AT&T ads stick with family in love with rollover minutes

— -- FamilyTalk bundles phone service and minutes for families, and unused minutes can be rolled over into the next month.

Geneva Carr plays the mom of two teen sons and wife of a laid-back husband.

The ads by agency BBDO began two years ago, which is a lifetime in today's fast-changing economy.

The first few ads promoted AT&T's service over rivals. The latest installment definitely speaks to today's economy with a "times like these" message.

The campaign has "always been about value, but we have evolved the campaign to resonate with the tenor of the times," says Daryl Evans, AT&T vice president of marketing. "FamilyTalk is a big part of our marketing, and we're the only carrier with rollover minutes. Add FamilyTalk and rollover, and that's one heck of a value story. It's even more spot on in these times."

In the latest ad, Carr quickly retrieves a set of rollover minutes, depicted as little orange and white clocks, from a yard sale that her family is hosting. A woman is bargaining to buy them, but when Carr realizes the rollover minutes are on the table, she grabs them and says they are not for sale.

"In these days, we can't afford to be wasteful," she says.

The ongoing value message has had success: FamilyTalk accounts for about 60% of AT&T's contracted customers.

"We wouldn't have used the same family, the same actress, the same campaign for the past two years if it wasn't working gangbusters," Evans says.

The question is for how long? A study by the New Millennium Research Council out March 19 indicated that people are starting to pare back on cellphone service plans. The study says that about 60 million people are poised to dump contracts as they expire and that 19 million have already cut or plan to cut back their national average subscription bill of $60. Some are starting to move to less-expensive prepaid plans.