Charter Communications’ Spectrum service launched a new brand platform, Life Unlimited, as part of a new product bundling and marketing approach aimed at competing with wireless connectivity providers.
Spectrum is offering price guarantees, including a 500 Megabits-per-second internet plan starting at $30 a month when ordered with two lines of Spectrum’s fastest mobile and/or video services.
The company said speeds will increase for all of its current internet customers.
Last year, Charter introduced Spectrum One, a converged offering. Customers who don’t take advantage of new Life Unlimited bunded rates may continue to subscribe to Spectrum One, the company said.
“This new commitment to our customers goes beyond words; it is about action,” said Cliff Hagan, executive VP, customer operations for Charter, which operates the Spectrum brand.
“With approximately 100,000 employees, our customers are also our friends, family and neighbors, and we hold ourselves accountable to them,“ he said. “If we are charging for a service, it should work all the time; if it doesn’t, our customers should trust that we’ll make it right. By focusing on reliability, transparency and outstanding service, we want to exceed expectations, build lasting loyalty and address our customers’ needs with renewed energy and focus on keeping them seamlessly connected.
“We’ve already made the investment in our people, tools and systems that will allow us to execute on these commitments and fully stand behind the great value, products and services we provide to our customers,” Hagan said.
Cable companies have been losing video customers to cord-cutting and more profitable broadband business to cheaper wireless providers.
Cable analyst Craig Moffett of MoffettNathanson noted that Life Unlimited is not a price cut.
“Today’s introduction of what Charter is calling a ‘new brand platform’ under the moniker Life Unlimited should be seen as leaning into convergence, and more, into the concept that connectivity in home and out, should be viewed as an entirely new product category, not just a pricing plan,” Moffett said.
Moffett noted that it will be difficult to tell how the new offerings affect the individual products Charter offers.
“What they will do is elevate their converged broadband/mobile offers to the center of the plate,” Moffett said. “They want to be seen as a converged connectivity provider. Their new bundled offers will deliver higher speeds — a relatively standard practice for broadband, whether in bundles or standalone — and they will have new plans targeted to lower-income consumers as they continue to respond to the sunset of ACP… but mostly this is about leaning into bundles. Or convergence, if you prefer.”
Moffett added that the new bundle elevates video as a component. This move comes with Charter having cut deals with The Walt Disney Co., Paramount Global, TelevisaUnivision and AMC Networks to include their streaming properties as part of Spectrum pay TV bundles.
“How much any of this will move the needle for broadband is unclear,” Moffett said.
“And while Charter’s video offering will indeed be differentiated — it is interesting to consider the success Verizon has had with their myPlan bundles of different DTC video services as add-ons to wireless, for example — it is hard to imagine that anything will slow the decline of linear video packages all that much,” Moffett said. “We would imagine, however, that Spectrum Mobile will get a boost, as the company leans into the fact that its broadband + mobile (ahem, converged connectivity) bundles are priced below any converged alternative. And they are available … everywhere.”
Charter is introducing Life Unlimited with a new TV ad campaign that starts Tuesday. The new brand also features new-for-charter colors and a new sound.
“Today’s launch of Spectrum’s Life Unlimited brand platform marks a milestone in our journey to redefine what a connectivity company means to its customers,” Charter executive VP, chief marketing officer Sharon Peters said.
“This initiative is about so much more than a new look and feel for the Spectrum brand; it is a fundamental shift in how we operate, with the goal of building more trust with our customers,“ Peters said. “Life Unlimited is a platform for action that holds the customer experience at the center of everything we do. By delivering competitive, reliable products and exceptional customer service at an incredible value, we are declaring our unwavering commitment to helping our customers lead unlimited lives, anywhere and everywhere they need us.”
