The wireless service provider space is a crowded and competitive one. So for Visible, an all-digital carrier powered by Verizon’s network, the goal is to devise innovative ways to cut through the clutter, often with tongue-in-cheek creative. Look no further than its unlimited “eyebrowsing” campaign, fronted by the brow-endowed star of “Schitt’s Creek,” Daniel Levy, where consumers could literally scroll through a website using their eyebrows. (Not kidding.)

Visible recently developed a campaign that catered to singles, a target market that might find its low-cost, single-line plan featuring unlimited data appealing. Ahead of what’s likely to be an expensive wedding season that benefits everyone but single people, the brand teamed up with Match Group’s portfolio of dating sites to create a registry for singles, featuring gifts like a pair of “Mine” and “Also Mine” tea towels, matching merch for a single and their pet, and a chance to win a gift card to Airbnb for a “Single Moon” of their choice.

We spoke with Visible CMO Cheryl Gresham about the campaign’s brand awareness play, the brand’s plans to build community among its customers, marketing lessons learned from her time at TikTok and how Visible is approaching the industry’s measurement challenges.

Chief Marketer: What inspired the singles registry and collaboration with the Match Group?

Visible CMO Cheryl Gresham: At Visible we have a wonderful single-line wireless service. You can get the same savings that other places give you on family plans or multiple-line services, but here you don’t have to bring a bunch of people with you. You can get it just on your own. One of the things we thought about when we were talking with the Match Group was that so many of us through our lives have been bridesmaids, [attended] bachelorette parties, [given] baby gifts, wedding gifts, et cetera. But if you are single, you are never on the receiving end.

We worked out this idea with the Match Group, which oversees Tinder and quite a few other dating sites, and thought, what if we created a singles registry where people could register for faux wedding gifts that they could get from all their friends and family and loved ones, just like a couple would do, but they can still celebrate themselves for being single? We thought it was a great way to celebrate the single lifestyle, single people and people who need single-line wireless.

CM: How will you gauge its success?

CG: Our main driver is brand awareness. We also love the strategic alignment between ourselves and the Match Group. The brand awareness amongst the community of people who use Match’s dating websites is something we’re going to be tracking as well. And obviously, all the digital elements, as in website visits, how many singles registries are created, engagement rates, share rates, et cetera. And we’ll be fulfilling on the gifts as well.

CM: Talk about Visible’s strategy with creative. The brand always seems to show up with clever, tongue-in-cheek campaigns.

CG: One of the things we love about the Visible brand is its sensibility and simplicity. This category is one of the largest categories of advertising in the country. And a lot of the advertising and communications look and feel and sound very similar. We know from studying Visible members that simplicity and directness are really important. What you see is what you get at Visible. That’s why we got a little bit more tongue-in-cheek and aggressive with some of our paid advertising that’s running in social, [that says] you’re getting ripped off on all these registries. We believe that’s the best way to communicate with our members and potential members. And it’s a great way for us to be able to stand out in this huge category.

CM: You recently led marketing, media and partnerships at TikTok. What are you bringing to Visible from that experience?

CG: At TikTok, there is this idea of showing up as a brand very honestly and openly—all the good things and the bad things. The things that do best—the videos, the creators, the brands on TikTok—are honest, straightforward and oftentimes helpful. It’s a community. For our members—we refer to them as members versus customers—we are building a community here and we want to help one another. We want our community to be able to see that there’s an easier, simpler way to get phone service. They don’t need to go into a store to get the phone service. They don’t need to have a bunch of things bundled into their phone service that they may not really care about.

And then, it’s important to make advertising that is endemic to the channel that you’re in versus force-feeding your advertising into that channel. We’re making sure that we’re showing up in the right way across all the channels. Our communications belong in the channels that we’re showing up in. Back to the singles registry, if you’re going to do something with the Match Group, how do you show up in a place where people are looking for companionship, love, whatever it might be, and show up in an authentic way that feels right for that community?

CM: Can you talk more about how you’re building community at Visible?

