Koodo Mobile WARNING: Very cheesy.

[toma_alimosh]

Am I the only Canadian that sees these Koodo commercials everywhere and thinks that it's such a lousy campaign that the company will fail just because of its bad advertising?

If you don't know what I'm talking about, take a look at this:
It is the biggest cheese you've ever seen in your life. You have been warned.

+ YouTube Video

[Jacobfox]

amusing and EXTREMELY cheesy. You weren't kidding, vlad.

[Crazyjeeper]

Wow, that has to be one of the worst ads I have ever seen.

[Wizegui]

"ARE YOU LOOKING FOR AN ALTERNATIVE GSM NETWORK??.....we haven't got one actually..." This is starting to look a bit like the Virgin Mobile we have here. utter trash that is... I doubt they'll do well in the market. If they offered GSM phones and affordable prepaid/monthly plans, it might have succeeded.

[toma_alimosh]

^We have the same Virgin Mobile here. And guess what? Nobody I know has Virgin Mobile ... that's how large a market share they have.

[NooDle]

I'm watching it without sound (shitty work PC) and even I am revolted beyond belief.
Someone needs to shoot the host guy in the face. Repeatedly. Srsly

[cvrefugee]

I'm like 99% sure they're making fun of those ridiculous infomercials and not being serious.

[toma_alimosh]

No matter whether they're making fun of the ridiculous infomercials.
This is a real campaign. It's not a Comedy Network spoof. It's the real campaign that an up-and-coming cellphone company is using. What's even worse, it's not only on TV. It's everywhere. It's all over the walls of the subway stop at my university ... in the malls you can't turn around without seeing another poster of the "Koodo people" in their fitness outfits doing some feat of strength or something.

I'll go to school tomorrow and I'll try to get some pictures and post them up. Then you'll get it.

[Final Daihatsu]

This is a proper phone ad (Ignore the sponsor ad at the beginning, wait for the Flix logo)

[teeb]

Walk-talking!

[geeman]

It's not a serious ad..
Besides there is no such thing as bad publicity, people will surely remember them now.

[Shawn]

I don't think Koodo will fail because of bad advertising. Just look at Shaw, Bell and Rogers. Horrendous ads are rampant in the Canadian telecom industry.

[Vector]

The ads are designed to reach a younger audience, and I think they will succeed. I actually like the ciche 80s theme a lot more than the gay Telus or Bell ads.

And they actually have good, inexpensive, customizable plans; no contracts, no system access fee, etc.

I've signed up, and I hope they do really well because this is one of the first canadian cell phone companies that actually seems interested in giving the customer what they want.

[BerserkerCatSplat]

Originally Posted by toma_alimosh

an up-and-coming cellphone company

Hardly up-and-coming, Koodo is just a subsidiary of Telus.

[toma_alimosh]

Originally Posted by Shawn

I don't think Koodo will fail because of bad advertising. Just look at Shaw, Bell and Rogers. Horrendous ads are rampant in the Canadian telecom industry.

Yes, their advertising is annoying really, especially Bell. But the ad campaigns of the other cell carriers are focused on a market and appeal to it. Take Bell for example ... the beavers are annoying as fuck, but through that, they appeal to Canadians and their sense of national pride.

Who does Koodo appeal to? What is their target market? From what these commercials show, thet target people who are: overweight (fitness theme), stupid (degree in mathematics), people who aren't familiar with technology (they show no handset examples at all), and people who like comedy shows (parody commercial).

But ... they insult the people who are overweight by telling them that only having a cellphone will get them more in shape ... they insult the intelligence of people who are bad at math and know very well that text messaging has nothing to do with math .... they don't offer any incentive or explanations for people who aren't very good with technology to get a handset from them .... and I doubt anybody would buy a product just because the company has a sense of humor.

Originally Posted by Vector

The ads are designed to reach a younger audience, and I think they will succeed. I actually like the ciche 80s theme a lot more than the gay Telus or Bell ads.

Well, the younger audience may be the only one they will get. The problem with the younger audience is that most young people, especially those without a job, don't get to decide what cellphone provider they get, since the parents pay the bill and the parents decide what company they get. So it kind of fails at getting it's target market, because most of its target market has little say in the purchasing decission

And they actually have good, inexpensive,

inexpensive?? seriously, how many other cellphone providers have you looked at? Fido, Telus, ring the bell?
I took a look at Koodo's plans ... and they're anything but inexpensive.

customizable plans; no contracts,

no contracts means that they can raise the fees as much as they want, as often as they want ... and you have to pay more on the very next bill, there's no way around that. Contracts have their issues, but they have their advantages, one being a more constant price for a long period, the other being an inexpensive (or free) handset.
The current system that Koodo has is that you can put $150 of your phone's retail value on a tab with them ... and then that tab runs out as you use your koodo phone ... 10% of your bill goes towards settling your tab. However, should you decide after 6 months you want to move on, then you have to pay your remaining tab to move on ... so you'd have to pay $100 just to get out of the Koodo network.
So, no contracts ... but higher fees, higher cellphone prices and higher penalties should you want to quit Koodo ... hardly attractive.

no system access fee, etc.

