Sprint's (NYSE: S) new commercial featuring a former Verizon (NYSE: VZ) spokesman is a hit, according to iSpot.tv.

Marcarelli

The TV advertising measurement firm said the commercial featuring Paul Marcarelli claimed an overwhelming 47.6 percent of the digital "share of voice" for the entire U.S. wireless industry from May 16 to June 15. Share of voice is generally defined as the percentage of advertising activities for one brand within the total advertising activity for an entire market.



Marcarelli was the spokesman for Verizon's "Can you hear me now?" campaign, which touted the carrier's network performance.



Sprint earned 58.2 percent of the wireless industry's digital engagement during the 30-day period, iSpot said, spending an estimated $27 million on 12 spots that ran more than 7,000 times. The "Paul Switched" ad didn't air for the first time until June 6 but still had 75.4 percent of Sprint's digital share of voice.



The commercial ran more than 1,300 times on national TV, including slots during the NBA and NHL finals. It also generated 3.2 million online views and more than 26,000 social actions.



Verizon was the second-ranked carrier in the report with 22.6 percent of the digital share of voice and an estimated $25 million in spending. AT&T (NYSE: T), which was the top-performing carrier in iSpot's last study, slipped to third with 12.1 percent of the digital share of voice. T-Mobile claimed only 4.1 percent of the industry's digital share of voice.

Sprint may be capitalizing as U.S. carriers temper their marketing spends and the second quarter draws to a close. By contrast, AT&T spent more than $109 million on video advertising from March 16 to April 15, according to iSpot estimates from earlier this year, generating more consumer engagements during that time than any other major U.S. carrier.

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