Bell kicks off inexplicable "er" marketing campaign
By Darren Murph 
posted Aug 11th 2008 11:25PM
posted Aug 11th 2008 11:25PM
posted Aug 11th 2008 11:25PM
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stupidER.
I guess they are just passing out those marketing degrees like candy in Canada.
C'mon guys, isn't it obvious? Eh was already taken so they had to go with Er.
I am Canadian so i can say that, eh
Well, in French 'er' is pronounced the same as 'eh' is in English and Bell has it's headquarters in Montreal so maybe they think they are just saying 'eh'
1) Their "ER" teaser ads all around Toronto sucked and frankly has to go down as the most annoying teaser to ever be plastered everywhere.
2) Their new logo is plagiarizing Dell.
3) They should have spent all that advertising money on improving customer service.
Meh, Bell's customer service isn't *that* bad. Rogers is *far* worse. Then again, is any phone co really known for its excellent customer service?
It's not really copying Dell. The Bell logo is brought back before they had the "Bell with the yellow face logo" It's nostalgic...
instink sucks tho? why advertise it ?
same reason people buy iphones on at&t. hitting people up with the
deepest pockets for shitty service/half assed phones in return.
The Instinct has some major issues also. Like issues that make the problems with the iPhone seem small and insignificant.
Wow, Apple eatER. gtfo Bell! Nobody's ever heard of you and they don't care about your crappy network either.
If you live in Canada, you've heard of Bell. But that Apple EatER thing makes me laugh. I was at an Apple hiring thing today, talked to a guy who works(worked) for Bell. Says the Instinct is a piece o' crap. And it seems to be true.
but thats the thing, nobody important lives in canada ;D
jkjk
however... it is common knowledge that Canada was founded by a duck, moose and a beaver :)
Its trying to highlight the word 'Better' just without using it that many times...
otherwise it would just say
Samsung Instinct:
Better
Better
Better
Better
and its quite obviously not, i've had a few samsung phones in the past, they all sucked...
HardER, BettER, FastER, StrongER.
(in reference to the ORIGINAL song by Daft Punk).
Yes, I know. Really cheesy. But maybe T-Mobile could use this to promote their new 3G stuff. Cause they don't suck.
In the meantime, check out this vid...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2cYWfq--Nw
I was just in TO and just about every inch of the subway system is plastered with inexplicable "er" adverts.
Hey Bell, all the ads in the world won't make me pay attention as long as you stick with CDMA. Switch to GSM and then I'll recognize you exist.
Also, how much did this lazy marketing cost you? How about putting all that money into offering cheaper rates and simple plans; after you dump that CDMA junk.
I personnaly think it's not a bad idea. Bell has an extremely bad reputation concerning consumer service. Anything they can do take attention away from the name is great! Also For those who say they're copying Dell logo, well they're actually going back to their old logo that they had years ago. I would also like to add that customer services at Rogers is actually quite great you just have to speak to someone at the customer relations department not costumer service. This department is also usually called retention.
Bell is undergoing some major changes, new CEO, new management structer, and in December it will be privatized, you will see changes in both customer service and in product offering.
I'm with a few here that think CDMA stinks, and really want the company to go GSM or the next generation service that combines both GSM and CDMA, I think it's called LTE (3GPP Long Term Evolution) so to spend billions on converting to an old system doesn't make sense, I believe the best option is to upgrade your systems to the new technology (network infrastructure where the two will eventually migrate to world wide.
The Samsung Instinct is a decent phone, but no iPhone killer or eater, there are features however like GPS is much better to name a few, anyways we'll see how things go in the short term future.
I have one thing to say...
THANK GOD THE BEAVERS ARE GONE!!!
Actually - this is pretty clever marketing. Let's look at this.
strong = strongER
fast = fastER
big = biggER
cool = coolER
The suffix "er" in this case implies improvement. With this marketing campaign, the company and product is an improvement over Apple and the iPhone.
For the case of -
eat=eatER
football = footballER
The suffix "ER" in that case changes a verb to a noun and by doing so, it implies that the entity is an expert subject matter of the word. A person playing football can do it as a hobby, but a footballer definitely can imply that the person plays for the English Premier or something like that, thus making him a subject matter expert at the sport of football. Or in this case, Bell is the subject matter expert at being better than apple, thus being an apple eater.
I hope that clarifies the marketing behind this.
Look tnt2k1 we don't care if you came up with the campaign so stop trying to explain it.
"er" has no implied improvement or expertise. Hence crapier smaller slower and stupider.
Ironically the dilbert on my calendar this month shows the following quote "I'm going to bonk your head on the table. If it sounds empty, you'll work in marketing".
I think it's an attempt to translate the french pun: "la vie est Bell" ("Life is Beautiful).
http://www2.infopresse.com/blogs/actualites/archive/2008/08/08/article-27874.aspx
Well someone has to explain it because there are obviously a lot of ignorant people on these boards. No, I didn't come up with the campaign. I wish I did though because I would've been paid all the way to the bank. Marketing is a very tough and competitive field to get into and most of the time it's a lot of grueling work like how Dilbert described it. Once you wade through all of the B.S., you get to the top.
