Alltel website takes interactive campaign into man cave

NEW YORK -- After being displaced for a time by images of the style-conscious metrosexual, more macho males seem to have regained a place in the world of marketing and media.

In June, cable's DIY Network premiered Man Caves, a five-episode show in which the hosts help guys convert a room into a male sanctuary, with putting greens and giant TVs. In February, Geico launched the Cavemans Crib website, where visitors can hang out, listen to music or read magazines.

Now, Alltel, the No. 5 wireless carrier, has created www.officialmancave.com, an interactive animated site. The site builds on Alltel's TV ads that portray its four biggest rivals as dorky "sales guys."

The T-Mobile, Sprint, Verizon Wireless and AT&T characters were introduced in cable ads last year. They were used to launch Alltel's "My Circle" plan, which lets customers call 10 selected friends on any network or land line for free.

The characters moved online this month and continue the quest to figure out the appeal of Alltel service and express their venom for its handsome, blond spokesman, "Chad."

"The sales guys have been working well for us, and consumers like how the storyline is going," says Wanda Young, director of interactive marketing. "This is a way to differentiate ourselves from the competition. It's fun, it's cool, and we've really explored the depths of their personalities."

The site — including a man lounge and manbrary — has layers of links and images, include 50 videos and 50 hidden hot spots that lead to another level.

Many click-through spots reward users with playing cards that may have codes for online offers or may include codes to unlock another hot spot.

"This has been a fun project," says Iain Lanivich, vice president and associate creative director at ad agency Campbell-Ewald, which created the site and also recently built an online Transformers promotion for General Motors.

Though the campaign appears to be focused on young men, Alltel says women are not being left out.

"Women like (the characters). … This is not a knock-out machismo site," Young says.

"Everyone can relate to these guys and feel sorry for them in some ways," Lanivich says. "There's something for everyone."

The site includes a "whiteboard" where users can post messages and forward them to friends. Use requires registering and providing e-mail addresses — giving Alltel avenues to market and offer incentives.

"As the fifth-largest carrier, we always have to be smarter about our business," Young says.

The Little Rock-based company, which in May agreed to a more than $27 billion deal to be taken private by two equity firms, also tries to be smart about media buying. Alltel, which sells service primarily in non-urban areas of 36 states, is using cheaper cable ads rather than network TV to promote the website.

The buying strategy and use of the Web are a smart use of ad dollars for a company such as Alltel, says interactive marketing expert Brad Berens of iMedia Communications, an industry trade publisher and event producer. "You can do a year's worth of branding and engagement for $2.6 million or less; that's less than the cost of a Super Bowl ad."

Berens says the success of the site "is an issue of execution. If it's a good execution that let's people choose their own adventure without becoming overwhelmed or frustrated, it's good. If it's a bad execution, it could end up alienating users and not serve the brand."