Whether it’s on the basketball court or on the set of a popular TV show, Verizon Wireless is going the extra mile to show that mobile phones are more than just tools by which to talk.
With the number of Verizon Wireless subscribers currently totaling approximately 32.5 million, the company is finding it crucial to develop campaigns that, in addition to branding, educate subscribers about the applications currently available on their mobile phones. Such recent campaigns include ones aligned with the NBA All-Star Game and ABC Network’s 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter.
NBA All-Star Game MVP
On Sunday, February 9th, Minnesota Timberwolves’ forward Kevin Garnett was chosen as MVP of the 52nd NBA All-Star game. Garnett’s success was due, in part, to the convenience of wireless technology. Teaming with the NBA, Verizon Wireless offered its subscribers the opportunity to utilize the TXT messaging service on their mobile phones to both pre-register with the NBA and to cast their votes for MVP of the year. “It was the first time we’ve ever had this kind of a voting opportunity with the NBA,” says Brenda Raney, executive director-corporate communications for Verizon Wireless. This was also the first time that fan voting counted towards the actual selection of the game’s MVP.
Verizon Wireless took short messaging service (SMS) one step further and incorporated short coding into the campaign. Short coding is an abbreviated number, which is easier to remember and to input than an entire e-mail address, for example. In this particular campaign, the short code was “N-B-A” (622). After TXT messaging in this number, subscribers were able to register to vote.
Following the registration, a message appeared on the screen stating the subscriber was registered for the Verizon Wireless NBA All Star voting. Once the voting began, pre-registered subscribers received a TXT message with a list of the MVP candidates. They were able to vote by pressing a number one to five with each number corresponding to a different player. Subscribers had up until five minutes before the end of the game to do so.
Verizon Wireless has used short coding before but never in such a large-scale campaign. “We’re in a mode right now to encourage people to text message,” says Jeffrey Nelson, spokesperson for Verizon Wireless. “We’re providing interesting and unique forms to do that in, making it as easy as possible. Once people text message once, they do it forever.”
Verizon Wireless’s key objective was to expose and demonstrate the usefulness, diversity, and practicality of wireless as well as to encourage SMS adoption. “Wireless service and the new technologies that make a wireless phone more than just a voice instrument are things that people use everyday, and the TXT messaging [used in this campaign] is one more way to show people how they can use it on a daily basis in their lives,” says Raney.
In addition to educating consumers, there was the additional element of partnering with the NBA, securing Verizon Wireless as the only carrier to bring NBA MVP voting to wireless subscribers. “We are aligning ourselves whether it is with text messaging or other kinds of content with other marquis brands for exclusivity and the relationship with the NBA calls for that exclusive content,” says Nelson.
Finally, the campaign offered Verizon Wireless a way to test the network. “It was really a great opportunity to see how well our network works with huge volumes of short messages being sent and received in a very short time,” says Nelson. Although no numbers can be released at this time, Nelson says, “We were tremendously pleased with the number of messages going through our network.”
The partnership offered equally exciting opportunities for the NBA. “Wireless content and interactivity will continue to be a key opportunity for the NBA to deliver value to our fans -- through scores, and breaking news alerts via our WAP site (wap.nba.com), or through interactive programming like the All-Star MVP voting platform,” says Renny Gleeson, senior director of global media programs, interactive marketing for NBA.
To make sure fans would have the best possible experience when voting for the All-Star Game MVP, the NBA and Verizon Wireless developed the infrastructure and promotional program elements. In addition, they did thorough testing to insure the success during the actual voting. “We underwent a series of load and user interface testing in the development stage, all of which went as smoothly and successfully as the live wireless voting program,” says Gleeson.
Encouraged by the tens of thousands of wireless MVP votes that were received, the NBA plans to continue incorporating wireless in future events. “The NBA always seeks innovative ways to enhance the fan experience, and the proven success of this year's wireless All-Star MVP voting demonstrated that wireless opportunities have a definite role to play in connecting fans to the players and the game,” says Gleeson.
‘Eight Simple Rules’
Two days after Verizon Wireless subscribers were TXT messaging in their votes for the NBA’s 2003 MVP, the company ran another campaign. But this time instead of basketball, the attention was on 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter, the People’s Choice award winner for Favorite New Television Comedy in 2003.
In a creative, first-time attempt at advertising and promoting its product in a television show, Verizon Wireless partnered with ABC. By granting mobile phones an active role in February 11th’s script, the objective was to demonstrate the variety of functions available through its new Get It NowSM service. For example, during the show, Kaley Cuoco (Bridget) and Amy Davidson (Kerry) use a Verizon phone to make calls and receive text messages. Kerry also makes reference to the fact that games like Solitaire are available on the phone.
Reese’s Pieces first revealed the benefits of such kind of advertising in 1982 when sales of the candy increased by 62% thanks to a shot of it in the movie, E.T. In Verizon Wireless’s case, a close up is shown of the phone in Kerry’s back pocket as she lets it ring, not answering it because she knows that it is her father from the specialized Michigan fight song ring tone.
The show offered an invaluable opportunity for Verizon to reach one of its key target audiences, the 18- to 24-year-olds. “The ‘youth market’ is a group composed of people who have been around technology all their lives and are adapt to it and incorporate it into their lives more readily,” says Raney. “So for them to see it on a show being used by people like them gives [wireless services] additional credibility as well as brand awareness.”
Following the show, a directive appeared on the screen to take viewers to the abc.com Web site where they were able to participate in an additional aspect of the campaign: The Simple Ways to Win Sweepstakes, which tests viewers on the different ways in which the mobile phone was used in the episode. The sweepstakes will end February 21, offering prizes such as a Verizon Wireless LG VX4400 phone with $8,000 worth of service credited to a Verizon account. The winners of the sweepstakes will be chosen on March 3, 2003.
Designed primarily to motivate viewers to get more involved with the campaign, the sweepstakes is key from a marketing perspective as well. Not only can the results be measured, but the company will also be able to gain invaluable insight into its current and potential customers. “You can see how your viewers are responding, and you can learn a lot about the people who are using your product,” says Raney.
As for whether similar campaigns will follow, this will depend partly on the success of the sweepstakes. Also, Raney says that future campaigns will be considered only if they are appropriate for the product and the marketing. “We’re not doing this just for the sake of putting a phone in the hand of a character,” she says. “The activity is not driving this; it’s the strategy of making customers aware of how people use wireless service on a day-to-day basis.”
Verizon Wireless Campaigns in 2002
Campaigns such as these are not new. Verizon was equally active in 2002, running two major campaigns that used SMS: the NBA “Hoop It Up” and the Verizon Wireless Football Trivia Challenge Sweepstakes.
In the NBA “Hoop It Up”, NBA trivia questions were sent via SMS to the 16- to 24-year-old participants. Verizon Wireless sent trivia questions hourly throughout the duration of the three-on-three basketball tournament and prizes were granted to the first person who answered the trivia questions correctly. In the Verizon Wireless Football Trivia Challenge Sweepstakes, participants used their mobile phones to answer one football trivia question every day for a total of 17 weeks.
Verizon Wireless has been doing SMS campaigns for the last year and a half, but Raney says campaigns like these are “the natural evolution” of a process that started in April 2000, with the birth of Verizon Wireless. It wasn’t until a year and a half ago that the company succeeded in bringing the full capacity of the technology to its customers by equipping all its phones with SMS capability. Now that the number of Verizon Wireless subscribers totals approximately 32.5 million, campaigns such as the NBA All Star game MVP and the 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter are necessary for educating subscribers about the applications currently available on their mobile phones.