AIS's 1-2 Call woos teenagers with heartthrob singer Lydia
Sarunrat ‘Lydia’’ Visutthithada, new presenter of 1-2-Call.
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Leading cellular operator Advanced Info Service Plc is cashing in on celebrity status to boost its service brands.
The company's new executive vice president for marketing, Chamnarn Maytaprechakul, announced yesterday that AIS had awarded a one-year-contract to teenage heartthrob singer Sarunrat 'Lydia' Visutthithada, 19, to be the presenter of its 1-2-Call prepaid mobile service.
He said Lydia fitted well with 1-2-Call's fresh and cute image, representing the service's teenage target group.
AIS is in the process of selecting two more popular personalities to represent its GSM Advance post-paid call service and the low-cost prepaid call service, Sawasdee.
"The presenter of GSM Advance will have adult characteristics, while that for Sawasdee will need to be able to communicate with a mass market," Chamnarn said.
AIS has more than 15 million prepaid phone customers out of total of 17 million subscribers.
Vice president Titiphong Khiewpaisal said AIS would use the presenters to enhance its brands and keep up with market trends. Cellular operators have shifted their marketing focus to brand enhancement and new services developed during the recent price war.
The cellular operators engaged in a fierce price war in the second quarter, causing their profits to shrink and creating call jams on all networks. They have since hurried to repair their images and boost revenue.
AIS also kicked off a new campaign yesterday called "U got friends". It encourages 1-2-Call subscribers to invite friends to sign up with 1-2-Call for special benefits.
One subscriber can invite a maximum of four friends to join the service. Then, the person who makes the invitations and the friends who sign up, get free calls worth Bt100 per month for six months. They can also call one another at a special rate of Bt1 per minute.
Usanee Mongkolporn
The Nation
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