4. Project Goals
Assist Verizon Wireless market more
effectively to the college community
Give Verizon Wireless a competitive
advantage over other wireless companies
6. Why Target Students
18-24 year olds are the FUTURE of the
world and therefore, the future of Verizon
Wireless
The bracket (18-24) are large wireless
consumers
7. Why Target Students
Students who have cell phones can be
reached!
● Many students are either in family plans or
involved with their first contract
● Sometime during their four years of college, their
contract WILL end!
● Upon graduation, students will be looking for
stability and are more likely to stick with their
current cell phone provider
9. Resources
●Conversations with current students
●Onsite visits to GA State and Emory
●Conversations with incoming freshman
●Competitors college plans
●VZW University Program Meetings
●Personal preferences and experiences
10. Survey
●Sent out via Internet to college students
●Various questions about cell phone
preferences
●199 responses
13. Survey Top 10
# 10 : Hands free technology with phones
- Driving while talking
- Chatting while typing a report
- Shopping and socializing
# 10 : What Verizon Wireless has
- Blue tooth capability on phones
- Speakerphone on almost all phones
- Hands-free devices
14. University Top 10
# 9: Real Ring Tones!
- No more tunes
- Kids want to hear the song
- Quality and clarity are important
# 9: What Verizon Wireless has
- Get it Now
- Trusted providers = only the BEST
- Preview tunes before you buy them
15. University Top 10
# 8: Minute Balance
- Kids want to know before they go over
- Helps keep the phone bill down
# 8: What Verizon Wireless has
- #MIN for minute updates
- #DATA for text updates
- Easy to use and FREE!
16. University Top 10
# 7: LOW prices
- College students have little income
- Good money for the minutes
# 7: What Verizon Wireless has
- IN Calling
- IN Messaging
- Share Plan for $9.99
17. University Top 10
# 6: College Discounts
- Want their own plan
- Still limited by money
# 6: What Verizon Wireless has
- Offer flexible payment plans
* Post-Pay
* Inpulse
* Easy Pay
- Some discounts are offered
18. University Top 10
# 5: Rollover Minutes
- Unused minutes go over to next month
- No ‘wasted’ minutes
# 5: What Verizon Wireless has
- Part of Worry Free Guarantee!
- Change plan at any time without new
contract
- IN Calling
19. University Top 10
# 4: FREE STUFF
- Low prices are good
- Free is better and more enticing!
- Trendy phones and features for free
# 4: What Verizon Wireless has
- New Every Two
- Competitively priced phones
- IN Calling and Messaging
20. University Top 10
# 3: The Network
- Tired of dropped calls
- Want better service around campus
# 3: What Verizon Wireless has
- Most reliable network in the industry
- Lowest churn rate of all competitors
21. University Top 10
# 2: Text Messaging
- Growing must-have with college kids
- Bundles of messages for hardly any
money
# 2: What Verizon Wireless has
- IN Messaging FREE!
- Additional messages to other carriers
available for monthly fee
22. University Top 10
# 1: COOL PHONES!
- Sleek, slim, and sophisticated phones
- The Razr
- Verizon service is great, but phones
aren’t
# 1: What Verizon Wireless has
- Not known for trendiest phones, but…
- From trusted manufacturers = they’ll last
and they work
- We’re a work in progress aka Verizon
Wireless will NeVeR be satisfied
24. It’s all about PHONES!
Why It’s Important
●Students want to fit in and in order to ‘fit in’
you have to have the latest things
●People are judged by their handset
27. Text Messaging
Why It’s Important
●When kids are not talking, they’re texting
**As evident by Alex’s record breaking
month of 2300 texts in one month**
●Communication without talking!
●Say what you mean and MORE!
28. The Network
Why It’s Important
●No one likes dropped calls!
