TextNow has recently aired a new TV ad. This comes from a prepaid report just published by the firm Wave7 Research.
TextNow's new TV ad seems to be heavily influenced by and themed after the Netflix hit series "Stranger Things." The ad launched at the end of March and has aired a few hundred times but only in a very limited number of markets. Wave7 Research reports the airings are all spot ads or ads that get run during specific time slots during specific shows. TextNow's latest TV ad campaign has been focused exclusively on the Columbus, Indianapolis, and Kansas City area markets. This is TextNow's first new TV ad of 2022. The T-Mobile MVNO last aired TV commercials in 2021.
TextNow "It Follows You" Spot TV Ad Campaign
TextNow's latest TV spot ad is called "It Follows You." It features a person walking down the street at night, apparently while texting. The individual quickly stumbles upon an old-fashioned phone booth. While this is all happening, background music plays that is heavily influenced by the Stranger Things theme song.
The ad then continues on with the same Stranger Things influenced music playing. And the individual walking the street becomes terrified by the phone booth that almost seems to come to life. Words in the color red flash on the screen against a black background and read "you thought it was gone, but it follows you, and it's come to collect." The coloring scheme is another homage paid to the Stranger Things opening title sequence. The person then screams in fear, but quickly finds himself transported to a home where two people sitting on a couch explain to him that you don't have to pay a dime for phone service with TextNow. The ad finishes with a voiceover that tells viewers they can get "the same coverage as other wireless networks, and talk and text for free."
The ad is available to watch on iSpot, but you can also check it out below.
TextNow Free Plan Appears To Be A Success
In early March, TextNow greatly improved its paid wireless plans. The MVNO added some new plans and updated the data allotments of its existing plans. Despite those changes, TextNow continues to focus its advertising campaigns on its free wireless plan. The fact that they are continually spending money to market it could be a good indicator that the plan is highly successful and profitable. In fact, last summer, TextNow stated that it had an annual revenue run rate of $100 million and 10 million monthly active users. And earlier this year the company stated that it increased its employee count to 200 team members.
TextNow has a free ad-supported VoIP app-based wireless plan that can be used with a SIM card on the T-Mobile network for nationwide talk and text coverage. Alternatively, subscribers can also use the app and plan for free without a SIM card on WiFi or other data networks. The TextNow app has been downloaded over 50 million times in the Google Play store.
“TextNow is a carrier worth watching for two reasons. First, the carrier has $100M in revenues and more than 200 employees, so it is succeeding. Second, it is really the only carrier competing that is focused on the model of being ad-supported.” – Jeff Moore, Principal of Wave7 Research