Chapter 4: The Marketing Environment
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you can see me now.” Verizon followed up with another commercial starring Foxx, focusing on
the network’s LTE coverage. Foxx stands in front of two maps comparing Verizon’s and Sprint’s
LTE coverage, explaining that Verizon had three times the LTE coverage of Sprint. Then,
“Jamie Foxx for Sprint” enters, saying that it is mostly the same coverage “if you squint.”
(“Jamie Foxx for Sprint” is shorter and less muscular than the real Jamie Foxx, and he is wearing
an ill-fitting suit with a less-polished appearance—another jab at Sprint.)
Claure responded to the new commercial on Twitter, posting, “This is how @verizon
reacts to getting beaten by @sprint every single day. Lies, lies and more lies.”
Customers paying close attention will note that the commercials are not even speaking in
the same terms. Sprint commercials speak to their reliability (whether your network is working
when it is supposed to), whereas Verizon commercials focus on their LTE coverage across the
country.
Verizon posted lower-than-expected second-quarter customer growth in 2016, while
Sprint reported better-than-expected customer growth. But with mobile devices being a must-
have for most Americans, the back and forth between mobile phone carriers is not likely to stop
soon.
Sources: D. Goldman, “Verizon’s ‘can you hear me now’ guy joins Sprint, CNN Money, June 9,
2016, accessed October 22, 2016, http://money.cnn.com/2016/06/05/technology/sprint-verizon-
can-you-hear-me-now/; D. Meyer, “Verizon continues to hammer Sprint network claims in latest
Jamie Foxx ad,” RCR Wireless News, August 8, 2016, accessed October 22, 2016,
http://www.rcrwireless.com/20160808/carriers/verizon-continues-to-hammer-sprint-network-
claims-latest-jamie-foxx-ad-tag2; “Verizon’s Jamie Foxx commercial calls out Sprint,” Kansas
City Business Journal, August 10, 2016, accessed October 22, 2016,
http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/news/2016/08/10/verizons-jamie-foxx-commercial-calls-
out-sprint.html.
TRUE/FALSE
1. Sprint’s target market with the Marcarelli campaign was Verizon customers.