●Annoying to keep calling someone back
“The customer you are trying to reach is
outside the Alltel network at this time. Please
try your call again later”
30. Text Messaging
●87% of college students interviewed rated
text messaging an important-very important
feature on their handset
●Verizon Wireless IN-Messaging makes
texting easy and affordable
31. How to Market Text Plans
●Sure advantage over competitors
●Good in current Ads, because it is
highlighted clearly
32. Verizon Wireless Network
●Verizon Wireless has THE most
reliable network
●Lowest churn rate shows that
something is being done right
●Must show college students the
benefits of having a strong
network
● Better Signal
● Fewer Dropped Calls
● Better Use of Minutes
It’s the Network!
33. “Lost in Translation”
●What does the “Best Most Reliable
Network” mean to the student?
●SOLUTION: Make network message
relevant to student life by proving that
Verizon Wireless has the best coverage
34. Making the Message Relevant
●Show statistics from tests
●Coverage Area finder
● Give students access to program that would
allow them to see how reliable the network is
on campus
●-Perform drive tests to establish best
network on campus
● “Proven Best network on Auburn’s Campus”
Proof
35. Network Ad Campaign
●“Verizon Wireless: giving you the best
service so you can talk in your dorm room.”
●“Verizon Wireless: giving you the best
service so you can talk uninterrupted
between class.”
**Make message relatable to student
issues**
36. Are you IN?
●Very good slogan
● If its not broke, don’t fix it i.e. “In the Know”
● Give it a new spin
●“Are you IN?” means “Do you have
Verizon Wireless?”
37. New
●Are you IN? = the “In crowd”
●Really change the tone of Are you IN?
● People already know that Are you IN? is a
VZW slogan
● “Are you IN?” now meaning “Are you
popular?”
SPIN on IN !
38. New Spin on IN
●All college students want to be popular
● Buy expensive clothes, bags to feel more
popular
● Succumb to peer pressure to be cool
●Verizon Wireless must play into this
Why Adjust?
39. New Spin on IN
What’s HOT?
● MP3 Players
● Hip-Hop
● Friday night Parties
● Eating Out
● Spring Break
● Verizon Wireless
What’s Not?
● Tape Players
● Oldies
● Friday night studying
● Cafeteria
● Finals Weeks
● Other wireless carriers
Verizon Wireless is IN with what’s hot,
Are you IN?
Example:
40. Marketing to Students
● What is our current plan?
● What is currently good?
● What changes are needed?
43. Advertisement Positives
●Emphasis on 5 dollars
● Low costs are always
a plus for the broke
college student
●School Logo
● Makes it feel
personalized
44. Suggested Changes Needed
●Background
● To cookie cutter, very plane
● Looks like family share ad
●Headlines
● ”Blank” with IN
● Trying too hard
● Very irrelevant to the
college student
●Pictures
● Relevance?
● What are they doing?
45. Suggested Changes Needed
●Improve Template
● White is 1950’s
● very bland
● colors are IN
●More black
● Helps make it look more edgy
● Just something about black.
Coloring
46. Suggested Changes Needed
● Use of words not from 1950
● “Hip”
● “Rock”
● “Flix”
● Words such as tight, hot and other such slang are IN
● However, must not misuse slang
● Hot=Cool
● Tight= Good Looking
Language
49. Advertisement Execution
●Text Messaging Package
● IN Messaging
● Low Price
●Network
● Most reliable network
● No more dropped calls
●Phones/V Cast
● Advertise phones using V Cast
● See the phone “in action”
3 Messages
50. Where to Market
● A lot of students read
the paper
● Distribution all over
campus, a lot of faculty
read the paper as well
School Newspapers
51. Where to Market
● Attachments to school
administrative letters
● Any letters concerning
student groups that we
would have a connection
with.
● Blasts through list serves
● Must have catchy subject
lines
● “Get Your Student
Discount from Verizon
Wireless”
● “Get your free Ring tone
from Verizon Wireless”
E-Mail
52. Where to Market
All students that live
on campus have a
mailing address
● Stuff boxes with small
collateral
● Possible free
Ringtone, wallpaper
P.O. Boxes
53. Where to Market
●Located on campus,
provide space for posting
announcements and ads
●Must be active in postings
Campus Bulletin
Board
55. Where to Market
What is the Facebook?
