Virgin Mobile moved quickly this week to produce an Eliot Spitzer print ad as part of its “You call the shots” campaign.
To promote its dedication to a more personalized approach to customer care, Virgin will run a full-page ad this week in Metro and 24 commuter dailies in Toronto featuring the now-former Governor Spitzer with a thought bubble above his head that reads: “I’m tired of being treated like a number.”
The ad copy reads: “At Virgin Mobile, you’re more than just a number. When you call us we’ll treat you like a person, not a client. Whether you’re #9 or #900, you’ll get hooked up with somebody who’ll finally treat you just how you want to be treated.”
On Monday, news broke that Spitzer had at least seven or eight liaisons over the last several years with prostitutes supplied by an international call girl ring. Spitzer was identified as “Client 9.”
Virgin began the new campaign last week with a full-page ad featuring Hillary Clinton and a thought bubble above her head that read “I wish my bill wasn’t so out of control.”
“We’re looking for this series of ads to be topical events that people are interested in,” said Nathan Rosenberg, chief marketing officer, Virgin Mobile. “[Spitzer] was on the front page of pretty much every Canadian newspaper [yesterday].”
Virgin is discussing plans to take the ad national with its media buying partner, Wills and Co. A Barack Obama ad, rolling out next week, will be the last in the political series, with Virgin moving on to other newsworthy people after that, said Rosenberg.
“We have the licence as a brand to do things that are more edgy, interesting and engaging than probably some of the other brands do,” said Rosenberg. “That’s why we feel like we really want to keep doing this.”
–Kristin Laird
This article appeared on The Marketing Daily PM Wednesday March 12, 2008.
