Smart pipped its archrival with the postpaid launch of Smart Kid earlier this year, while Gizmo was first to market with a prepaid kids offering.
"It's fair to say that it is heating up," said BBDO Guerrero Ortega chairman David Guerrero. "It is by far the most intense sector of the market."
The new Smart Kid campaign features TV, radio, print and poster executions, and zeroes in on the security features of the service, in accordance with its positioning as "something that parents can give to their kids", said Guerrero. A location-finding feature allows parents to ascertain where the mobile phone is geographically situated, while an 'emergency' button on the phone enables children to call up to five numbers automatically.
"A lot of these innovations are world-firsts," points out Guerrero.
The kids cellphones segment is the latest battleground in a mobile sector dominated by Smart and rival player Globe Telecom. At the end of March 2004, Smart had 14.4 million subscribers, while Globe claimed 11.5 million as of September this year. Meanwhile, new entrant Sun Cellular has bagged one million customers since its launch in March 2004.
Both major players offer a range of brands in direct competition with each other. Mass market brand Smart Buddy vies for market share with Globe, while TalknText - which Smart services through a reseller agreement with subsidiary Piltel - is pitted against Globe's Touch Mobile and Sun Cellular in the value category.
In terms of adspend, Smart spent slightly more than Globe between January and October of this year, according to Nielsen Media Research. Smart spent US$35,000 on advertising, compared to Globe's US$32,000, and Sun Cellular's US$10,700 adspend. Meanwhile, Touch Mobile and TalknText - handled by Jimenez Basic and FCB, respectively - spent approximately US$5,500 each.