● Student database
● Over 840 plus colleges
● 3 million students
● Projected 6 Million and 1600 schools by Early
‘06
● http://
The Facebook
57. The Facebook
●Priced per impressions
● $7000 per 1 million impressions
●GA/AL
● 106,000 students
● 20 Schools in GA
● 9 Schools in AL
● 5 Million Impressions a month
●Comes out to $2 a person
Banner Costs
58. The Facebook
●$50,000 a Month, must buy 6 months
●Banner ads included
●Only available on National Level
Group Costs
60. The Verizon Wireless Group
Features
● Link to Personal school webpage
● Text Message, Ringtones, Ringback tone links
● V CAST Flash media displaying program
● Newest Products
● Register to win prizes
● Description that allows students to know
which one of their friends is IN and has IN
calling plan
61. Tracking Results
Important to drive students to stores
● Face to face interaction is always best
● We have people trained to make the sale
62. Tracking Results
●Flyers must have some sort of incentive in
which you must bring flyer to kiosk/store for
redemption
●Online
● Ability to monitor traffic to school specific
● Lead them to school extranet
63. Now that we’ve learned HOW
to market…
Let’s learn how to SELL!
64. Selling
●Having a marketable message is only half
the battle
●In order to have a consumer base, you
must know how to appeal to your audience
●SELLING is key!
65. Set Up Sites
●Students recognize Verizon Wireless
●Verizon Wireless becomes an affinity
To establish a physical
presence within universities
66. Permanent Presence
Book Store Kiosk
●Guaranteed student interaction
●Bonus Exposure: faculty, staff, parents,
visitors
67. Book Store Kiosk
Book Store Kiosk Possibilities
●Buy your phone
●Pay your bill
●Technician on staff
69. Temporary Presence
●V Team/Youth Team vehicle
●Music playing
●Balloons
●Megaphone
●Pictures with Test Man
●Games
● Karaoke Contest - Musical Chairs
● Inflatable Playground - Bobbing for Apples
● Sumo Wrestling
How to draw a crowd
70. Temporary Set-up Sites
What to Do
- Demo phones, especially VCast
- Register to Win Kits
- Emphasis on network, showcasing the
superiority of Verizon Wireless on campus
●Direct them to the nearest retail outlet
●Talk about discounts
71. Temporary Set-up Sites
Get Participation!
●Prizes for testing phones
● T-shirts
● Lanyards
● Zip Drives
● Candy
● Gift Certificates
72. Temporary Set-up Sites
●Be approachable!
Professionalism is appreciated, but
intimidating (business suits are a “no”)
Provide multiple options for all credit
levels
Free merchandise, food, prizes, etc
●Be understanding!
●The word FREE is always a plus!
Key things to
remember
73. Web Page
To drive people to Verizon Wireless●Students browse
school web pages
EVERYDAY
●Enticing links cause
people to click!
74. Here’s How it Works
1.Establish a link on school webpage
2.Link takes you to a Verizon Wireless
webpage
3.Students can browse features, change
accounts, and purchase service
75. About the Link
●Placed on page that students visit
● Athletics webpage
● Pop up on email webpage
● Upcoming events page
●Give link some pizzazz
● Use colors
● Text that draws people in..
● Discounts!
● Sale!
● Free!
● Special Offer!
76. About the Landing Page
●Part of school web pages
●Restricted access: only university
students can access page
●Prompted to type in student ID and
password before access is granted
*Unless link was on secure page*
●Page has more university feel than
Verizon Wireless
77. About Browsing
●V Cast banners
●Text Messaging Promotion
●University Special
●School discount advertised CLEARLY!
●Contests advertised
●Free shirts offered
●Able to order phones
●Pay bill
●Change plans
Promotions on website
78. Special Events
Verizon Wireless should be present during
special events around campus
●Show support of
university initiatives
●Visibility and familiarity
79. - Be visible
- Be approachable
- Leave an impression
Freshman Orientation
- Freshman are huge target audience
- Impressionable stage in college career
81. Freshman Orientation
●College Student: obviously, one would want to
market to the product user
●College Parent: some parents pay their children’s
cell phone bill and ultimately make the final
decision
* By marketing to both groups, you cannot lose!*
Why Two
Groups?
