AT&T, Arquette Put Shopping Spree Hook on 800-Call-ATT Campaign

Brandweek, Nov 2, 1998 by Tobi Elkin

Aiming to spur trial and rep eat usage of its 1-800-Call-ATT collect calling brand, AT&T this week will step up its wacky campaign starring actor David Arquette with the "Feel Good Shopping Spree" sweeps awarding $3,000 to one winner everyday for shopping trips anywhere, anytime, throughout November.

The sweeps, via promo agency Momentum-IMC, N.Y., and its subsidiary Louis London, St. Louis, targets 16- to 24-yearolds. It kicks in with new TV spots starring Arquette, the young star of the Scream movies, breaking this week by Foote Cone Belding, N.Y. Arquette was snared earlier this fall by the brand as pitchman for AT&T's "Get Ready to Rock" sweeps, which awarded prize winners trips to rock concerts.

"This particular segment is attracted to short, promotional bursts and sweeps," said Howard McNally, AT&T's vp transaction services.

AT&T's new sweeps aggressively targets the young, hip and typically dependent demo, automatically entering them to win the shopping cash with each collect call made via 1-800-Call-ATT, and ties closely to the brand's promise of uniform pricing on calls 24 hours a day, "anywhere, anytime."

Arquette will appear in 15- and 30-second executions breaking on network TV, including heavy rotation on Fox and The WB, plus spot cable in top urban markets on MTV and BET.

The promo-themed spot shows Arquette as a clueless slacker being pushed around a mall in a shopping cart by his girlfriend, grabbing CDs, jeans, electronics. "All I did was make a 1-800-Call-ATT collect call to my mom ," he says. When the girl-friend suggestively hands him some lingerie to buy, he tosses it out of the cart, shouting, I don't need lingerie," at which point she pushes the cart down an escalator. Two additional Arquette spots for the brand are forthcoming.

Radio spots and Internet ads also tout the sweeps. AT&T adds a sub-sweeps to the Web component, enabling callers dialing the 1-800-Call-ATT' protocol via the Net a chance to win $100.

Also this week, AT&T bows a prepaid card holiday promo through Dec. 31, offering purchasers of 60-minute or higher denomination cards, a free 10-minute card in-pack. All cards bear holiday motifs.

The promo is being offered at 5,000 7-Eleven stores nationwide, 3,000 Barnes & Noble campus locations, at Samsonite and AT&T stores, plus participating Red Roof Inns and online.