If you’ve ever driven past a T-Mobile store at night as I do each time I drive on Loughborough to my apartment, you have noticed the distracting hot-pink lighting inside of the otherwise dark store. This use of unusual pink lighting is interesting to me and I wonder about the marketing strategy behind it. I also remembered T-Mobile’s advertisements, both commercial and print, also reflect this “pink” theme and thought it would be worth looking a little deeper into, especially when talking about production elements.
You probably recognize this women form print ads, billboards and in T-Mobile commercials. They call her “the 4G Girl” and she wears an eye-catching striped pink and white dress.
In this commercial for the T-Mobile MyTouch 4G, “4G Girl” stands against a blank white room (in her pink dress of course) next to a man giving another man a piggy-back ride, who represent the iPhone and AT&T. The men are wearing dark, heavy clothing and are struggling as “4G Girl” says “that’ll slow you down”. The men give off an almost dirty and dark vibe when juxtaposed against a tall, pretty woman in a breezy summer-y dress and heels.
Towards the end of last year, T-Mobile launched a new campaign promoting LTE expansion and a faster network and premiered the sweet, bubbly “4G Girl”’s alter-ego, who rides a motorcycle and is dressed in a tight black (with pink accents) leather jumpsuit. The line after "No More Mr. Nice Girl" (below) reads, "Time To Set the Record Straight" and goes on to tell you a website to "test drive" T-Mobile's new services.
It's interesting to me how T-Mobile highly depends on color to convey their message. Originally, they used pink to be eye-catching and convey a fresh, put-together and vibrant image. "4G Girl" looks approachable, happy and care-free. In the "Alter-Ego" campaign, T-Mobile switches to black, a harsh change to the all white background of their previous ads, and "4G Girl" now rides a motorcycle, symbolizing speed for their new network, and also wears black (her hair is straightened now too). Even though the black is noticeably different to anyone who is familiar with the original campaign, the splashes of hot pink is present to help you remember the branding. You don't even have to see the commercials or hear the sound to be able to compare the two vastly different images of their spokesperson and feel the vibe they want you to feel. I also like how the pink images from their advertisements is mirrored in the physical lighting in the store. It's important when branding to carry over themes from your advertisements to the actual experience customers get when interacting with your product.
Great observation, Leah! Another point I find interesting about T-Mobile commercials is the ringtone. The short yet catchy piece of music played at the end of every T-Mobile TVC, radio ad is somewhat ingrained in my mind (and I'm pretty sure for many of us, too). Every time I hear it, I instantly think of T-Mobile. It, again, affirms the effectiveness of music in advertising to aid product recall.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good point about the ring tone. T-Mobile has used that so consistently through the years that any time I hear that ringtone coming from someone's phone, my first thought is about T-Mobile.
DeleteTo your point about carrying over themes in advertising, T-Mobile also has a spot now for its no contract plan that shows cowboys in the wild west. The cowboys are lined up on their horses wearing dark colored hats. The T-mobile cowboy then speaks about changing his ways and removes his standard black cowboy hat to put on the signature pink hat.
ReplyDeleteI think it's interesting point that T-mobile uses such a connection with more feminine colors with and their female spokesperson. I am curious as too why this was the direction the company choose to go in. It is clear that is a memorable campaign as you have mentioned but I would be really interested to figure out the association the company was trying to make between color and their customers. It is not usually to have a pretty model trying to sell a product in an ad but those ads usually don't also place such a heavy emphasis on a particular color palette.
ReplyDeleteI have also wondered about T-Mobile's choice to use hot pink. Perhaps it's as simple as wanting to stand out. Then again, I can see how the ads could appeal to men as well since she is attractive.
DeleteOne good point that was mentioned was how the branding has been transferred into the stores with the use of the pink light. This is such a simple addition, but it makes a major impact in creating top of mind awareness which is something brands kill for.