CG: One of the things we’re doing is making sure that we’re keeping our members happy. We’ve got a care team that is on-call, all day, every day, to make sure that the needs that they have, or want to know about or need support in, are taken care of. The other thing is we’re looking at developing a stronger community on social and how we can engage with our members. A lot of brands show up in funny, unique ways, but there’s also a care and communal support aspect.

CM: What is your experiential strategy in the coming year?

CG: We did a great event the first week I started here in New York with the Smash Room. We want to continue to bring that direct, no BS energy to experiential events, but like everyone over the past couple years, in-real-life events have been a little bit more challenged. So one of the things we’re looking at is how do we bring a fun event to our members and potential members through digital. As an all-digital brand with no retail stores, we have to live and breathe and do everything in the digital space. We’re looking at more opportunities like the singles registry that live in the digital space that can be “event-ized”… to bring people together, but with a digital experience.

There are two reasons we like that. One, we get to scale and reach more people who can engage with the brand and the experience. And then two, as the pandemic continues to flex and flow, it’s something that we can depend on a little bit more. The pandemic has taught us to be more creative with how we’re looking to connect. What we did many years ago with Red Rocks Unpaused was an example of that in-real-life, experiential moment, but it was also rooted in digital and scaled. So even though you might not be in the state of Colorado, you could still partake in the event. We’re continuing to look at how we can do more of that in the future.

CM: Lastly, I’d like to get your take on how Visible is dealing with the measurement challenges happening in the industry right now, particularly since you’re an all-digital brand.

CG: It’s been a challenge. We are pulling all the levers and resources that we can. Because Visible is part of Verizon, we have great teams within the organization who look at measurement, ROI, mix modeling, et cetera. What we’re finding is, for us, sometimes it goes back to the basics. Did someone have the chance to view your communications and hear it and see it all the way through? That’s a win; that’s something that we prioritize. Needing to build brand awareness, we are in some ways [using] the basics and the fundamentals of what I call “marketing.” We’re measuring our success in some of those fundamental ways to make sure that we’re reaching the right people, they’re having the opportunity to see, hear, engage and interact with our ad, and then, over time, continuing to measure brand health, brand awareness, and using all the instruments that we can to make sure that Visible’s marketing continues to grow.

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Customer service technology is a critical software priority for 2021, according to a recent survey of global software decision-makers from Forrester Analytics. But the pandemic has shed light on the extent to which these digital channels, which have become increasingly important for remote customer service operations, are not seemingly integrated across companies.

Forrester reasons that high costs associated with investment, lack of leadership from management and fragmented martech stacks are obstacles to formulating a holistic digital business strategy. Customer experiences, as a result, may fail to reach their full potential and companies risk ceding market share to competitors. What’s more, 62 percent of Americans say they plan to shop online this holiday season, a figure that’s even higher compared to the same period in 2020, according to a study conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of cross-channel marketing platform Cordial.

The good news is that consumers are more willing to communicate with brands digitally, provided that the messages are personalized, properly targeted and intelligent. Following are five tips from Forrester on how to digitize customer service.

1. 1. Chat and Messaging. Embrace customer-initiated chat, but also engage consumers at points of struggle along the customer journey. Start by adding chat to your website, mobile website and mobile app. Rich features within chat, including suggested replies and photos, can help deliver a better customer experience without switching channels.
   2. Consider Voice Calls. Digital voice, or “click to call,” can help handle complex inquiries. When the process is initiated by customers, agents can move from chat integrations to voice easily. It also provides additional context to agents prior to the call.
   3. Encourage Digital-First. Track agent efficiency and customer satisfaction metrics in order to optimize staffing. Provide digital-only options in place of traditional phone numbers, including chat and digital voice, and encourage those customers to engage in digital-only options.
   4. Intelligent Automation. Reroute common requests to a bot or knowledge-based article. As bots take the responsibility for a good portion of the repetitive inbound value, more engaging customer services can be delivered as a result.
   5. Deflection Strategies. Drive customers from phone to messaging with an offer to chat. The details captured through interactive voice response will allow digital agents to identify context surrounding customers’ specific needs and also allow them to multitask and improve experiences. Phone is the most expensive way to deliver a customer experience, according to Forrester research, while messaging is the most cost-effective. Deflective interactive voice response allows companies to capture customer details and resolve customer service issues more efficiently.

