And kids are consuming Boost
Mobile’s message, as the vast majority
of the wireless company’s 4. 5 million
customers are under the age of 25. Boost
is among the fastest-growing wireless
services in the United States, thanks
to its premium pay-as-you-go wireless
phone and voice data services that are
directed to the youth market. Part of
that outreach includes the company’s
newest campaign, dubbed Anthem 2.0,
which features music tycoon Jermaine
Dupri, hip-hop artist Young Jeezy and
up-and-coming rock/rap crossover sensation Mickey Avalon.
Mobile launched in California and
Nevada as an ‘action sports’ pre-paid
mobile service provider,” Robinson says.
After being purchased by Nextel
Communications in 2003, Boost Mobile
went national in the U.S. in March
2005, and Robinson joined the company
six months later (during the same year,
Boost became a division of Sprint in
the Sprint-Nextel merger). Since joining the company, Robinson has been
responsible for all consumer marketing
initiatives — national consumer advertising, media, branding, entertainment
marketing and direct response.
during earlier internships at MTV and
Sony,” she adds. “My background is
rooted primarily in brand. As a function
of the range of categories I’ve worked
in, I fundamentally believe that when
you’re classically trained in brand, you
can market anything.”
Though the staid image of companies like Coke and Colgate might throw
some people off, Robinson disagrees. “I
was working with great brands, and we
were doing a lot of work on the more
creative, DR-oriented online side,” she
says. “The experience positioned me
well to work with Boost. The wireless
The campaign, which also promotes
the company’s newest handset (the
Motorola i425), features an original
song created by the trio in the television
spot, as well as additional print and Web
marketing — all of which features both
brand and direct response elements.
Robinson’s team of nearly 30 in the
company’s brand marketing and entertainment division rolled out the TV spot
on Nov. 26, airing on youth-oriented
networks like MTV, BET, ESPN and
Comedy Central, among others.
Robinson’s pride in the campaign is
clear as she discusses it at length. Her
passion for the advertising business
and both its brand and direct response
elements — built during 10 years of experience at a number of major branders
before joining Boost Mobile in September 2005 — is just as apparent. “I believe
that all consumer marketing — even
though we consider Anthem to be a
brand campaign — should have a call to
action,” she says. “The end of every ad
should tell a consumer what to do, what
the next step is for them to take.”
Young Jeezy, director Chris Robinson, Jermaine Dupri and Mickey Avalon hang out on the set
during a break from filming the Anthem 2.0 TV spot.
Different Roads, Fortuitous Results
Though Robinson and Boost Mobile
seem like a natural fit, the marketer and
her company have traveled different
roads to come together. Boost Mobile
started out as a youth-oriented and lifestyle mobile brand in Australia in 2000.
The company had expanded to New
Zealand in 2001, before setting up shop
in the United States in 2002. “Boost
Robinson says the culture in the
Boost Mobile offices both reflects and
drives its commitment to its youth-based
market. “We epitomize the youth lifestyle — there’s no dress code, it’s a very
relaxed atmosphere. And that atmosphere helps drive the creativity behind
our marketing programs.”
It’s an interesting mix for Robinson
when you consider that her experience
before joining Boost was with some of
the biggest corporations in the world.
Included in her 10 years of brand and
entertainment marketing experience
were stints with Coca-Cola, Colgate-Palmolive and Cox Enterprises. “I also
spent some time in entertainment
category is so dynamic, and the opportunity to evolve a great, burgeoning
brand within that has been a wonderful
challenge. Unlike consumer packaged
goods, this market is a natural for DR
marketing because you can actually
show more quantifiable results of your
efforts simply because of what you can
do with handsets.”
The ‘How-tos’ of DR
Robinson’s first exposure to a direct
response campaign, however, took place
during her time at Coca-Cola. “I didn’t
know at the time it was my first DR
campaign,” she says of the campaign
