Comcast vs. Verizon

Comcast learned a lesson with Xfinity. Get real with your consumer. Newer better, faster doesn't work. These two communications behemoths have been battling it aggressively for months. Bigger than the Superbowl, the 2001 election, Jen vs. Angelina - these campaigns for your cable dollar is being fought tooth and nail in advertising. Since Comcast introduced Xfinity, a new name for the same service that sounds like a strip club, Verizon has been having a field day with what has become a branding disaster for Comcast.

Here's Comcast's intro to Xfinity and their attempt at being NEWer, FASTer, and BETTer. And in doing so confusing consumers who aren't thrilled with them already and dating the brand by about 10 years.



Comcast fell flat with this attempt. Xfinity. Wowie. It's fast and amazing. Flashing lights and fancy graphics whizzing by. All to make you feel you are traveling at warp speed into an intergalactic world where things are, um, fast. It's just way to much hype for a product that really isn't any different than it was yesterday. It's boring. And it's been done before.

Verizon countered with exactly what most of us were thinking. Xfinity? X-phoeey. What does that even mean? Aren't you still Comcast with the same product line and faulty customer service?



What Verizon did right here was focus on their brand strategy. They used humor to connect to their consumers and were successful in saying something that was logical, honest and intelligent.

Finally, Comcast decided to put up their dukes, and fire back with anti Verizon messages that demand attention. Someone in the marketing department had an epiphany. They're calling it Get the Facts. A smart attempt to back track from the confusion of Xfinity - getting back to basics and focusing on the product offering. They are presenting the Get the Facts campaign with a humor not excess, something that makes consumers pay attention. The ads are supporting with a section on their website that directly compares the two communication giants feature by feature, as well as real stories from consumers who've been burned by Fios. The negative testimonials aren't my taste but the campaign is certainly a step in the right direction. The ads are pretty funny too. Check it out:

Imagery Matters. Think about it.

Good marketing should reflect the benefits that your product/service offers consumers. It should be simple but memorable, comfortable and unexpected. All business owners generally want the same thing; profitability. The ambitious ones recognize that to generate demand, they need to reach, connect with, and nurture a customer base. This is when many take a stab at what we call marketing. Yes, the water is warm, please jump in folks. But first, you should fully consider all the elements of that customer relationship.

How do you initially reach them? How do you keep in touch with them? Are you easy and pleasant to interact with? Meaning not just you, the human being, but your website, your parking lot, and your billing department. Who are you, what is the whole experience of interacting with you like and what is the augmented benefit that you have to offer? Even a commodity, like dry cleaning, can differentiate themselves with things like branding and more importantly, the cornerstone of any business, customer service.

All the time I see companies that are making an attempt (that’s the first step!) to connect but need go back to the marketing lab before shouting Eureka. Here’s an example of a direct mail piece from a local “emergency pet care clinic,” that needs a little help!

Problem #1. How do you know I have a pet? Problem #2. Your name is scary. Names can be overlooked, and relate directly to your brand. If you’re name is “Emergency Pet Care Clinic,” your prospects are envisioning running red lights at 90 miles an hour with poor Fluffy in the back seat impaled with a foreign object. Your name is part of an experience that people don’t want to have. (NOTE: I’ve later found out this Emergency Pet Clinic is part of a larger practice called, West Chester Veterinary Medical Center. Well, why didn’t you say so???)

Problem #3 This piece’s problems are furthered by the imagery. Your customers are pet lovers who come to you to keep their pet healthy, then go home and rub their bellies, throw a ball in the backyard, go for a walk. These are the real benefits of your service. Don’t show photos of doctors in scrubs operating on some unidentifiable and presumably four legged patient. Really, no one wants to see that. Oh, and the card is red. Not a good color for anything medical related.

Problem #4 TMI. Delivering too much information to people before they want it or ask for it is annoying. Don’t list services that your audience may or may not be interested in. At this point in your relationship with someone, it doesn’t matter whether or not you do diagnostics and ultrasounds. You want to introduce yourself, or reintroduce whatever it is your offering, and then be prepared for the follow up in the event one of your recipients is interested. If someone wants to investigate your specific offerings, they’ll check your website, which you did include. Nice work.

Thanks for keeping those puppies healthy and cute!