Bell kicks off inexplicable "er" marketing campaign

by Darren Murph posted Aug 11th 2008 at 11:25PM

Last we checked, "er" isn't located anywhere within the word "Bell" or "Bell Mobility." For whatever reason, that didn't stop the Canadian telecom company from spending big bucks in order to create a new marketing push focused on the two letters. Reportedly, the "Today Just Got Better" campaign will be plastered just about everywhere in the Great North here shortly, leaving onlookers confused and unconsciously drawn to the name. Is this really where we're at as a society? Creating ads that have no connection to the brand just to garner attention? Sigh.

Filed under: Bell Mobility, Misc

Tags: ads, advertisement, advertising, bell, better, canada, er, logo, marketing, promo

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Highest Ranked

michael Lee @ Aug 11th 2008 11:40PM

stupidER.

Neutral

Joe @ Aug 12th 2008 12:04AM

I guess they are just passing out those marketing degrees like candy in Canada.

Highest Ranked

simon @ Aug 12th 2008 12:32AM

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

Neutral

KC @ Aug 13th 2008 5:20PM

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'

Highest Ranked

David @ Aug 12th 2008 12:40AM

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.

Neutral

torqueo @ Aug 12th 2008 4:41AM

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?

Neutral

Andrew T. @ Aug 12th 2008 8:06PM

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...

Highly Ranked

SuperSexyErik (^_^) @ Aug 12th 2008 12:43AM

instink sucks tho? why advertise it ?

Neutral

Blad3 @ Aug 12th 2008 3:01AM

same reason people buy iphones on at&t. hitting people up with the
deepest pockets for shitty service/half assed phones in return.

Highly Ranked

MadMike @ Aug 12th 2008 7:32AM

The Instinct has some major issues also. Like issues that make the problems with the iPhone seem small and insignificant.

Neutral

grull27 @ Aug 12th 2008 1:24AM

Wow, Apple eatER. gtfo Bell! Nobody's ever heard of you and they don't care about your crappy network either.

Highest Ranked

Magnificen7 @ Aug 12th 2008 2:03AM

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.

Neutral

SuperSexyErik (^_^) @ Aug 12th 2008 2:29AM

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 :)

Neutral

C3r4 @ Aug 12th 2008 4:40AM

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...

Highly Ranked

MastrCake @ Aug 12th 2008 5:10AM

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

Neutral

Jason @ Aug 12th 2008 8:26AM

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.

Neutral

Ben88338833 @ Aug 12th 2008 9:09AM

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.

Neutral

Elie @ Aug 12th 2008 9:10PM

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.

Highly Ranked

Dave @ Aug 12th 2008 12:10PM

I have one thing to say...

THANK GOD THE BEAVERS ARE GONE!!!

Neutral

tnt2k1 @ Aug 12th 2008 12:20PM

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.

Neutral

Dave @ Aug 12th 2008 12:55PM

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".

Neutral

antoine @ Aug 12th 2008 1:55PM

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

Neutral

tnt2k1 @ Aug 12th 2008 1:56PM

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.

Highly Ranked

gaforces @ Aug 12th 2008 2:21PM

You forgot LameR, which would be appropriate for this campaign.

Neutral

Dave @ Aug 12th 2008 2:59PM

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.

Neutral

Achilles @ Aug 12th 2008 3:02PM

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.

Neutral

tnt2k1 @ Aug 12th 2008 3:10PM

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 :-)

Neutral

MasterCKO @ Aug 12th 2008 3:23PM

Gotta love the armchair marketers.

Neutral

TanER @ Aug 21st 2008 1:08PM

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.

Neutral

Dave @ Aug 13th 2008 8:58AM

In the end I am just happy the damn dumb beavers campaign is over.

Neutral

jen @ Aug 22nd 2008 12:27AM

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!!

Neutral

jc @ Aug 25th 2008 8:34AM

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?

Neutral

h-tran @ Aug 31st 2008 11:17AM

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"?

Neutral

Rohan @ Sep 6th 2008 4:33PM

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.

Neutral

sept_14_2008 @ Sep 14th 2008 10:41AM

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.

Neutral

Rob @ Oct 8th 2008 1:21AM

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.

Neutral