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AT&T and Apple: Co-op advertising done right

Like most of America, you're probably watching the all-out holiday advertising war between the two leading cell phone providers.

Frustrated, perhaps, with the staying power of those fun "there's an app for that" ads (Apple is known for finding a clever idea and sticking with it to the point of complete exhaustion. It seems Justin Long will be playing Mac, for example, until well into his own middle age), Verizon fought back with the most emasculating force in advertising: sarcasm.

Their "there's a map for that" campaign exploited an AT&T weakness and caused nothing short of a war to break out in the courts and in prime time. In fact, if anything will get us out of this recession, it may be the unprecedented level of media buying between these two giants.

But, for AT&T and Apple, it's more than a brute force. The two have teamed up to leverage unique aspects of each of their authentic brands to change the conversation. The advantage they're both talking about is: the ability to use voice and data together.

AT&T - the category leader and uber-practical and sophisticated brand - brought in Luke Wilson to add a human element to its essentially intellectual argument: doesn't it make sense that you would talk and type on one device? At the same time, no less.

But, be honest, you've probably never thought about typing and talking together. Or, at least, it's not a feature you're looking for. That's where Apple comes in. They are the standard in consumer expectation. They seem to know what we need before we ourselves are even able to put words to it. They can make talk and type not only cool, but really, really desirable.

Together, the campaigns appeal to our egos and our brains. We want to try it, to make it our own. Suddenly this little-known feature is a game changer. Apple's ads create demand and AT&T's fulfill it. Rarely are cooperative campaigns so complementary and powerful.

Chances are: You're a more sophisticated Internet user than most teenagers

Maybe it's an artifact of the native-adopter digital divide. Maybe it's merely a blind spot to our own complex behavior. Whatever the reason, what most of us think about how teens use the internet is wrong.

Myth #1: Teenagers are much heavier users of the internet than "we" are.

Fact: Even when you take out our work lives, adults 25 - 44 are the heaviest users of the internet. It's not our kids who are online all the time, it's us. Just at home, we're browsing ~34 hours a month, compared to 10 for the teen set. Even when it comes to relatively new behaviors, like watching video online, adults consume significantly more.

Check out these numbers from recent Nielsen research:

 
 

Myth #2: Teenagers are much savvier users of the internet than "we" are - connected around the globe, loose in social networks, generally leading the charge into a brave new world.

Fact: Just because technology has changed doesn't mean being a teenager has.

This is a sketch I shared at work recently about the profoundly different ways that "grownups" (us) and teens use social networks and media. Teens are much more likely to have a closer-in world view, to be cautious when putting themselves out there, to be worried about how they'll be perceived. While we're out boldly networking with everyone from our high school sweethearts to someone we met at a conference the other day, they're typing with the same people they sit across the lunch table with.

 

Personal convergence: What really goes on in the living room

Convergence was the flying cars promise of our generation. One box that ruled our entertainment lives - feeding games, music, browsing, movies, telephone and more in one complex stream of multitasking magic in every living room in America.

Here, in reality - where the cars still drive on the road - convergence is much more personal and mobile.

Nielsen calls us a Three-Screen Nation. 

We watch: 141 hours of television a month.

• That's almost 5 hours a day. (A stat Pew echoed in earlier research)
• Surprisingly, that represents an all-time high. The time we spend consuming entertainment on other devices adds on to our overall media experience, it doesn't take away from television

But: 57% of us go online at the same time

• Our online experience at home is in front of the television almost a third of the time.
• Sometimes we browse to complement what we're seeing on television, but more often it's entirely disconnected from it

And: We're increasingly device neutral.

• The number of people watching mobile video increased 70% from last year
• Those who watch video online increased their viewing by 46% compared to a year ago

Oh, and, by the way, we're starting to watch ads again.

• Adweek recently reported that a greater percentage of time shifters (fancy media-buyer talk for DVR users) watched network TV ads during the first week of the season versus a year ago.
• Perhaps because advertisers are starting to get what it takes to be part of our entertainment instead of mere sponsors of it. They're telling better stories, making us laugh and, occasionally, even thinking the same thing we are. My favorite of the moment.