The post How to Digitize Customer Service: Five Tips From Forrester appeared first on Chief Marketer.

Integrated Experiences

Digital transformation has accelerated during the pandemic, and behaviors like contactless payments, online shopping for groceries and cooking at home are likely to remain popular. Dentsu research estimates that 40 percent of consumers will continue to use telehealth services. Moreover, both younger and older demographics are integrating digital experiences into their routines, widening the pool of consumers who expect seamless interactions both online and in person.

Solutions for Multiple Segments

Global vaccine rollouts are creating optimism for many, but half of Americans still lack confidence in their personal financial situations, according to a Forbes/Ispos survey. Portions of the public remain concerned about the pandemic’s health risks, and what constitutes value and feeling “safe” while COVID continues varies for different groups of people. Brands should be cognizant of different segments’ comfort levels in order to meet customers’ evolving needs and expectations.

For more on how brands can remain nimble while marketing to different groups of consumers, read on in Multichannel Merchant.

The post Two Ways Marketers Can Approach Varying Consumer Behaviors During Pandemic Recovery appeared first on Chief Marketer.

Our monthly analysis of the world’s top brands and the marketing moves that are setting them apart.

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Does anyone find shopping for wireless data plans fun? Probably not. Nonetheless, wireless service Visible was built from the ground up to be fun and approachable, said Kirstie Rivard, the brand’s Head of Experiential, during a keynote at the 2021 Experiential Marketing Summit last month. And that foundation extends far beyond experiential—to its quirky advertising, creative digital campaigns and social media marketing.

Puns and Games

Take the “12 Degrees of Kevin Bacon” TV spot that Visible launched in February. Actor Bacon himself explains that rather than settling for “six degrees of me,” he’s planning to enlist a dozen people to sign up for Visible, one each month. That’s because with Visible’s Party Play plan, for each month that someone you recommend enrolls, the cost of your monthly standard plan is reduced from $25 to $5.

Rather than hammering home the numbers, however, the ad shows Bacon floating in his pool, persuading his dentist and members of a “really hip acupuncture group” to sign up, getting two of his stunt doubles into the plan, and even lazing with (and selling the plan to) fellow actor Michael Gross, who already has just one degree of separation from Bacon thanks to both of them starring in the 1990 film “Tremors.” What’s more, Visible’s Instagram account reminded visitors that “Once you switch to Visible, you will officially be within two degrees” of Kevin Bacon.

An earlier spot for Party Play, shown on OTT and social media, featured an actress playing a gamer who enrolled into her “party” people she sees daily as well as those she knows only online. “People are finding each other on social media, and a big portion of people who are in parties together didn’t even know each other before joining the plan together,” Pearl Servat, Visible’s head of brand marketing, told MediaPost. “There are even 13,000 members on a Visible subreddit that exists for the sole reason of helping people join up for a party.”

Visible’s previous campaign, which debuted in November 2020, boasted that its unlimited data plan allowed for limitless browsing… or “eyebrowsing.” Dan Levy, riding a wave of awards and accolades for his TV series “Schitt’s Creek”—and owner of an impressive pair of eyebrows—appeared in five TV spots.

The brand also created a pun-filled website, UnlimitedEyebrowsing.com, that included games and even a “browse with your eyebrows” feature with which mobile users could literally raise their eyebrows to see a new page. Visible and its agency Madwell created more than 300 eyebrow-related assets in all. The campaign generated more than 518.7 million PR impressions; in addition, more than 183,000 unique visitors headed to UnlimitedEyebrowsing.com, and more than 2 percent of those visitors subsequently clicked on Visible.com.

Authenticity and Kindness

Visible didn’t air its first commercial until May 2020, almost two years after launch. In it, “approachable” trumped “fun,” though its pastel visuals added whimsy and differentiated the brand from its competitors. Because COVID-19 was keeping consumers at home—where they were watching more TV and reaching out more to friends and family via phone—Visible chief marketing officer Minjae Ormes felt this was the right time to expand the brand’s marketing efforts beyond digital and experiential. And because the pandemic was forcing many to cut their household budgets, she also felt the time was right to promote Visible’s value proposition.