82. Freshman Orientation
Freshman
●Target network
●Show how youth-
oriented Verizon
Wireless can be
●Flexible and affordable
rate plans
Parents
●Big network push
●Market reliability
●Family Share Plans
What to Market
83. Freshman Orientation
For Parents:
●Send a letter addressed specifically to them
●Similar to letters done in the past which
congratulate and inform
●Partner with the Parent Support Group on
campus
85. Freshman Orientation
For Students:
2) Help them experience Verizon Wireless
● V Team on-site
● Data or other demo teams on-site
* Emphasis on VCast*
goals
86. Freshman Orientation
For Students:
3) Partner with Orientation Counselors
● Students need to additionally hear about
Verizon Wireless from current university
students
● Get them excited about Verizon Wireless
● Counselor T-shirts
● Sponsor a dinner for orientation
goals
87. Homecoming
Gain customers through support of
homecoming event
●School spirit is heightened during
this time.
●More likely to support a service
that supports the school
88. Homecoming
What to do during the week
Campus Events
● Contests
● Where’s Test Man?
● Scavenger Hunt using Picture phones
● Match and Win
● Games
● Musical chairs
● Racing Games
● Inflatable playgrounds
● Karaoke contests
● Promotions
● Special discounts on service
● Buy one, get one
● Save on university apparel w/ purchase (book store
partnership)
89. Homecoming
THE BIG GAME!
●Have team on-site at main student entrance of
event
●Set-up like a Tailgate Party
● Balloons
● Games
● Food
● School Mascot
● Test Man
● University spirit items (noise makers, pompoms, etc)
● Giveaways: T-shirts, wrist bands
● Face painting station
90. Homecoming
THE BIG GAME!
“Verizon Wireless Fan of the Game”
● Put on sky camera to search the crowd
● Winner is loudest fan/most spirited fan
● Prize is package with t-shirt, gift certificate,
and a phone
91. Homecoming
THE BIG GAME!
●Text Messaging Promotions
● Trivia contests
● Shout-out board
* Similar to what was done at Music
Midtown*
92. Homecoming
THE BIG GAME!
“Verizon Wireless Impact Player”
● Pre-select an athlete
● Let crowd know the athlete
● For every completed pass/tackle/10 pts the
player scores, Verizon Wireless customers
are rewarded
● 100 extra text messages for that billing period
● 100 extra minutes for that billing period
93. Here’s How to Do it!
●EVENT DATE: middle of fall sports season, usually
October/November
●WHO TO CONTACT: Athletic Director (for homecoming game
activities) and General University Office (for information about activities
during the event)
●THINGS TO KNOW:
● Week of events (Tentative schedule) - V Team Availability
● Game Day/Time - School Mascot
● Stadium Policies (Spirit merchandise)- Opponent and school colors
● School Vendors - Cheerleader availability
● Set-up Locations - Number of Students
● University School colors - Tailgate opportunities
94. Let’s Look at Costs
Air Amusements and Concessions
(770)458-7740
95. Let’s Look at Costs
Air Amusements and Concessions
(770)458-7740
96. Let’s Look at Costs
Air Amusements and Concessions
(770)458-7740
97. Midnight Study Break
What to Do
●Midnight Study Break
● Verizon Wireless sponsored social event
● Food
● Games
● Demo phones
●Have flyers around the school advertising for the
break
●Send announcements through email
●Located in a student union or entertainment
lounge
98. Here’s How to Do it!
●EVENT DATE: end of grading period (usually
December and May for semesters)
●WHO TO CONTACT: Office of Academic Advising,
Office of Student Affairs, General Alumni Association,
Parent Support Group
●THINGS TO KNOW:
● Dates of Exams - Set-up Locations
● Set-Up Locations - Best times for event
● Number of Students - Vendors
● Communication strategy (how to invite students)
●ESTIMATED TIME FOR EXECUTION: 1 month
99. Partnerships and Sponsorships
To establish a relationship with
organizations around the university
●More exposure on
campus
●Closer access to students
100. Partnerships
They target the ENTIRE university.
