AT&T 'Hands' Advertising Campaign Voted 'America's Favorite Magazine Ad' by Consumers

Campaign Showcases Company's Leadership in International Wireless Services.

Consumers have put their hands together for “Hands,” a popular AT&T* ad campaign that touts the company’s international wireless leadership, by voting it “America’s Favorite Magazine Ad” in a new contest sponsored by Magazine Publishers of America.

The “America’s Favorite Magazine Ad” competition is a spin-off of Magazine Publishers of America’s prestigious Kelly Awards, which recognizes outstanding magazine ad campaigns as determined by leaders in the advertising industry. “America’s Favorite Magazine Ad” was created to give consumers an opportunity to vote for their own favorites based on creative excellence. AT&T’s “Hands” beat out campaigns by 26 other leading brands.

In the “Hands” campaign, created by BBDO, human hands are intricately painted and posed to depict iconic images representing countries around the world that fall within AT&T’s international footprint. The result is stunning imagery that draws viewers into the artwork while communicating AT&T’s brand proposition of having more phones that work in more places.

Acclaimed artist Guido Daniele of Milan, Italy paints the hands, a process that can take up to a full day. Examples have included hands painted and arranged to become the Great Wall of China; the Rialto Bridge (Venice, Italy); elephants (India); tulips (Netherlands) and an exotic bird among trees (Costa Rica), among many other executions. In total, more than 17 iterations have been released since the campaign debuted in 2008.

The “Hands” ads have been heralded by consumers and the public throughout the life of the campaign. Last year, for example, AT&T provided huge reprints of “Hands” images at the request of a Georgia camp for children with cancer that was dressing its cabins for their summer theme of “Around the World.”

“It’s one thing to cut through the clutter. It’s quite another to inspire people to stop and stare at your message, or to go a step further and write you to request copies — both of which we know are a possibility when people see our ‘Hands’ ads,” said Daryl Evans, vice president of advertising and marketing communications for AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. “We’re extremely proud of this campaign.”

The ads have appeared in print (both newspaper and magazine) and in creative out-of-home applications, including on the backs of airplane tray tables, in airport terminals, wallscapes, transit station dominations, three-dimensional cubes in Times Square, “El train” wraps and taxi tops.

International Wireless Leadership

AT&T’s efforts to market its international wireless services in such a compelling way reflect the company’s overall focus on leadership in the category.

“We saw early on that a major opportunity existed in staking a leadership position when it comes to international wireless services,” said David Christopher, chief marketing officer for AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. “We knew that businesses and individuals would continue to work and play around the globe more and more, so we set about creating a seamless experience for these customers. We’ve shaped our device portfolio to offer the most phones that work around the world. We’ve aggressively added countries to our voice and data footprint. And along the way, we’ve told our story with a remarkable advertising campaign.”

AT&T has the broadest international coverage of any U.S. wireless provider, delivering voice service in more than 215 countries and data service in more than 170 countries. AT&T also offers voice and data roaming coverage on 130 major cruise ships, as well as 3G services in more than 95 countries.

In the spirit of “One World, One Phone,” AT&T has built an arsenal of more than 40 quad-band devices, those that work on all four GSM frequencies (850/900/1800/1900 MHZ). In fact, AT&T has more quad-band phones than any U.S. carrier. AT&T also has the widest selection of 2100 MHz devices which are required for Japan and Korea.

For more information on AT&T’s international services, visit www.att.com/global.