CEO Hesse introduces a new iPhone rival, packaged with unlimited data and calling services, to help reverse the wireless carrier's decline. Is he too late?Sprint Nextel Chief Executive Dan Hesse is becoming his company's biggest pitch man. First he kicked off a $100 million marketing campaign in mid-March to promote new wares and service plans. And on Apr. 1 he took to the stage in Las Vegas to give attendees of the industry's largest trade show the hard sell on Sprint Nextel's latest efforts to compete with rivals Verizon Wireless, AT&T (T) and, more recently, Apple (AAPL) and its blockbuster iPhone.
The new weapon is called the Instinct, a handset made by Samsung that boasts a 3.1-in. touch screen and is slated to go on sale in June. Sprint Nextel will sell the device with recently introduced service plans that feature all-you-can-eat calling and data use, part of an effort to lure high-paying customers back into the fold. "People want the whole package," Hesse said during a keynote address at an annual conference held by CTIA-The Wireless Assn. "They're saying, who's going to give me what I want, when I want, and make it easy to use. They're all the building blocks of the wireless company of the future."
Hesse's remarks echo the sentiment he's trying to convey in the company's new ad campaign. In black-and-white television ads that began airing nationally, the CEO walks down a New York street talking about the company's new "Simply Everything" data plan that provides unlimited voice, texting, and Web surfing. "Use your phone for all the great things it can do without worrying about the meter running. How's that for a wireless revolution?" he asks.
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