Randall Stephenson, COO of AT&T provided the morning keynote at Mplanet 2006. Randall's presentation began with a look back to a 'famous' AT&T commercial starring Lily Tomlin. Of course it was a SNL skit that some of the 'older' audience members might remember. Randall stated that the skit was of course not a real AT&T commercial, and it doesn't reflect the old AT&T or the new AT&T.
"100 million people" was the opening number from Randall. With AT&T's new Three Screen initiative they have the ability to reach 100 million people via the screens that people interact with: internet, wireless and TV. The connector between all these screens is IP (internet protocol). Imagine multiscreen campaigns that can hit all these major touchpoints, granular targeting with respect to their privacy.
Consumers are creators, customers rule, our goal is to reach them on their terms. In this new world, wireless is the most important vehicle. Wireless gives users more control and freedom, something they've always wanted. This past quarter, Cingular customers sent 138 million multi-media messages, this includes photos and videos. Cingluar customers sent 10 billion text messages last quarter. Wireless data use is up 50% this past year. If we connect advanced content with wireless and the numbers will continue to grow.
U-Verse is the latest offering from AT&T. U-Verse integrates TV and internet. What they've discovered with U-Verse is something that needs to be seen to be believed. The marketing campaign for U-Verse includes guerilla and viral marketing campaigns. They're also going to where the customers are. They have viewing events at supermarkets, neighborhoods. What they're finding is that their number one marketing allie is their customers.
The new ad model they're offering is IP Advertising. Your advertising is sent to a specific IP based upon specific criteria you select. Advertising can be sent regardless of what they're viewing. Randall stressed that the information used would be aggregate and anonymous.
IP advertising is TV plus Google plus Amazon.
Randall highlighted some of the interesting highlights of AT&T demographic reach. More than 70% of the African American population lives in local markets that AT&T serves. The same for Hispanic customers, over 70%.
