The Future of 5G with Mike Katz, President of Marketing, Innovation & Experience at T-Mobile
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Mike dives into the exciting world of T-Mobile's 5G technology, their partnership with Formula 1 racing, local and B2B efforts, and the Un-carrier Moves campaign—all designed to create memorable experiences and put customers first.
“One of the things you're going to see here over the next year or two is a big expansion of things like VR and AR. And those technologies, for them to be good, need a very fast network.”
— Mike Katz
Mike Katz, President of Marketing, Innovation & Experience at T-Mobile, is one of the very few people in the modern age who has spent his whole 25-year career at one company. He started working on the front line at T-Mobile, went to work in corporate strategy, and shifted to marketing around 2010. Mike took over as Chief Marketing Officer in April 2022 and then transitioned to President of Marketing, Innovation and Experience in January 2023, where he oversees all things Marketing, Digital, Product, Supply Chain and Wholesale at T-Mobile.
In this episode, Mike dives into the exciting world of T-Mobile's 5G technology, their partnership with Formula 1 racing and other major sports franchises, local and B2B efforts, and the company’s famous Un-carrier moves—all designed to create memorable experiences and put customers first.
Customer-Centric Culture at T-Mobile - T-Mobile differentiates itself from its competitors by focusing on the customer experience. The brand is dedicated to being customer-centric, and this permeates every aspect of the company, from who they hire to how they manage their programs.
Challenging the Industry - With over 110 million customers, T-Mobile is now the second-largest wireless carrier in the US. However, the company still acts like a challenger brand, always looking to shake things up and raise the bar on customer experience. T-Mobile focuses on maintaining its unique brand personality as an underdog company that is always looking out for its customers. As a result, it became the most valuable telecom company in the world last year.
Storytelling and Content in an Over-Advertised World - In this age of information overload, it's a tricky task for T-Mobile to capture the attention and hearts of their audience. This forces the brand to deliver powerful storytelling and create unique ways of drawing people's attention using multiple tactics.
T-Mobile Growth Factors - T-Mobile is pushing the boundaries of its traditional urban and suburban presence to reach new markets. The company plans to build relationships with small communities through localized marketing initiatives and deepen its B2B focus by applying strategic Account-Based Management approaches.
Technology Partnerships - T-Mobile is pushing boundaries to provide extraordinary experiences for its customers. After sponsoring Formula 1 as a way to meet their network connectivity needs, the partnership only expanded from there. T-Mobile is also teaming up with events like music festivals and Major League Baseball in order to cultivate memorable experiences for its customers around the world.
Un-carrier move - Free Wi-Fi on Planes - T-Mobile shakes up the mobile market with their signature Un-carrier moves—bold, industry-shaking shifts that drastically enhance the consumer experience. This included providing free WiFi for Delta SkyMiles® members regardless of their wireless provider, in addition to free connectivity and streaming all flight long for T-Mobile customers on many American, Alaska Airlines and United flights.
T-Mobile and 5G Networks - Last year T-Mobile made a major leap forward in the home high speed internet space thanks to the strength and capacity of its 5G network. T-Mobile’s 5G Home Internet is now available to more than 40 million homes nationwide, and with this kind of unrivaled speed and capacity, it could be just a few years until we see revolutionary developments like virtual reality or metaverse become widespread.
Originally published February 7, 2023.
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