“Thirty-three million people are unemployed in the U.S. right now, and it’s only going to last longer, so the product and business model we’ve built here—in a weird way— is right for helping people and fitting their needs today,” Ormes told Campaign US. “We want to introduce the product to people who don’t know about us. This isn’t about the moment or saying ‘We’re here for you because of everything going on.’”

The introductory commercial coincided with the “Visible Acts of Kindness” social campaign the company introduced in the early days of the pandemic. With a boost from influencers including Levy, “Top Chef” host Padma Lakshmi and pro hockey player P.K. Subban, Visible encouraged people to post examples of how individuals were helping others—in ways large and small—on their social channels with the hashtag #VisibleActsofKindness.

More than 13,000 people submitted posts, according to CEO Miguel Quiroga, and the company donated $250,000 in Amazon gift cards to 1,000 families in need. Visible reaped benefits as well: more than 5.5 million impressions, nearly 2 million “meaningful” engagements with potential customers, and a 40 percent boost in brand sentiment on its social media.

Efforts such as this showed there’s more to Visible than playfulness. “You can be fun and approachable as a brand,” Rivard said at the Experiential Marketing Summit, “but you can also be sincere and honest and authentic.”

Making It Real

Unlike other wireless services, Visible doesn’t have storefronts or any other physical presence. So events have been part of its marketing mix from year one. That’s when it intentionally slipped a typo into OOH ads, promising “free massages” rather than messages, then followed up with massage kiosk at Union Station in its hometown of Denver. Shortly after, Visible created Phonetopia, a 12,000-square-foot interactive exhibition designed to make mobile communications tangible.

Phonetopia included a tub filled with rubber ducks where visitors could perfect their selfie “duck face” and an obstacle course that led guests to literally “slide in” to a pit filled with foam D’s and M’s. The space also hosted a series of intimate concerts by Haim, Kacey Musgraves and other marquee names. To get on the 200-guest list, people had to register on the Phonetopia website.

“As a digital brand we do not exist in your physical life because the product we’re selling is a phone service that is invisible,” Ormes told Event Marketer. “And we do not have physical stores—our storefront is Visible.com and the app experience. So we wanted to make sure that we also show up in people’s lives in a way that looks physical and tactile.” What’s more, she said, people who came to Visible via experiential marketing were up to three times more likely to convert than those introduced to the brand via other channels.

Given that the pandemic made producing events challenging, you might think Visible would have paused its experiential marketing. Instead, in early September 2020 it produced Red Rocks Unpaused, three evenings of free concerts at Denver’s celebrated Red Rocks Amphitheatre. The venue was empty when the likes of Megan Thee Stallion and Sam Hunt performed, but the more than 8.6 million people who streamed the shows were able to send messages to the performers as well as to fellow viewers—and even have those messages displayed on the rock walls of the amphitheater. Other interactive features included voting on encore songs and cheering into devices to set off lights in the venue.

Not only did the number of viewers exceed Visible’s goal by 457 percent, but visits to its microsite beat expectations by 155 percent. The event garnered more than 2.5 billion earned media impressions, and more than 7 million people engaged with the organic social media posts. “Meaningful connections are just the most important thing for us,” Madwell account supervisor Charlie Smith told Fast Company, “whether it’s an experiential activation or a digital activation.”

The post Brands on Fire: Visible      appeared first on Chief Marketer.

Mobile Optimization

According to data from Namagoo, the 2020 holiday shopping season saw mobile purchases surpass desktop for the first time. Brands should therefore optimize their mobile experience, starting with user-friendly account creation and an accessible and clearly visible search function.

Real-Time Intent

Tap technology to develop individualized promotions based on location, device, time of day and more. Use relevant, tailored promotions, such as buy-one-get-one-free or free shipping, to keep customers engaged.

For additional ways in which brands can increase engagement and conversions through ecommerce, including by preventing customer journey hijacking and offering flexible payment options, read more in Multichannel Merchant.

The post Four Ways to Increase Ecommerce Engagement and Sales appeared first on Chief Marketer.

