Its official launch is still weeks or months away, but Data & Audio Visual Enterprises (DAVE) Wireless has launched a holiday ad campaign telling phone buyers to pause before signing new mobile contracts with competitors.
The “Competition is Coming” campaign is a print and out of home effort targeting the Southern Ontario market where the company expects to first unveil its offering in “early 2010.”
“We think this is where a lot of the competition will take place,” said Sara Moore, vice-president of marketing, who refers to the campaign as a “public service announcement” that heralds DAVE’s arrival in Canada’s largest mobile market.
DAVE was one of the winners of last year’s government-run spectrum auction, successfully bidding for licenses to provide mobile services in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa and five other cities.
The first “Competition is Coming” print ads first appeared yesterday in the National Post and The Globe and Mail. Transit and billboard ads have been in-market for more than a week in Toronto and Ottawa.
Zenith Optimedia handled the media buy.
Copy on one outdoor execution says “No action = the best course of action,” while another says “Like contracts? Go to law school. Don’t lock into a wireless contract you’ll regret.”
“It was the timing that drove this campaign,” Moore said. “We don’t think Canadians are aware enough of the competition that’s coming to the wireless industry next year.”
According to the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association, 35% of all new wireless subscribers between 2005 and 2008 were added during the last three months of the year, which speaks to mobile phones’ popularity as a holiday gift.
“Competition is Coming” was created in-house, though DAVE is currently conducting an agency review and has reached the short-list stage. The winning agency will be announced next year.
