Watching Verizon's CTIA live stream event was like watching a bad movie complete with Jennifer Lopez, literally. Verizon Wireless CEO, Marni Walden took to the stage at CTIA to announce a "huge" announcement of a partnership that Verizon Wireless would be entering into. According to the CEO, it would be partnering with a Latino company called Viva Movil.
When introducing the "Chief Creative Officer" of its new partner, Viva Movil, the lights dimmed and Jennifer Lopez's "Jenny From The Block" began to play. As the lights came up, there was Jennifer Lopez standing on a stage ready to try and give a speech. When I say try, I mean she tried to use the teleprompter she was reading off and repeatedly messed up her lines.
Lopez went on and explained why it was so important for the Latino market to have its own mobile stores, smartphones, tablets, and accessories. The pop star made sure to remind the audience that she worked very hard for over 18 months on this project and was happy to be partnering with Verizon Wireless.
During her teleprompter speech Lopez announced that there would be Viva Movil stores opening in New York, L.A., and Miami initially. She said the stores were created for Latinos to go to purchase smartphones, tablets, and other devices and leave the stores with the devices completely setup. All employees would be bilingual in the stores to make it easier to communicate.
Jennifer Lopez also announced that, starting Wednesday, fans can go to her Facebook page for a social experiment where they can purchase Viva Movil devices and accessories. She believes that Facebook is the perfect way for Latinos to find out what devices their friends, family, or Jennifer Lopez recommends buying. Ouch!
When asked what her role entails as the Chief Creative Officer of Viva Movil, Lopez responded with "I pick out the smartphones, cases, accessories, the colors, and what the stores look like." This is worse than when BlackBerry named Alicia Keys as BlackBerry's Global Creative Director.
The Viva Movil smartphones, tablets, and plans will be no different from the plans or devices Verizon currently offers. It's essentially a way to try and use Jennifer Lopez name and social media to try and attract Latino customers to a company Verizon has partnered with. The first store will open on June 15 in New York City but there was no address given except "a busy intersection." Verizon said that it wants to see how the first stores do before it announces plans to bring more stores to different locations.
Companies will pay celebrities to endorse anything, and it was clear today by JLo's performance on stage that a big star may not equal success, especially in the tech world.