●Students
●Faculty
●Staff
●Parents
●Visitors
Why are they
Good?
101. Campus Book Stores
●Establish a permanent kiosk within university book
stores
● Purchase phones
● Display phones
● Retail representative
● Technician on-site
● Pay bill
●When you make a transaction with kiosk, you
receive a coupon for the bookstore or gift shop
102. Campus Book Stores
What’s in it for Verizon
Wireless?
●Kiosk in bookstore
●Back to school customers
●Exposure to faculty and
staff
●University visitors
●Especially high school
students & other potential
applicants
What’s in it for Book Stores?
●Reason for people to come
in the store
●With coupons, people more
likely to purchase from book
store
103. Parent Support Group
To establish a relationship with university
parents, showing them that Verizon Wireless
IS the best wireless provider
For some students, parents
still make the final decision
104. Parent Support Groups
●Help with student care packages
● Exams
● End of the Year
●Sponsor written communications to other
parents
● Emails
● Letters
●Send out letters to new parents about
Verizon Wireless service on campus
105. Parent Support Group
What’s in it for Verizon
Wireless?
●Exposure with the
parent community
●Chance to stress the
superiority of network
●Reach the other bill
payers
What’s in it for Parent
Groups?
●Reduce costs of
initiatives
●Learn about reliable
service for their children
●Family Plan discounts
for parents involved
106. Alumni Organizations
To gain access to current and alumni
students
Reach a larger audience and target
a credible organization on campus
107. Alumni Organizations
●Gain access to list of General Alumni
Association Members (both students and
alumni)
●Periodically throughout the year, take
part in giveaways
● Beginning/end of semesters
● University Day
108. Alumni Organization
What’s in it for Verizon
Wireless?
●Reaches more than
students
●Credible organization
●Big university decision
makers
What’s in it for the
General Alumni
Association?
●Reduce cost
●Help support different
events
● Homecoming
● Week of Welcome
●Alumni discounts on
service
109. Campus Box Office
To create a presence with university
audience
●Reach different audience than
athletic events
●Lots of different events = even
larger target group
110. Campus Box Office
●Students go to office for tickets to a
range of campus events
● Plays
● Music Concerts
● Movies
● Special guest lectures
● Dance Concerts
●Tickets have school logo and event name
printed on front of the ticket
111. Campus Box Office
●Brand tickets with Verizon Wireless logos
●With purchase of ticket, receive free activation
with Verizon Wireless
● Redeemable at bookstore kiosk
● *Draws crowd at both ticketed event and kiosk*
●Join Verizon Wireless and receive a free ticket
to the show
●Brand event programs with Verizon Wireless
● (if applicable)
● Discount inside the booklet
●Hand out collateral at event while collecting
tickets
112. Campus Box Office
What’s in it for Verizon
Wireless?
●Generally different
audience than athletic
events
●Coupon opportunity
●Name recognition
What’s in it for Ticket
Offices?
●Help relieve some
production costs
●People have additional
reasons to get tickets
113. Residence Hall Association
To market products to students living on-
campus
Dorm residents are a close
community. They’re IN.
114. Residence Hall Association
●Co-sponsor dorm events
● Pizza Parties
● Dorm contests
● Café Lounges
●Have representative from RHA personally
endorse Verizon Wireless
●Verizon Wireless Lounge
● Wireless lounge area in dorms
● Lobby area for cell phone use
115. Residence Hall Association
What’s in it for Verizon
Wireless?
●Reach large majority of
students
●Direct mail opportunity
●Personal endorsement
What’s in it for RHA?
●Another service to
provide residence
●Always looking for new
forms of support
117. Athletic Department
Good way to establish relationship
amongst institutions
● Must have goal to pursue the whole university
after Athletics, if logical
● Good Branding because a large percentage of
students attend sporting events.
