Commentary

T-Mobile's Uncarrier Social-First Super Bowl Strategy Scores

T-Mobile returned to the Super Bowl with a social-first strategy that lives up to its “Uncarrier” edge. Flaunting its customer perks and pledging to pay off competitor contracts, T-Mobile goes all-in with a clear message: Are you with us? You should be.

T-Mobile is a prime example of truly being present on social and creating valuable one-on-one engagements. Its 2019 Super Bowl roll-out was no exception. The face of this effort is CEO John Legere, who has adopted a bold customer hero persona that T-Mobile fans have embraced.

“T-Mobile repeatedly gets it right when it comes to relatability, even as far up the chain as its CEO John Legere. Legere is an integral piece of the "Un-carrier’s" social efforts and its overall brand image. Not only does he use Twitter to tease the company’s latest developments and interact with consumers directly, but he can be found tweeting about his slow cooker creations every Sunday. What other CEO does that?” asked Emily Groch, Mintel Comperemedia, director of insights, Telecom

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On Monday, January 28, Legere announced T-Mobile's return to the Super Bowl via a Twitter puzzle, prompting followers to write down the first word of his previous eight tweets, take a picture, and tweet it with the hashtag #TMobileWins. The eight words ultimately revealed “T-Mobile is back in the Super Bowl again.”

Leger retweeted several of the submissions and further enticed participation with various product giveaways, which included the iPhone XS Max. Surprise-and-delight efforts are effective in creating personal touch points that encourage brand advocacy, as consumers are quick to share such stories.

Leading up to the Super Bowl, T-Mobile teased a “BIG” announcement across its social channels. Legere upped his antics tweeting the number of Super Bowl ads T-Mobile would be airing via a word scramble puzzle which revealed: “#SuperBowlSunday T-Mobile has FOUR spots. One in every Quarter. If you’re not a customer yet, you’re going to wish you were on Sunday!”

Come game day, T-Mobile heavily promoted its #TMobileTuesdays rewards program, revealing free Taco Bell and Lyft rides for customers.

“With its series of commercials featuring face palm-worthy digital interactions, to announce free tacos and Lyft rides for customers, T-Mobile’s Super Bowl commercials demonstrate, once again, how tuned in the brand is to young consumers,” added Groch.

One of the ad spots featured a Lyft meme which T-Mobile actually licensed from the creator, who first tweeted the text conversation in December 2017 and goes by the Twitter name Decent Pigeon. Actress and social activist Sophia Bush was among those who praised the move.

T-Mobile’s social-first Super Bowl strategy ultimately plays up its greatest asset: a social persona that packs a punch and breaks through the noise.

If the name of the game is bold, the Uncarrier delivers with a heavy dose of sass and free tacos.

1 comment about "T-Mobile's Uncarrier Social-First Super Bowl Strategy Scores".
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  1. Tony Jarvis from Olympic Media Consultancy, February 5, 2019 at 1:30 p.m.

    Could not disagree more!  You and Emily Groch have clearly been hood-winked by all the marketing hype and John Legere's hyperbole.  T-Mobile's rigid "customer service" [sic] approach and corporate culture of evasion that consistently use hyper-inflationary words used during its generally appaling customer service are well established.  T-Mobile's typically average marketing efforts do not overcome its customer service flaws or its brand inadequacies and I suggest, neither do free Taco's! 
    With the greatest respect, please read my commenatry on T-Mobile's presence in the Super Bowl from yesterdays Media Post. It paints a very different picture of reality. 
    https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/331482/t-mobile-ran-4-ads-in-the-super-bowl-why.html

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