T-Mobile launches ‘Twitter race’ as part of rebranding effort

The cellular carrier scored big, promoting its new branding effort with a retweet competition that offered a cash prize and free phones. The result was huge.

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Last month, T-Mobile’s TV-ad spokeswoman ditched pink sundresses for a black-and-pink leather motorcycle suit, to wear while blasting down the highway on a roaring motorbike.

The TV spots are one component of a rebranding effort for the cellular carrier, one that aims to make the company’s service synonymous with blazing-fast mobile data speeds. In early May, T-Mobile launched another portion of that campaign, prompting some of Twitter’s most influential users to race for a free phone.

“We were really looking at transforming a brand,” says Peter DeLuca, senior vice president of brand, advertising, and communications for the company. “We were going to change the impression of what you thought about the brand.”

The brand’s Twitter race certainly had an impact, with about 24,000 tweets over a 15-day period containing the company’s hashtag, #4GTweets.

Influences and influencers

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