Cheryl Gresham, vice president and CMO of Verizon Value, is responsible for marketing Verizon's prepaid and value brands. The Verizon Value Brand portfolio includes prepaid products from network providers, including Total by Verizon, Visible, Straight Talk, Tracfone, Simple Mobile, SafeLink, Walmart Family Mobile and Verizon Prepaid. Verizon Value currently serves 23 million subscribers within the value market, out of a total subscriber count of 144.8 million as of December 31, 2023. Portada caught up with Gresham to discuss her future approach to marketing Verizon and the key characteristics of her target consumer.
“We have hundreds of upscale stores and continue to open new ones while other retailers close. We recently passed the milestone of 50 stores in the greater Los Angeles market alone.” explains Gresham. “We are opening exclusive stores in New York, New Jersey, Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Miami, Atlanta, Tampa, Orlando and Los Angeles,” she added. “While we are not disclosing specific store numbers, this is the fastest retail expansion in Verizon's history,” Gresham asserted.
“This is the fastest retail expansion in Verizon history.”
Olga Bermudez Paiva, Verizon's senior director of brand marketing and a member of Verizon Value's brand marketer team, will be attending Portada's Marketing in Multicultural America Summit on March 5 at the Rams Club in New York City. I will give a lecture at
Verizon Value brand marketing and advertising efforts include national broadcasts, such as an upcoming Super Bowl ad on Univision, and digital media, including streaming in Spanish and English. Key Verizon Value partners include: Ogilvy creative and publicis media For media planning and buying. Gresham said local store openings are supported by opening events and local digital media. As an example of initiatives related to store openings, Mr. Gresham said: Many of our customers are commuters, so he sent out street teams to distribute 15,000 MetroCards to people in our store locations across Manhattan and Brooklyn. ”
Regarding plans for 2024, Gresham said, “We're looking at and evaluating what sponsorships make sense for Total and other Verizon Value brands.
Verizon Marketing: Diverse Customer Base
“Nearly half of our audience is multicultural,” Gresham says. For the executives leading marketing at Verizon Value, “prioritizing our Latin American audience means how our brand values align with their brand values. We aim to provide unexpected value to urban consumers and cater to them where they are with our exciting offers.For example, if you are a user staying at Bodega for the first time in this country, you can pay cash, online or We want them to be able to pay when they want, including automatic payments by credit card. There are many different paths to wireless, so we want to make sure they have the ability to pay at retail with the types of deals and plans they need. We want to meet them in the store.”
This means customizing service offerings from talk and text to the light data consumer to the digitally savvy unlimited data user. Gresham points out that Verizon's unlimited data plans include international calls from the U.S. to five select countries, including Colombia, Peru and the Dominican Republic, as well as roaming in Canada and Mexico. “This unique benefit helps connect Latino families with loved ones around the world.”
“Nearly half of our audience is multicultural.”
Orlando Magic and the Super Bowl
Gresham admits: “Keep in mind that this is a new audience for us, and also a new brand that we launched in 2021. , we're rolling out a 360-degree Super Bowl campaign with Univision.'' Verizon has a deep history of sports partnerships, so sponsorships play an important role in marketing. “Live sports are essential to maintaining a large mass market,” Gresham points out. That's where the collaboration between Tobal By Verizon and the Orlando Magic comes into play. We love this team because they are local favorites and their motto, “Heart and Hustle,” resonates closely with our customers. Total by Verizon has several expansions planned for its partnership with the Orlando Magic, including:
- In-arena activations that enhance the fan experience include technology that allows fans to stream video directly to their phones, and in-game technology that allows fans to display photos and videos on the center-hung video board and on televisions throughout the arena. technology, and on-site activation.
- Outside of the arena, Total by Verizon is also launching a game ticket giveaway at all local Orlando locations. “We give out 'in-bowl' game tickets close to the court, ensuring sweepstakes winners have a great view of the game. This is a great way for us to realize unexpected value. “It’s another example of how,” Gresham argues.
