SmarTone-Vodafone cheered up a few newspaper owners last week with its five, full-page 'Business without compromise' advertisements.
Market sources said the 3G operator spent more than $8 million on the print-only campaign, making it a leading contender as the biggest spender among telecommunications firms in the first half.
The mobile operator is looking to strengthen its brand image with a series of applications such as a high-speed mobile data card, corporate e-mail and its advanced 3G HSDPA network.
The campaign is also about service quality.
'There is a sense among all staff within the company that starts with chief executive Douglas Li (right) that good is not acceptable - they always want to improve on what they provide to customers,' said Dare Koslow, business director of JWT Hong Kong, the creative agency for SmarTone-Vodafone.
A source close to the company management said: 'It takes time to educate customers on what 3G can do for them, while price wars do not help in stimulating the usage of 3G.'
