Sprint News

I honestly am not a fan of that print ad. I honestly think it will backfire. It once again is Sprint trying to claim that they have outdone the iPhone with the Pre. Didn't Sprint already try that with the Instinct...and failed miserably?!?

Personally, I like the Palm Pre commercial being advertised by Palm, Inc. itself. Nice, quaint, and simple. Shows the strength of the Pre without all the Pre-tentiousness of Sprint. Sprint's Palm Pre commercial, incidently, is...how should I describe it?...annoying! Whoever that singer is needs to simply have a muzzle put over her mouth. Ack!

Anyhow, given that AT&T already stated that they've sold over 1M new 3G iPhone 3.0 S handsets since it debuted a few weeks ago, that means that NO ONE is bothering with the Pre. At last count, Sprint has sold MAYBE 150,000 Palm Pre handsets...that's only 10% of the sales that AT&T is able to claim. Given that AT&T has 2x the number of subscribers, you'd think that Sprint could sell about 500,000 Pre handsets. NOPE. Why? Because Sprint is targeting the wrong audience with the wrong commercials.

Market the Pre for what it is: an overly glorified, multi-tasking iPhone-wannabe...but do so WITHOUT ever mentioning the iPhone (or even hinting at it). An apple core is NOT a good idea.

Just my 2 cents worth.

I agree with quasijedi; I would rather see Sprint pursue a path of differentiating itself without drawing upon comparisons to competing products. There is much more to the current state than the handset; the handset is becoming the medium by which folks are communicating with their world. At the end of the day, the applications are going to be the determinate – the challenge will be in acquiring a customer who has made a substantial investment in a competitor’s application store. The handset is only vehicle.

I agree, pitting anthing...ANYTHING up against the iPhone is just suicidal.

I am not an iPhone lover, I had one for 3 days before returning it when I realized I only really cared for the iPod functionality of it. Apple certainly has a nice phone, but it does lack a few key points other phones have.

While the PRE is a nice phone, it too has its issues, and I dont think its fair to put the PRE before an iPhone (or any phone before the iPhone). It doesnt really matter WHAT the company says about a product, its all about the consumer loving the product. Unfortunately for Sprint this means that people LOVE the iPhone, even if its on a slower, less reliable network, with more expensive plans. The average consumer doesnt care about "speed" as long as they are told there is "more bars in more places" and its "iPhone" with a ton of apps. Most people also are sheep and dont know how to vote in Presidential elections either, but thats another topic.

My point Im trying to make, specifically saying something is better then any of the competitors normally doesnt work. Why not just say how great the things you have are without comparison. Give people a chance to try them out, and give people a little more freedom when they want something different. Advertising things you have NOW, for the NOW Network is better then advertising things AGAINST other companies. You dont see AT&T or Verizon or T-Mobile bad mouthing another company or phone specficially do you? There is a reason why... perception is one of those reasons.

Sprint could learn a lot by making advertising geared toward the demographic of person they want. While they might want data-centric users, and business users, Sprint isnt going to get them unless they really market for them, and give those people satisfaction and trust.

1. Nextel should be either a PrePay carrier like BOOST, or it should be 100% business oriented, and marketed as "Still the fastest, most reliable, most advanced walkie-talkie network that works in more places in the world then any other"

2. Market QCHAT big time. Spent all that money for a cross-over, now push it in phones and push the plans out for them, and be a leader an start putting this utility in peoples hands!

3. Offer 1 year contracts again! PERIOD!! Dont jack up the price of the phone and claim it costs more in 1 year. Sprint has been selling 1 year contracts for YEARS prior to 2 Year agreements, and they still havent made more money off 2 years apparently!

4. One Call Solutions for customer service and tech support calls. No one likes "hold" times, and no one likes to have to call back over and over again. Train people to keep NOTES ACCURATELY in account, and to listen to the customer and repeat what they want. Dont just get people off the phone fast cause you dont want to deal with it, cause you have such faith in the network or company. Really advertise that Sprint is listening.

5. DO NOT ADVERTISE 4G unless you actually have it. So far only 3 areas do, and with USB Modems. This is a lost cause, since most people DONT CARE. Tell people that your expanding coverage rapidly with a faster, more dependable network. Maybe show YouTube, MySpace, Twitter, FaceBook, or even "Video" calling as the catch for the 4G.

Im just saying you gotta push what you HAVE, KNOW, and WILL DO in advertising, not put up how much better you are by putting down another company, or its product.

Simply Everything Plan - Saves you $xxx amount over comparible plans on other wireless carriers.

Palm PRE - Always Connected and always on a dependable 3G network in the places you need.

I hope this helps...

First of! Sprint needs to Upgrade their "Nation Wide" service. Their coverage is less then Verizon's. Second, their EVDO or 3G speeds are only limited to very few states and it is not nation wide. This is hurting their business quite significantly. No wonder they can charge less for their service if they don't have the inferstructure to support it. If you see their EVDO maps online, it is embarrasing to claim that they have the largest network, the fastest speeds nation wide.

SPRINT if you build it they will come!!!

Well, I can say that they have zero 3g coverage in Mississippi or Louisiana (outside of southeast Louisiana where the two biggest state markets are). While I understand we don't have the population here, it's also the only wireless company that doesn't have any 3g coverage in NW Louisiana where I live. If they can do much of rural Kansas and Oklahoma, they can do a midsize metropolitan area like mine. Even TMobile has coverage here. I'm trying the Pre anyway, because as company they seem the least of three evils right now...but the lack of any 3g availability is really frustrating. I'm on here trying to find an expansion schedule of some sort right now.