Ringback Tones TV Commercials

Hi everyone,

Today I decided to address another aspect of marketing, a mass communication marketing activity, i.e.TV commercials. To me, it is very interesting to see commercials from different mobile operators from around the world and look which aspects of the ringback tones service each one chooses to present.

For your convenience and fun, I'm adding here each commercial as I cover it, so you're welcome to read, watch and enjoy :)

The first commercial comes from Orange Israel:

What I liked here is that Orange presents how an ordinary and dull 'ring ring' sound can be replaced with a much more fun tone (which is actually Orange Israel's name for the service). The commercial doesn't take us to the mobile arena literally, rather displays a metaphoric example of anther dull 'ring ring' situation of a young guy pressing the door's buzzer and waiting to be answered.

The second commercial comes from T-Mobile Czech Republic:

Here, T-Mobile empowers the ringback tones subscriber - he can change the caller's mood by playing a fun dial tone...

The third commercial comes from Hutch, India.

Here, Hutch emphasized personalization. As a ringback tones subscriber (or Caller Tunes) I can set different tunes for each of my friends, so they all enjoy while waiting for me to answer. Like the first example of Orange, Hutch doesn't place the commercial at the mobile arena and we get to link the metaphoric example to the Caller Tunes service later on.

The fourth commercial comes from Cosmote Greece:

[For some odd reason, at YouTube there's no sound, so you can download the video from here as well]. What I liked here is the suspense the commercial puts you in. Everyone calls Yargo - but why? This commercial also empowers the ringback tones subscriber, he\she becomes popular since everyone wants to dial his\her number...

Well, I hope you enjoyed it. If you come across other commercials, feel free to send over the links or post them here as a comment :)

Comments

[Ricky Cadden]

Great writeup. personally I liked the first one the best.

Ringback tones aren't that big here in the 'States. I tried them once with Cingular and found that the quality of the music playing stunk.

It also didn't offer what I think is vital for this product, the ability to pick a group of 5-7 tones that randomly play, so that if the same person calls you often, they don't get sick of your ringback tone. Is that something that's offered elsewhere?

Personally, I always thought ringback tones should be pushed towards the mobile professional, as well. I had mine setup with a female friend doing the voice recording before the music, saying, "Thank you for calling Ricky. Please hold a moment while I see if he's available..." *music* and then either I pickup or it goes to voicemail. Kinda like having a secretary for $2/month.

[Xen]

Hi Ricky,

Sorry for the late reply...

Ringback tones are relatively new for the American market and most operators just recently made their soft launch. But, if you look at the European market, ringback tones are one of the top revenue generators there!

As for the subject of features, each operator has a different offering. Among the coolest features are - IMO - the ability to set a different tone for each caller or for different times of the day, the ability to send your friends a ringback as a gift… Also there are very creative content types - it doesn’t really have to be a music tone, it can be a personalized greeting, your caller’s daily horoscope, funny quotes…

And if you’re interested, you should consider attending at the upcoming ringback tones marketing seminar in Miami :)

[yoav_el]

Hi Ricky,

I loved your idea with the $2 secretary. Awesome idea.
Indeed the US market is a bit behind, in related to the Ringback tone arena however recently we see a change in the Operators approach toward this service. It seems that they understand that it is a service that can really catch, people love and willing to pay for it.
The last interesting example of the changing approach toward Ringback tone is Sprint new digital lounge. It is well designed and Ringback tones get the same “respect” and presence and Ringtones.
You can visit is via Sprint main page (www.sprint.com) or directly via the long link below.
They did great design and usability job, worth taking a look.
https://manage.sprintpcs.com/Manage/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_AFHH/.cmd/ad/.ar/sa.spf_ActionListener/.c/6_0_310/.ce/7_0_50NJ/.p/5_0_18L/.d/1?PC_7_0_50NJ_spf_strutsAction=%212fselectFolder.do%213ffolderId%3Dcalltones%3A%212f5000006%2126zone%3DPersonalization#7_0_50NJ