The Challenge
Can advertising be too successful? In 2009, virtually every consumer in the U.S. knew the Verizon Wireless slogan, "Can You Hear Me Now?" The problem for Verizon was that it reinforced an old perception of them as a legacy telecommunications company.
The fact is, Verizon is a leading enterprise technology solutions provider of market-leading technology solutions—from global networking and cloud solutions to information security and enterprise mobility solutions for many of the world's largest enterprise businesses and governments.
If they were going to grow their business, they needed to clearly establish themselves as a technology leader—and this meant changing the conversation to topics that mattered to corporate executives – such as, growth and productivity, risk management, business agility, and transformation through technology. Leading and engaging in that form of dialogue was critical to Verizon's desired brand transformation.
The Idea
MRM created Think Forward: a dynamic thought leadership and social CRM program to help position Verizon as an innovative technology leader to corporate executives.
This would be achieved through the development of credible, information-rich assets, including videos, infographics and reports available on multiple platforms including Verizon's website, a tablet application, and a variety of social sites—enabling users to contribute to a high-level dialogue from wherever they were.
The agency created a graphical interface that enabled users to browse topics quickly, go a little deeper without leaving the page and then dive deep into the chosen content. Site analytics gave users a window to see which assets their peers were reading and what topics were generating the most interest.
The Execution
The Results
The ultimate achievement was that Verizon learned what content corporate executives truly value and how they consume it:
- Assets from the Think Forward program have consistently been among the most downloaded Verizon materials with thousands of downloads 2011 alone
- Thought leadership content was shared an average of 17 times for every initial download
Measured against previous B2B efforts, the 'Think Forward' program saw:
- 300% increase in topic views
- 372% increase in downloads of content
- 30% increase in time spent with content
While the program has ended, the content is still driving engagement, with many of the assets among the most downloaded by visitors to VerizonEnterprise.com. And Verizon sales teams are still successfully utilizing it in presentations and in building relationships with prospects.