As Valentine's Day nears consumers are craving more than just candy, and Verizon Wireless has unveiled two new phone offerings to help lovelorn techies find gifts for loved ones.
The Strawberry Chocolate, announced by Verizon Wireless Monday, is the newest flavor of the carrier's LG Chocolate line of phones, which also includes White Chocolate, Cherry Chocolate, Mint Chocolate and the original Dark Chocolate.
Strawberry Chocolate is only available online at the Verizon Wireless online store for $99.99 after a $50 instant online rebate with a new two-year customer agreement, according to the press release announcing the phone.
Verizon Wireless Spokesperson Michelle Gilbert said the new strawberry-pink offering in the chocolate line is bound to impress people as a possible Valentine's Day gift.
"Anything red or pink has an immediate association with love ... This is a great gift idea for the husband and boyfriend who want to treat the women in their lives with a calorie-free gift," Gilbert said.
She said she does not feel the pink phone will limit the audience because the cherry, mint, white and dark Chocolates offer a more neutral choice for men or women.
Verizon also unveiled the new Motorola KRZR Fire on Friday, just in time to air a commercial for the new phone during the Super Bowl. The Fire is a dark-red edition of the phone. Gilbert said this phone could offer another more neutral choice for Valentine's Day.
The proximity of the phones' releases to the holiday of love is no mistake, Gilbert said. The success of phone sales over the holiday shopping season gave the company a big clue that consumers are ready to give cell phones as gifts to friends and family members.
"People are looking for new ideas beyond just flowers and chocolate," Gilbert said.
Gilbert said Verizon stores could not keep the Mint Chocolate and Cherry Chocolate on the shelves during Christmas, and she said she feels the newest flavor will be just as successful.
"People want what's hot now, so the reason why a wireless phone had been so popular a gift is because new phones have been coming out every week," she said.
Verizon Wireless finds that consumers get new phones about every 18 months, and Gilbert said that's not because the phones are breaking, it's because they want something new and different.
While the new Strawberry Chocolate phone is only available online, Gilbert said it will eventually move into stores as well.
She said introducing new colors of popular phones plays into the concept that people want their phones to be an extension of themselves.
"People really pay attention to the look and the feel of the phones now ... As we've introduced new flavors, they've just been eaten up by consumers," Gilbert said.
The rising popularity of the LG Chocolate since its introduction in September, as well as the new flavors for Christmas, has helped Verizon to be able to offer the phone in more colors, such as the new pink model. Gilbert said she does not know of any plans to unveil a new color soon, but does not doubt that the Chocolate will continue its popular streak.
"I think you will continue to see the popularity of the phone increase, it's just so rich in features, there's nothing limiting about this phone," Gilbert said. "We're a society of multi-taskers and we want the same from the technology we enjoy."
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