Eircell introduced its ready-to-go WAP phone this week with a new 45-second TV advertisement and a £200,000 (€410,677) media outlay, showing how fast the mobile telephone market moves. Last September the notion of a WAP phone arrived but was not readily available until late in the year.
Their availability in a ready-to-go format will develop the market significantly as 80 per cent of all new mobile phone connections are ready-to-go and the core target market for pre-paid phones is the 18-25 age group.
The extraordinary futuristic TV ad which features extensive use of computer graphics created by Gavin Kelly was devised by Euro RSCG and directed by Ritchie Smith.
Lucozade from SmithKline Beecham will be the first brand to advertise on Dublin's new taxi shelter which Adshel opens in June. The shelter is on O'Connell Street and Adshel auctioned the site to top media buyers with SmithKline Beecham leading the bidding at £3,000. The money will be donated to the annual outing for handicapped children run by Dublin taxi-drivers. The citywide introduction of taxi shelters is planned from October 2000. When the full range of shelters is available, a taxi rate card will be introduced.
Miller Genuine Draft's £1.5 million marketing campaign began this week with a TV ad created by the US office of J Walter Thompson. Running alongside the TV, radio and outdoor elements of the campaign is an attractive below-the-line promotion whereby winners will receive a four-city US trip on the Miller private jet.
