T-Mobile CMO Andrew Sherrard says the rules of engagement with consumers have changed, as engagement is "so hard to come by today,” he told attendees at the ’16 NeuLion Sports Media & Technology Conference. Sherrard said, “We don’t market to customers anymore. Customers market to themselves. We give them information. It makes sports, entertainment, and other passion points incredibly important.” The wireless carrier has become known for its quirky ad campaigns, and Sherrard highlighted some of its big sports promotions: giving away free season-long subscriptions for MLB.tv to T-Mobile customers, creating virtual reality experiences from the MLB All-Star Game’s Home Run Derby in 800 of its stores and then broadcasting people playing that VR game at its flagship store in Times Square. He also described ways the company is leveraging its partnerships, including with sports properties, to reward customers. Sherrard said recent partners in its T-Mobile Tuesdays giveaways program include MLB and StubHub. Sherrard also showed a commercial clip featuring Nationals RF Bryce Harper and a fan that has used up his data for the month. The spot takes a shot at rival carrier Verizon while underscoring T-Mobile’s unlimited data plan.
CONTINUAL GROWTH: Sherrard asserted companies need to “evolve at the speed of culture," noting that “every day we have 67 million customers and we need to grow with them.” That means being responsive to them via social media and “never being satisfied, never stopping, always looking to drive the ultimate experience.” Sherrard said the carrier has the most satisfied customers in the industry and that its campaigns and moves to offer unlimited wireless have helped more than double subscribers to 67.4 million since '12. Even so, the connected fan experience has not been totally solved. “It’s tough when you put that many people in a confined space,” he said. “There’s a ton more that can be done enhancing the in-arena experience, allowing people to create communities of the moment more quickly and easily than you can today, more than just using the arena app. You create moments for them to share more seamlessly than today, and I’m thinking across platforms.”
FINGERS CROSSED: When asked what a Cubs’ World Series victory could mean to the carrier, Sherrard said, “That’d be great! Chicago is a huge market. Extra cell towers in Wrigley! We just opened a new flagship store on Michigan Avenue and were just talking about how we can take advantage of the mayhem that happens when the Cubs win.” He added, with a laugh, “I’m not a Cubs fan, so I can jinx them like that.”