There is a lot of subliminal and psychological factors involved with this campaign. When people here the word "er" and its emphasize with "better," it is now stuck in the target market's head. So after reading that campaign, the message would be clear stating that Bell and the Instinct is better than Apple and the iPhone.
I'll only stop explaining if people stop making ignorant comments.
ER is implied enhancement/improvement (or disprovement) of the root word. Let's look at the words you used.
crap=crapier=an enhancement/improvement of crap
stupid=stupider (pretty ironic since it really isn't a word)=an enhancement/improvement (or disprovement in this case) of stupid.
[edit] Suffix
-er
Forming nouns from nouns and adjectives with the sense of ‘person or thing connected or involved with, belonging to, having’
- New Yorker, astrologer, cricketer, six-footer, three-wheeler
Forming agent nouns from verbs with the sense of ‘person or thing which does’
- reader, cooker, computer, runner-up, do-gooder
***basically a subject matter expert***
Suffix
-er
Used to form the comparative of certain adjectives, now especially short ones.
- longer, bigger, faster, sooner, simpler
***in this case, they are comparing the same items, but of different quality/quantity***
Your move.
You forgot LameR, which would be appropriate for this campaign.
While you might like to have more crap and be crapier I myself would not consider that an "enhancement/improvement". It is just a measure of quantity or measure.
"A person or thing which does" = subject matter expert??? Hardly.
Course there is also marketer = bullshiter too.
DumbER?
Seems like anyone can work in marketing these days........ Fact is, and I'm no fan of apple, but the Instinct is not an iPhone threat. The Sammy's UI is nothing like Apples, unfortunately. Instinct is not a bad phone by any means but it's not a threat to the iPhone.
My mistake ... perhaps I am exagerrating about the subject matter expert. It's a safe assumption to make though a person which does, usually knows what to do, otherwise the person wouldn't do it on a regular basis to be considered a "er." Samsung and Bell would use this campaign and tell people that they know what they are talking about because they are Apple Eaters.
You're right - "er" is a measure/comparison of quality. And in this campaign, they are saying the Instinct is better than the iPhone by exaggerating the "er."
And third point, you are right ... marketers are professional bullshitters :-)
Gotta love the armchair marketers.
well, no matter how stupid and meaningless the ad campaign is... they've managed making people talk about them. That's the whole point of an ad campaign right? They've created this "spin" where someone takes it well and think it's great, mysterious and others interpret that campaign as stupid and dumb.
I just feel neutral about the campaign because of this spin. There's also a paradox as ER isn't really there at all.
In the end I am just happy the damn dumb beavers campaign is over.
This new Bell ad is beyond retarded!! The commercial drives me crazy and now just annoys the hell out of me and I turn the channel!!
has anyone figured out what that new Bell tv commercial is about. Some guy on stage looking at the phone and going "Security! Security! Ohhhhh" What are they trying to convey?
Someone mentioned above that 'er' was used to make it seem like the 'better' alternative to the iphone, emphasizing adjectives to show that the Instinct comes out on top.
If that's true, what makes them want to emphasize, "phone findER"?
Put aside all the commentary on the relative genious/lameness of the campaign, and lets just talk about its impact:
1) I haven't met anyone that knows what "er" means
- This could be good, because it generates "talk". People ask each other "What does the ER mean? I don't get it!"
- But because Bell has the image of being such a lame company in Canada, everyone I've talked to (be it on the subway, walking on the street, wherever) expects the explanation to be just as lame as Bell's image, and pretty quickly stops caring.
- RULE #1: Viral/guerilla marketing DOESN'T WORK if the public perceives your company to be uncool, and figures out that you're conducting viral/guerilla marketing for attention.
2) I saw one of those Bell adds proclaim the Samsung Instinct to be "The most anticipated phone of the summer"
- It's irrelevent whether you think the iPhone sucks, the Instinct sucks, both suck, both rock whatever - The absolute reality, is that the Instinct WAS NOT the most anticipated phone of the summer. In fact, that Instinct was barely on anyone's radar. It may be a great phone, it may not, but you'd have to live under a rock to not realize that the iPhone was without any shred of doubt, FAR more anticipated than ANYTHING from ANY other phone manufacturer.
- By lying, when it's such a blatent lie, and one that EVERYONE in Toronto would know to be a lie - Bell kills its own credibility.
Bell has misdirected a LOT of money that could have been used much better elsewhere in their organization.
Rohan said it best.
Although I came online today knowing there would be no answer for these stupid er Bell ads, I had to check to see if I was missing something somewhere. I happen to enjoy the art of advertising. Everyone I asked said the same thing. "I don't know" "it's seems so stupid".
Sure enough there is no answer. The ads are pathetic and further they do not bring anything good to mind...on any level.
This stupid campaign bugs me. I wish I had been in the boardroom when they all got excited about it.
Stupid ER campaign....I think not.
I have rarely seen a campaign attract this much discussion.
You (we) are essentially giving them the advertising money can buy, right here right now.
Brilliant!
This is exactly what they were hoping for....and they got it....I bet the creative director gets a bonus for this one.
The ER thing just frustrates me, and makes me wonder if Bell is clueless. It's just dumb and dumbER...