AT&T to Spend 150 Million to Advertise Lumia 900?

When the Nokia Lumia 900 was announced for AT&T it was stated that it would be AT&T “hero device” much like the iPhone was in 2007.  This means that AT&T “…will promote the device in its advertising, through its retail channels and direct store associates to push the device within its stores.”

We already know that AT&T associates were given Lumia 900 to use before it’s launch and they all have received extensive training on Windows Phone and the Lumia in particular. What we did not know is how much being a “hero device” meant in terms of advertising money.

According to a report from Ad Age  it could be upwords of  150 million dollars!  One would guess that AT&T is trying do with Windows Phone what Verizon did with Android.

There is a nice niche that is open in at AT&T in particular. Believe it or not  Androids penetration at AT&T is only at 19%!  This means that there are a lot of  customers out there using “feature phones” that should be upgrading to smartphone soon and this is one of  Windows Phones targeted markets. (Lumia’s  $99 price tag is aimed at this market too)

Will this marketing campaign work? My guess is yes but slowly.  People’s smartphone habits don’t change overnight but if have learned anything from the iPhone (recently anyway) it’s if you advertise it they will come.  With three mobile giants (AT&T, Nokia, Microsoft) pushing the Lumia 900 It should find some success here in the US Market.

VIA

Posted in: Gadgets