Lesson Learned: Form a Foundation

According to Doyle, converting mega-conference Cisco Live into a virtual event didn’t entail just pivoting to digital. It was more like starting from scratch. So, the brand began by putting a foundation in place that would support the agility that’s required when working so quickly. They created new, cross-functional work streams and identified decision-makers and contributors within teams across the company.

Lesson Learned: Right-size the Event

Converting all the content that was planned for the in-person Cisco Live wasn’t going to cut it. The team had to look at the original five-day event and prioritize content that would be appropriate for a two-day affair. They also shortened sessions to make the content more digestible.

Lesson Learned: Consider the Cultural Moment

On the evening before the show’s kickoff, Cisco made the decision to postpone the event in order to honor the Black Lives Matter movement taking place. The event was scheduled to happen on Blackout Tuesday, a collective action that called for the world to go silent on social media in honor of BLM’s cause. The decision, though disappointing for customers and requiring additional work from the brand, spurred a lot of positive feedback.

For additional tips and lessons learned from Cisco Live’s virtual pivot, read more in Event Marketer.

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The initiative, dubbed Digital Priceless Experiences, included a virtual Top Golf challenge in which brand ambassadors Justin Rose and Graeme McDowell (also golf champions) faced off at the game’s Pebble Beach Golf Links course. Mastercard used the World Golf Tour virtual game to showcase the players’ prowess, with in-game branding and friendly banter between the players.

Other activities on the platform include a digital golf lesson with Annika Sörenstam, a knuckleball lesson with former Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield and an at-home cooking lesson with chef Bryan Voltaggio. To make it special for cardholders, a personalized element was included in each activity. For more on Mastercard’s digital experience platform, read on in Event Marketer.

Other articles you might enjoy:

• 10 Promotional Marketing Ideas for the Social Distancing Era
• The Best B2B and B2C Experiential Campaigns of the Year
• Salesforce Director of Marketing Insights on Communicating to Customers During COVID-19

The post Mastercard’s ‘Priceless Experiences’ Leverages Golf Champions for Virtual Events appeared first on Chief Marketer.

For instance, payment provider Klarna launched a virtual drag brunch series to help support the drag community, which has been hit particularly hard by COVID-19. Just a few weeks prior, such an event seemed unthinkable online. But the “Breakfast for Dinner” series brought curated recipes, tutorials, lip sync performances from famous queens and drag looks to virtual attendees, according to Event Marketer. Megan Gokey, Klarna’s head of U.S. marketing, dishes on why it made sense to partner with the drag community and how marketers can provide value for consumers with virtual touchpoints.

Other articles you might enjoy:

• Q&A With Mastercard Global CMO Raja Rajamannar
• Six Tips for Engaging Audiences With Virtual Experiences
• Four Insights for Marketers Considering Digital Events

The post Klarna Launches a Virtual Drag Brunch Series appeared first on Chief Marketer.

Subscription Kits

With home delivery booming out of necessity, consumers are more comfortable than ever with subscription services or one-off home deliveries. According to McKinsey survey data, new digital behaviors, like curbside restaurant pickup and grocery delivery, are gaining traction with consumers. An example of a brand employing this tactic is Heineken. As part of a holiday social media contest, it delivered parties in a box to winners’ doorsteps, which included Jambox custom playlists, holiday décor, party favors and a Heineken branded gift card.

Crowdsourced Digital Campaigns

With consumers stuck in their homes, crowdsourcing engagement is a contactless way to inspire brand engagement. For instance, for its Voice for the Planet campaign last year, environmental nonprofit Global Shapers asked people to record a voice pledge for the planet and then share it through uploading it to a digital platform. Another example: Coca-Cola invited fans of the FIFA World Cup to submit social media photos to be included in the world’s largest photomosaic flag.

Channel Makeovers

Digital engagement on websites and streaming platforms is soaring as consumers hunker down in their homes. Themed, digital takeovers, like the ‘80s-style social media and website revamp Microsoft did for a “Stranger Things” tie-in, can engage consumers creatively—while at a distance.

For more ideas, including virtual tours, digital swag, guerrilla marketing, digital series social media challenges, read on in Event Marketer.

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