Riney Visits Cellular Town

Episodic Series Planned for Sprint PCS Campaign
SAN FRANCISCO-When a mysterious man arrives one day in a “Cellular Town,” the residents-whose speech is hampered by static and connection breaks-are able to communicate more clearly once he introduces them to Sprint PCS and its all-digital national wireless network.
“Cellular People” is the theme of Publicis & Hal Riney’s first national campaign for Sprint PCS, breaking today. It includes print, radio, outdoor and TV executions, and uses the existing tagline, “Sprint PCS. The clear alternative to cellular.”
This new cellular work does not incorporate any elements of Sprint’s new long-distance repositioning, tagged “The point of contact,” developed by Grey Advertising, New York, and adopted by McCann-Erickson, New York. Executives at the Westwood, Kan., telecommunications company have said that the new theme might not be used for Sprint PCS for some time, if at all [Adweek, April 12].
The new work reinforces the “clarity” theme Riney previously introduced in other ads for Sprint PCS, according to account director James Gassel.
“This work is different for the category, and we applaud Sprint for approving it,” said John Doyle, senior vice president and executive creative director at Riney, San Francisco. “We are planning for this to be an episodic series with a long life.”
The 60-second “Cellular Town” launch spot introduces an eerie world that’s a cross between Twin Peaks and The
X-Files, according to Doyle. The hero of the campaign is an “ordinary man” with a “Harrison Ford-type appeal” who’s on a mission to bring clarity to the lives of “Cellular People,” he added.
Separately, the shop hired Alon Shoval from GSD&M, Austin, Texas, as vice president and creative director on Sprint PCS. At GSD&M, Shoval handled the agency’s $250 million Southwestern Bell business. ƒ