When competitors went short-form, Mint went to the infomercial.
Despite being acquired by T-Mobile for $1.35 billion in May, Mint Mobile still markets itself as a challenger brand disrupting the telecommunications industry.
The brand often hinges its marketing on antagonistic comparisons to competitors that raise prices or engage in other practices unfriendly to consumers, said Aron North, former chief marketing officer of Mint Mobile, on the latest episode of the Marketer’s Brief podcast.
Maintaining a disruption-first marketing strategy may get harder as Mint grows out of the challenger category, but it still has time left to play in that space, North said.
“I don’t see it ending soon, I just see the creativity and the challenge getting harder,” he said. “But when you have those big challenges, that’s when it’s fun.”
North served as Mint’s chief marketing officer between March 2019 and November 2024, when he stepped back from managerial responsibilities to serve as a strategic advisor. Andrew Fried, former senior VP of direct-to-consumer marketing, immediately assumed the CMO role.
Since its 2016 launch, Mint has focused on how it differs from competitors AT&T and Verizon. Big Wireless puts its name on sports stadiums and spends millions to advertise during the Super Bowl, so Mint sponsored the niche marble racing competition Marble League 2024 in December. Other brands are increasing investments in short-form video on social media, so Mint released a nearly 30-minute infomercial in November.
North also discussed the challenges and advantages of Mint marketing around its price point of $15 per month—an introductory rate for several plans and one of its key marketing pillars alongside spokesperson Ryan Reynolds.
“You would expect as prices of all goods have gone up over the last eight years that we would have to raise prices,” he said. “But we didn’t, so you would think the service must not get enhanced because how can you add value if you keep price the same … Mint has increased its data allotment at that $15 price point three separate times. The product got better and the price stayed the same. This puts pressure on the brand.”
Consistent pricing has allowed Mint to stand out, North said.
“The opportunity was to really own that $15 price point,” he added. “We continue to work to be creative on how we get that $15 price point out there and how we bring people into the fold. There’s no plan to raise the price.”
