FiOS targets Millenials in D.C. with unique campaign

Window clings and chalk stencils recently appeared inside and outside trendy D.C. bars and restaurants touting the establishments’ membership in the FiOS 50, a list of hot spots created by Verizon and Curbed, one of several new Verizon media partners. Other recent new arrivals on the D.C. scene include digital ads in health clubs and movie theatres, web promotions on local entertainment guide sites such as Foursquare and Fandango, and mobile billboards in high-traffic areas--all promoting FiOS.

It’s all part of a hyperlocal advertising program targeting the Millennial generation, young people age 25 to 39—specifically those who live in apartments and have a lot of discretionary income, explained Chris Anderson, director of marketing for Verizon Telecom, in an interview.

“Mass marketing and direct mail aren’t appropriate for this market,” said Anderson. “They’re going to bars, restaurants, malls and cinemas and working out three to four times a week.”

Status seekers
When Verizon initially launched FiOS, the company did quite a lot of local advertising on a wire-center-by-wire-center basis. But as the installed base for FiOS grew, the company shifted more toward mass marketing techniques. The new eight-week D.C. campaign represents a return to the local approach, but with an even tighter demographic focus.

“In D.C. one of my responsibilities is looking at the MDU segment,” Anderson said. “Clearly there’s a sweet spot relative to people who live in apartments.”

A key component of Verizon’s new campaign is a new website—musthavefios.com—that includes a map that plots the location of apartment buildings in which FiOS is available, as well as the location of each of the FiOS 50. Verizon hopes to establish FiOS as one of the amenities that apartment dwellers seek when choosing where to live—making it something akin to a doorman or a workout facility.

The young adults that Verizon is targeting are “living for today” and “seeking status,” Anderson said. “They like to spend money on the best things because it projects their status.”

Verizon’s strategy in reaching this market, Anderson said is “to make sure this group understands the attributes of the FiOS network and how it enables the devices they’re spending so much money on to get the best experience.”

Three key elements
Verizon’s D.C. FiOS campaign has three key elements. These include out-of-home advertising, paid digital advertising and social media.

An example of the campaign’s social media component is an agreement with restaurant guide site Eater.com that prominently features the FiOS 50 logo with the tagline “presented by Eater.” Another example: If a Foursquare user uses his or her cellphone to “check in” at a participating establishment, he or she automatically receives discounts and other benefits.

Where appropriate, Verizon’s messaging includes methods for potential customers to gain more information, but here, too, there is a twist. Instead of providing a phone number to call, Verizon provides a URL or a quick response (QR) code—those little black and white boxes with pixel dots that end users can scan to reach a URL (blog: Does Google’s NFC interest mean the end of QR bar codes?).

As for Verizon’s promotional messages, Anderson said, “With this audience, we’re primarily leading with our Internet superiority claims and more emphasis on higher speeds. We’re emphasizing the 25 meg upstream and 25 meg downstream service.”

Also highlighted are Verizon’s MyFiOS app that enables smartphone users to take FiOS movies with them, as well as the widgets that give users the ability to display Facebook or Twitter on the same TV screen that also supports FiOS TV.

Anderson declined to provide details about the results of the D.C. hyperlocal FiOS campaign, but he said Verizon is “pleased with the initial engagement with the [musthavefios.com] site . . . in terms of calls and clicks.” Out-of-home advertising, he said, typically takes at least two to three weeks to settle—and the campaign is now barely two weeks old.

Verizon is currently looking at other markets that might lend themselves well to a hyperlocal Millennial marketing strategy, Anderson said.