Bell Marketing

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cm_soo

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I really have to marvel at whatever company does Bell's marketing and promotion, it is wasted money.
- long ago Bell sends me these 3 page high end glossy pamphlets for high speed internet, after many months I decide to sign up......ooops, not available on my street. But now I really want high speed, phone Shaw, it was available and I still have it. Bell actually paid good money to alienate me, I work in GIS with spatial databases and this sort of thing is EASILY avoided
- that "Full HD" country wide tour thing that was detailed here a few months back, that was just bad.
- I recently dumped EV and took Shaws free PVR swap, knowing that Bell would try to lure me back. 2-3 months later I get a glossy pamphlet (Bell really loves glossy pamplets) saying "We know you've changed carriers, we'd like a chance to win you back. Please phone......."
Ya right, I'll phone YOU and get that stupid automated Emily thing and then bicker with some CSR or sales rep who will have a series of things they can offer based on how hard I negotiate.

Products and services aside, I just find Bell's marketing to be a joke and I can imagine how much money they wast on marketing firms. It's wasteful and one area they should be looking for efficiencies.
 
Honestly, from what I've seen most major heavily regulated companies in Canada (such as banks, cable companies, telco's) are profligate in their ad spending. For me the worst is Rogers followed by the banks. I actually don't get any Bell stuff in my mailbox.

In a less than competitive Canadian environment, these large oligopolistic companies often have excess cash and throw money at problems rather than digging deep and trying to optimize their marketing spend.

Interestingly, I think Bell is one company where you will see a massive change in the next twelve months because of the takeover. I suspect when they go private, the new owners will examine all of their expenditures including marketing, and you could see some significant changes.
 
Personally, I think the beavers are kind of goofy, but Telus has the lizards etc and Fido had the dogs for the longest time.

It appears that animals, for whatever reason, seem to work for Telcos in Canada.
 
I agree, I think there will be some changes, out of necessity, in Bell's future and I think it will be for the long term benefit of the company.

Those beavers, personally I thought they were ok at first, slightly amusing, but eventually became annoying. I wonder what the rest of the country feels about those beavers and whether that ad campaign is a marketing success. I'd suspect that it has been a success, although I find the beavers a bit of a "Canadiana" cliche.

Working with spatial databases to the extent I do, it drives me crazy when companies do blanket advertising and include areas where sevices aren't even offered or applicable, it's so easy to avoid and tailor offers.
 
You are correct about the advertising not being focused correctly.

I have maintained a Dial Up account for several years from Sympatico, even though I found a local re-seller of Wireless High Speed (well higher speed than Dial Up...lol).

I received a Glossy leaflet telling me of the fact that DSL was now available for my address, I called immediately only to be told that it was not available, DOH.!

I was frustrated and along with several of my neighbors who also got the Leaflets I tried to complain about the mis-information and false advertising, of course I got nowhere at all.

It did however get me looking into alternatives, and imaging my surprise when I discovered that the Rogers High Speed Portable Internet was available.

I bought the modem, played around with it, visited my neighbors and now on my street of 15 houses, 14 have now got Rogers Internet Service.

I canceled my Sympatico Dial Up, and so did all the neighbors, 11 had it through Sympatico. My overpriced Wireless has gone now too.

Overall, my anger with Bell Sympatico offering me a service which I could not get, subsided when I found a better cheaper alternative.

Thank You Sympatico.......
 
Agreed. My wife is on the board of the CMA and is about as knowledgable on "database marketing" as anyone in this country and a common discussion is the quality of data in marketers databases.

Having said that sometimes it can be cheaper to blanket an FSA with addressed admail than to send targeted mail that has been scrubbed.
 
While fast forwarding / skipping the commercials, I watch for "new" Frank and Gordon ads. They are the only ones I backup to watch.

"Chainsaws make Beaver'n easy" !!!!
 
The fact that 'Frank and Gordon' are being discussed right here (once again) tells me it's a marketing success. It's about brand recognition and even if you don't pay attention to what they're saying, you know it's about Bell.

-Mike
 
Nimiq, I had the exact same experience but with Shaw. Bell paid good money to make me want the service and then alienated me because they didn't actually have it. Shaw has made 45 bucks per month for the last 6-7 years thanks to Bell.

Hugh, good point about blanket advertising, it would be interesting to see if that is true with todays technology and expertise. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and spatial databases are powerful and efficient, once a good system is set up I'd wager it would save money in the long run. I've been in GIS for 10 years now and I'd wager the right company/people could demonstrate a cost savings.
Hugh, does your wife deal in any way with GIS companies or technology? Just curious

Scrooloose, good point.
 
Tom.F.1: I got so fed up a few years ago with Rogers junk mail/phone calls that I warned them that if I received another unsolicited piece of mail or even a phone call from their sales department that I would immediately cancel all my Rogers services.

It worked. From that day until the day I left Ontario Rogers never bothered me again.

(This is slightly off topic. Sorry)
 
People here should watch this week's Marketplace on CBC. It's a rather mundane program for technical people but does show how Bell Sympatico oversells services. It documents how Bell will gladly sell their most expensive, highest speed DSL services in areas that barely get 1Mb/s due to distance from the CO. And...wait for it...they call it "Total Internet". Is that anything like "Full HD"? :confused:
 
If i don't check my mail for a few days (a fairly common occurance) my mailbox, upon open, pukes red, glossy flyers.

Nem, who might cut out all the red pieces and wallpaper his apartment hallway
 
If you get a call from a large telemarketer, tell them you want to be on their DNS list. (Do not solicit)

Most major companies such as Bell, Rogers etc will honour it.
 
Some companies honour the request but some don't, especially the most annoying ones. I pay Bell $5/mo for their call privacy service. Some telephone solicitors will keep calling until they make a sale. I've received calls from the same person and/or company several times (twice in the same day sometimes) and asked them not to call again every time. :confused:
 
Some delivery routes are contracted out and the price remains the same.
For flyers Rogers wins hands down.
 
Bell has sent me three glossy flyers promising me the moon and the stars if I switch my home phone back to them. Too bad they didn't spend 1/8th the effort to keep me as a customer.
 
Posts deleted. This thread is NOT about installations or product availability. This thread is about Bell's marketing efforts in Canada.
 
The thing is, there's so little competition in telecommunications in Canada that they can all afford to do just that because they know they gain just as many disgruntled customers as they lose.

What we need is a true giant to come over and seize the market with good quality products and outstanding service. Virgin used to do that to other markets but after seeing their weak attempt at doing that on the Canadian mobile phone market I don't think they can quite afford to do that anymore.
 
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