Actor James Earl Jones is back in a new national television campaign for Verizon, challenging cable rivals with a Verizon DSL service that offers double the download speed at the same monthly rates as before.
Fashion photographer Albert Watson directed the campaign created by Verizon agency Draft New York. ID Media, New York, handled media buying for the 60-second direct response TV spot, and Zenith bought media for the 30-second awareness spot. The spots are adapted for radio.
The spots promote Verizon DSL features that include doubled download speeds without raising the monthly rate. The campaign also touts a free wireless getaway included in the annual plan that lets consumers share their DSL connection with all household computers at no extra cost.
Humor is used to get the message across to dialup users tired of slow Internet speeds. The 60-second spot shows two versions of Jones facing off against each other. One champions speed while the other talks price. It wraps up with a third Jones delivering the free wireless getaway, combining speed and the right price.
The spot broke May 16 and will run in Boston, Seattle, New York, Dallas, Washington, Tampa, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Baltimore. Variations in each market will contrast offers from rivals such as Cox, Road Runner, Optimum Online, Brighthouse, Adelphia and Comcast.
Mickey Alam Khan covers Internet marketing campaigns and e-commerce, agency news as well as circulation for DM News and DMNews.com. To keep up with the latest developments in these areas, subscribe to our daily and weekly e-mail newsletters by visiting www.dmnews.com/newsletters