That's because they have no network of their own. They rent from others, so their costs depend on what the carriers that serve them want to charge them. So if, say, Rogers wants more money out of them, guess what? They can do it. And that also means that Koodo will raise their monthly plan fees .. and they can do that, because there's no contract. This also means that the carriers that serve them might, covertly, give preference to their own clients rather than the clients of subsidiaries ... that means more dropped calls.

Originally Posted by BerserkerCatSplat

Hardly up-and-coming, Koodo is just a subsidiary of Telus.

So Telus launches a discount subsidiary that charges more than what Telus regularly charges? WTF?

[anTo]

the skytrain ads are horrid lol...

[Wizegui]

I heard from somewhere that T-Mobile had just registered their name in Canada. Perhaps they will be coming here soon? It would be great when we can get some lowered mobile rates in Canada.

[Shawn]

^ Before Fido was bought out by Rogers, there were rumors that T-Mobile wanted to buy Fido. But there's some law about foreign companies only able to own a certain percentage of a Canadian company, so the deal somehow failed because of that.

Has it be reseructed? I'm with Fido and have been happily using them since 1998. Sure, cheaper data would be great, but of all the Canadian providers, Fido seems the best.

[Vector]

Originally Posted by toma_alimosh

Yes, their advertising is annoying really, especially Bell. But the ad campaigns of the other cell carriers are focused on a market and appeal to it. Take Bell for example ... the beavers are annoying as fuck, but through that, they appeal to Canadians and their sense of national pride.

I am Canadian, thank you, and they do NOT appeal to me. They are the most groan-inducing cell phone commercials out there. At least the Telus fish don't try and crack jokes.

But ... they insult the people who are overweight by telling them that only having a cellphone will get them more in shape ... they insult the intelligence of people who are bad at math and know very well that text messaging has nothing to do with math .... they don't offer any incentive or explanations for people who aren't very good with technology to get a handset from them .... and I doubt anybody would buy a product just because the company has a sense of humor.

I think you are a few IQ points short to be able to understand what the ads are saying. They have nothing to do with overweight people. Are you being serious? They are referring to trimming the 'fat' on your current cell phone bill by cutting out unneeded things. And since when has an ad these days ever said anything informative about the product? They are simply to generate interest and get the name out there. If someone becomes interested, they can google it or phone them.

Well, the younger audience may be the only one they will get. The problem with the younger audience is that most young people, especially those without a job, don't get to decide what cellphone provider they get, since the parents pay the bill and the parents decide what company they get. So it kind of fails at getting it's target market, because most of its target market has little say in the purchasing decission

Not sure how true this is. A lot of kids these days have their own money.

inexpensive?? seriously, how many other cellphone providers have you looked at? Fido, Telus, ring the bell?
I took a look at Koodo's plans ... and they're anything but inexpensive.

You can sign up for as little as 15 bucks a month. I would call that inexpensive. The plan I am getting is 25 bucks a month, still cheap compared to the 40-60 dollar averages out there.

no contracts means that they can raise the fees as much as they want, as often as they want ... and you have to pay more on the very next bill, there's no way around that. Contracts have their issues, but they have their advantages, one being a more constant price for a long period, the other being an inexpensive (or free) handset.
The current system that Koodo has is that you can put $150 of your phone's retail value on a tab with them ... and then that tab runs out as you use your koodo phone ... 10% of your bill goes towards settling your tab. However, should you decide after 6 months you want to move on, then you have to pay your remaining tab to move on ... so you'd have to pay $100 just to get out of the Koodo network.
So, no contracts ... but higher fees, higher cellphone prices and higher penalties should you want to quit Koodo ... hardly attractive.

This is just all sorts of wrong. What you see as a negative, I see as a positive. To get out of a contract you have to pay either the remainder of the terms balance, or an average of 400 dollars, whichever is HIGHER. To get out of a Koodo plan, you just have to pay for your phone. The most expensive model they have is only like 200 bucks. So how the hell do you figure that koodo has higher fe