119. Athletic Problem Area
More effort of putting name on events
● Halftime brought to you by Verizon Wireless
● Seventh Inning Stretch brought to you by
VZW
Solution
120. In-Game Promotions
●Very Critical for marketing
●Must find ways to incorporate our product
with the game promotion.
● Text to Win
● Halftime contests
● Pre-Game tailgate contests
121. In-Game Promotions
●Premium Giveaways
● Thunder sticks, balls, shirts and jerseys
●Events
● VZW Half court shots, VZW football toss, VZW
Musical Chairs
● Make such that existing customers are the only
ones to participate, making others want to go get
the product.
● Prize must be worth switching from one carrier to
another
122. Event Execution
●2-3 Months Prior;
● meet with Athletic Director to discuss possible
promotions and event sponsorship possibilities.
● Reserve V-Teams and any other items that need
to be ordered
● Communicate with local team to finalize plans and
plan of action
● Include event staff
● Materials Needed
● Problems
● Contact Numbers
123. Event Execution: Continued
●1 month prior
● Begin weekly meetings for updates and concerns.
●2 weeks prior
● make sure all materials have been delivered and
Every one is still committed to participate
●1 week prior
● express all concerns and place final touches on
event
●Execute event
124. Student Groups
●I.E. Carolina Fever, Gang Green
●Good branding directly related to the students
●Put branding on shirts, sponsor some sort of
exclusive tailgate event for the members of
Student group
●Must coincide with events during game, can’t
just stand alone for students to notice a VZW
presence
125. Keys for Success
●Communication
● Must be on the same page as far as planning and
knowledge of goals for event
●Planning
● Project leaders are key for organizing, planning and
executing events
●Accountability
● Local Teams should have understanding and
recognize execution needs
126. Communication Goals
●Open greater lines of communication that
would allow for easier execution and
increased desire for game and school
promotions.
●Lead to greater sales.
●Create a simple plan by which to follow to
simplify execution process.
Problem Solving
127. Black College Opportunity
●Atlanta is rich with an opportunity to reach
the Black Campuses
● Spelman
● Morehouse
● Clark Atlanta
●Untapped Resource
131. Event Execution
Get with different student groups who
are already putting on events
● Let them plan the event, give them a little
bit of prize money for the naming rights and
signage
● Have the Youth team (Hummer) come out
and demo phones
132. Verizon Wireless Availability
●If you put on events, you must be
committed entirely to school
●Must be willing to put Kiosk on campus
●People won’t travel to stores that aren’t
close in proximity
136. Are you IN? Bands
●Costs
● Set up-$250
● Per Unit- $.75 (10,000+)
137. So what?
●Having partnerships and a presence at on-
campus events gives us a competitive
advantage over other wireless companies…
●Let’s see what they’re doing
138. Cingular: Raising the Bar?
For schools that received a discount
on Cingular service:
●Free phones
●5-15% off monthly access plans
●Free activation
●No Credit Checks
●Unlimited text for 3 months for $2.99
●10-25% off accessories
●$50 credit with one-year agreement
140. Can Verizon Wireless Compete?
Monthly Access Discounts
●Virtually all wireless providers have the
same rate plans.
●Discounts become important
●Because Verizon Wireless has the BEST
network, you get MORE minutes for your
MONEY no matter what the discount
141. Can Verizon Wireless Compete?
Activation Fees
●Verizon Wireless activation fees are LESS
than most competitors
●Factor Costs into Competitive Comparisons
142. Can Verizon Wireless Compete?
No Credit Check
●Very enticing offer for college student who
usually have NO credit
143. All in All…
●Verizon Wireless is taking a HUGE step in
the right direction
●Making Verizon Wireless more youth-
oriented will have a substantial impact on
the profitability of the company
●WE ARE THE FUTURE!
144. Things to Take Away
●Verizon Wireless should be a leader in the
college market
●The Facebook presents a unique and
potentially profitable opportunity for Verizon
Wireless
●Marketing is only ½ the battle (selling is the
other half!)
●College students don’t want to feel
“punished” for being a student
145. This is an INVESTMENT!
And like all investments, it will
take TIME!...but the rewards will
be GREAT!
