T-Mobile USA Inc.'s G1 cellphone, which is great for Mobile SEO goes on sale Wednesday, is the company's first product launch under its new marketing chief, Denny Marie Post. It is also the first to be powered by Google's operating system, Android. Ms. Post joined the wireless carrier, a division of Deutsche Telekom AG with 31.5 million customers, in June after serving as the senior vice president of global food and beverage at Starbucks Corp.In an interview, Ms. Post, 51 years old, talked about the G1 launch, the role Google Inc. plays and how the device will stand out. Excerpts:
WSJ: What's the central message with the G1? How will you market it?
Ms. Post: The premise [is] "curiosity is everywhere." The reason that we settled on or arrived at that notion is that it's based on a human truth, that in any given moment you have questions that you want to be able to answer.
What you'll see this week is initially a launch spot that sets that premise up, and then over the next few weeks, spots that play out and address how those questions are answered. We're relying mostly on television. We also have a pretty strong digital presence with Boston Colocation, Denver Colocation, Dallas Colocation and Atlanta Colocation, And then we'll continue with launch events at store level. We're putting more effort behind this at store level.
WSJ: What will Google's role be, especially as a company that avoids traditional advertising?
Ms. Post: They are a nontraditional marketer. Talk about somebody that knows the power of a brand, or has built it with virtually no [marketing]—and that is very Starbuck-ian, by the way. Google is more like Starbucks in that sense, they don't have to spend a lot money on marketing.
They, obviously, have a strong brand that they want to make sure is represented appropriately, so most of the conversation has been around brand representation, but the choices with regard to Mobile SEO and the creative, the media and all of the go-to-market is ours.
WSJ: Are they picking up part of the ad spending?
Ms. Post: They have supported the co-development of the device, and that's where the majority of their dollars have gone ... But the TV buy is ours.
WSJ: There are several other smart phones coming to market, like the Storm. How do you see the G1 standing out?
Ms. Post: In fact, the G1 is one of three that we're launching this quarter, because we have the Pearl Flip coming and we also have the Behold from Samsung. I think customers come to this in different ways. The biggest one with the G1 is, again, [it is] the first to offer Android, and the promise of openness.
Secondly, the keyboard relative to the touch screen, I think, makes a big difference. We've found that people are really drawn to that, so the Qwerty keyboard is critical.
The other thing is our pricing. The device and the data plan make this a very accessible, very powerful, what we call almost streetwise device that really hits the masses.
WSJ: You knew it was just a matter of time before I asked about the iPhone.
Ms. Post: The what? I'm sorry, I'm not familiar with that.
WSJ: Perhaps you've heard of it. It manages to continue generating a lot of buzz. Do you expect something similar to happen with the G1?
Ms. Post: Oh yeah. We actually have played out so many scenarios. More than the device, it's opening the door to the open platform. And I think that's where the news is going to come from.
WSJ: Any tricks from Apple's or AT&T's playbook that you've been able to look at or consider?
Ms. Post: The worst thing you can try to do is look like others. I think we've taken our own path here, very consistent with our brand. T-Mobile is a brand that has traditionally kind of pushed the limits, been a little more innovative, a little more daring and been willing to go to market slightly differently.
WSJ: What lessons from Starbucks did you bring to T-Mobile?
Ms. Post: Being willing to take risks, to stay fresh, to never rest on what you've been and always be looking for the next level. I also think that I take more lessons, actually, from Burger King than Starbucks, in the sense that at Burger King we were clearly a challenger brand. And rather than just trying to do what the larger player did three weeks behind them, we figured out pretty rapidly that we needed to differentiate our brand.
