Always looking for a new angle to attract more users from the incumbent mobile operators, Three in the UK is embarking on a series of ten-second TV ads featuring the Sugababes to promote its mobile TV and Internet offerings. The girl pop act has already established a mobile presence with their Endemol-produced mobile-TV-only reality show “Get close to…Sugababes,” although this aired on rival network O2.
For its part, Three is hoping once again that innovation — in this case short ad bursts — will make up for being smaller than its rivals: The Guardian writes that the campaign will cost Three around 15 million pounds ($30.6 million), but Three’s overall ad spend in the year to the end of July was 25 million pounds ($51 million), compared to 71 million pounds ($144.9 million) from Orange, 53 million pounds ($108.2 million) at Vodafone (NYSE: VOD), 46.6 million pounds ($95.1 million) from T-Mobile and 37 million pounds ($75.5 million) at O2. But Three has a long road ahead of it still. John Penberthy-Smith, marketing director for Three: “If you talk to consumers there is a lack of clarity over what we are about and there are some who haven’t heard of us.”
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