T-Mobile USA announced today a new campaign dedicated to helping people save money on their wireless service, and the carrier is not only using the lovely Catherine Zeta-Jones as the face of the campaign again, they’re also giving a huge vote of confidence and a heap of exposure to Redwood City, CA-based startup BillShrink.
BillShrink launched in April 2008 as a way for people to compare the value they are getting with their current wireless provider against other national carriers. It has since raised an additional $8 million on top of a $1 million round it secured back in 2007 and expanded its technology to other products and services, like helping you find the cheapest gas in your neighborhood or the ideal credit card based on your profile.
People can now visit the T-Mobile website or one of its retail stores for a so-called “Mobile Makeover”: free, unbiased and personalized savings recommendations for wireless plans, powered by BillShrink. That’s a big boost for the fledgling company, especially considering the first television spot featuring Zeta-Jones will air tonight during the American Idol season finale on FOX (that’s a lot of eyeballs). It’s also a bit of a risk for T-Mobile, although they seem pretty confident of the outcome of the comparison engine:
“Providing great wireless coverage at a great price is at the heart of what T-Mobile offers,” said Denny Marie Post, chief marketing officer, T-Mobile USA, Inc. “We’re so confident that T-Mobile provides the best overall experience for a majority of Americans, we’re willing to put our value to the test by pointing people to an independent source. And while we may not come out on top each and every time, we believe a majority of people will see T-Mobile offers them the value they want, and the best experience in wireless.”
Billshrink is headed by CEO Peter Pham, a former Photobucket executive who joined the company in February last year.
(Via Trading Markets)
The wireless bloodletting continues as market dominant ATT armed with iPhone battle it out with Verizon and Tmo.
Sprint has lost the fray – they now have the cheapest plans, and the best network, but no one is on their network…so of course it’s great quality.
Who will buy Sprint?
Comcast?
Google?
It never ceases to amaze me how progressive T-Mobile is.
Although officially I loath all of the major wireless providers, T-Mobile is certainly the lesser of 4 evils. It saddens me that their coverage and technology are so lacking (i.e. the lack of a national 3G network) because they are taking some very uncharacteristic (for a US wireless company) strides toward excellent customer service .
Verizon, AT&T,,and Sprint-Nextel could stand to learn a thing or two from T-Mobile.
T-Mobile will never be as big as AT&T or Verizon and will never have the reach that they do either since T-Mobile will always have PCS and AT&T and Verizon have cellular which reaches better than PCS. Also, Verizon and AT&T have been around since 1983 while T-Mobile has only been around since 1996.
This is superb news for consumers, t-mobile, & Bill Shrink. I’ve had a chance to use the product – and it is just fantastic. Pricing transparency in mobile (and other industries) is an inevitable future and Bill Shrink has done it right — by always putting consumers first. Congratulations Peter & team!
http://www.worstpizza.com will also allow you save money on pizza soon by teaming up with local pizza places for free pizza!
I wonder how the dynamics will change once ATT Apple contract terminates. There was a time when operators lure consumers based on new improved gadgets … now they must have the bandwidth to support those gadgets. I think in near future the war will on who provide the fastest network…
while I’m a happy-ish T-Mo customer it bugs me that all their love goes to churning folks over from other carriers and they forget the loyal incumbents (who are an opportunity for the other carriers)
… where’s the similar service (given they know several years history on our family plan) to optimize (ie minimize) our bill? It’s actually cheaper for us to move to Sprint today but inertia keeps us where we are… though campaigns like this do make me question that decision.
Love BillShrink…. but wish there was an automatic way they could log on and suck data out of my mobile, cable etc provider and make recommendations (heck, can they help with my home and car payments as well!)
There are companies that already do this. They log on to your wireless account, download your invoice, compare with all available plans and savings modules, and offer personalised recommendations…
Check out doctorSIM from spain and pezmov from israel.
I saw them at LeWeb 08 last year…
What is this pezmov you speak of? The link is dead and I can’t seem to find it via google.
Peter, this is inspired.
Huge kudos to Billshrink!
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Wow, now if only T-Mobile offered the IPhone 3G! Bummer!
RT
http://www.whos-watching.se.tc
Who cares? Not like we are not stuck with them anyways. Now we just know we are getting screwed. It says nothing about oh, if we are over charging you, we will drop the $200 cancellation fee.. Suck on it T-mobile.
Did this work at all? Seems like a short term and opportunistic campaign.
I wonder how many consumers T-Mobile acquired after a month – and consequently how much did BillShrink make in “referral commission”?