
and psychographic characteristics. Our spot cities categorize into the urban sector of
living. They are major cities in different states that are home to many people of all ages,
including many adults ages 25-49 like our Target Audience. The spot markets that will
be targeted through our campaign include:

76
● Atlanta, Georgia
● Dallas, Texas
● Los Angeles, California
● Miami, Florida
● Sacramento, California
● San Francisco, California
● Tampa St. Peters, Florida
● Washington, D.C.
The allocation of our budget allowed for adequate spending between both the
national and spot markets. National markets accounted for 82% of our spending
over the 12-month period. In the chosen spot markets, 18% of the budget went
here. These numbers are not equivalent, but our spot markets are still hit in
months that do not contain spot spending, just not as heavy. These numbers
allow for avid representation nationwide.
The following chart (Chart 3) displays Sprint’s National vs Spot Spending
5. Scheduling/Timing Objective

77
Our calendar fluctuations are quite variable due to the strategy we decided to
take. We chose our spot markets to only be targeted extra in three months
because of the family-oriented approach we are taking. Since many of our target
audience have children they are active in the summer months are often outdoors,
so we did heavy advertising and spot markets in July and August. We took a
small break to conserve our funds, and then built back up in December to
coincide with both our promotion with Star Wars and the holiday season.
November and June had just as many GRPs because we took the awareness
approach. November is when many people begin their holiday shopping, so we want to
strike while the market is hot. June is high in preparation for the upcoming summer and
outdoor activities.
The following chart (Chart 4) depicts the monthly GRPs in spot and national markets.
We decided that with an $80 million budget we have the means to pulse in order to stay
relevant and to keep up with the competition all year through. For every month, we will
include the mediums radio, net tv, and digital because of the involvement amongst the
consumers and the relevance it holds compared to the competition. 68.6% of the people

78
use social media and 58.5% have shopped online in the last 12 months, making digitial
an ideal medium. We will split most of the radio advertisements during the morning drive
(54.4%) and evening drive (57.2%) because the majority of our target audience listens
to and from work. We also included advertisements during the daytime because the
amount of people that tune in is still high with 49.3% and will help us with achieving a
greater reach. For net tv, the majority of the advertisements will be placed during prime
time because when the target audience does tune it, 70.7% tune in during that time. We
will also place the ads on the networks they watch the most, which are CBS (46.2%),
ABC (45.9%) and FOX (45.6%).
Because our target audience is an active group that is constantly moving and doing
activities, we feel it is essential to include Outdoor advertising, especially in areas that
they pass often and also placed by things they may go to like beaches and lakes for
example. 44.7% of our target audience pay at least a little attention to billboards which
can be effective paired with an appropriate number of frequency. Outdoor advertising
will be placed in every month besides two, which are October and February. We only
excluded these two because outdoor is so expensive and we will cut it from those two
months because they are base months.
For the rest of the mediums not yet mentioned, they were only placed in our top months.
These mediums included newspapers, magazines, and net cable. These are good
mediums to reach our audience, but because of the pulsing schedule and wanting to
remain on our budget, we will just focus these mediums on the top months to really
build our reach and frequency in the months of July, August, November, December and
June.

79
The following chart (Chart 5) shows monthly national and spot spending.
Chart 6, the following chart, shows all media used and the amount spent.
Medium Cost ($000)
Net TV-Prime 12796.8
Net TV-L Nite/L New s 3646.1
Net TV-Sports 7448.2
Net Cable-Prime 2237.3
Net Cable-L Fringe 921.0
Net Radio-Morning Drive 2754.2
Net Radio-Daytime 1570.8
Net Radio-Evening Drive 2645.6
Magazines-Mens 4478.7
Magazines-Womens 3407.4
Magazines-GeneralInterest 2751.6

80
National New spapers 7026.5
Digital National 1133.9
Spot TV-Prime 3312.6
Spot Radio-Morning Drive 1090.2
Spot Radio-Daytime 911.5
Spot Radio-Evening Drive 1199.1
Outdoor 16331.5
Digital Spot 90.0
Appendix
*Flowchart

83
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