The ad will be run as a full-page spread in the July 3 editions of The New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post, Motorola said. It's Motorola's first ad for its upcoming Moto X smartphone, and the copy and timing emphasize the rebranded company's emphasis on freedom.
Behind it was Motorola's new creative agency of record is independent shop Droga5, which won the business without a pitch. Assisting on the creative and strategy for the campaign will be Publicis Groupe's Digitas.
Moto X will be "the first smartphone that you can design yourself," the copy says, which promises that users will be able to design phones as "unique" as their personalities.
"Smartphones are very different than other tech products a consumer owns," Mr. Wallace said. "They're closer to shoes or a watch. You carry it with you everywhere you go. Everyone sees what phone you're carrying and they judge you on it. Yet, it's the one thing you carry that's the least customizable."
Mr. Wallace declined to comment on exactly which Moto X aspects will be available for personalization (and the ad doesn't show the phone), but that its part of injecting what he called a "Googley attitude" into the company's operations and brand image. The emergence on a (literally) colorful new Motorola started last week when the company debuted its new logo last week.
