Vonage ?Home Office Second Line? video charged marketing campaign

Integrated marketing campaign shows benefits of a second telephone line for home workers and SMEs

Campaign name: Home Office Second Line
Brand: Vonage
Audience: UK home workers and small business enterprises (SMEs)
Duration: 07/05/2013 to 30/06/2013
Channels: Advertising, broadcast, guerrilla and event marketing, print, PR, online advertising and radio

Social Media Portal (SMP): Agencies behind the campaign

Vonage (V): Profero and @Profero

All Response Media and @allresponse

SMP: The brand

V: Vonage and @vonageuk

SMP: The official campaign name and why was it chosen?

V: The official campaign name is ?Vonage - Home Office Second Line.? We are a straightforward company with a product that is simple to use, the campaign name reflects our approach to business. 



SMP: What was the start of the campaign and when did it end?

V: Start date of 07/05/2013 and an end date of 30/06/2013

SMP: The target audiences of the campaign, who are you trying to reach and why?

V: There are approx. 4.8 million small private businesses in the UK (BIS, 2012) of which 69% are home-based (EnterpriseNation, 2013). Coincidentally, our internal qualitative research has indicated that a high proportion of our client base is actually a home-based business. For that reason we have crafted plans that cater for this segment, and our campaign aims to raise awareness among these business owners.

SMP: Briefly, tell us about your campaign

V: The campaign was born out of the most common issue faced by home-based businesses having your business call interrupted by a family member. The TV, radio and marketing collateral tries to highlight the impact this can have on a business owner?s professional image in a light-hearted way.

SMP: What were the goals of the campaign and why is it different?

V: The main goal is to raise awareness among home-based business owners of the benefits of using services like Vonage. The main differentiation is that similar services have not yet targeted this segment. Whereas we have realised the potential in the market, we are innovative in how we are providing an integrated campaign aim specifically at this sector.

SMP: What were the channels, platforms and methods used?

V: The channels we have explored so far are social media (YouTube, Facebook and Twitter), online, radio, broadcast and print. In addition to YouTube, we have ensured that our video is shared on sites like adotube to compliment our advertising.

Our methods have involved advertising, public relations, content creation and guerrilla/event marketing. We understand that the average home-based business owner is everywhere therefore we thought an integrated campaign where we have multiple ways of engaging with our audiences was key to raise awareness of our product.




SMP: How are you extending the reach of the campaign beyond the use of the video (how are you supporting it) to reach home workers, SMEs etc?

V: The main ways we are planning on extending the reach of the campaign is through our public relations activity, our LinkedIn presence and presence on additional social media platforms. As well as, making sure that we are creating materials that can help home-based businesses success in their field, we are aiming to be a resource to these individuals, not just a telecoms provider.

SMP: Was this part of a larger campaign (or activity); what else did Vonage doing to differentiate itself in a competitive marketing alongside BT, Google Hangouts, Skype and more?

V: The video content, and soon to be LinkedIn blog, is part of a wider campaign aiming to target the home-based businesses in the UK. In addition, to the activity discussed we have also partnered with EnterpriseNation to participate in regional events aimed at small businesses and increased our PR activity.

SMP: What results did you achieve?

V: To date we have seen brand searches increase by 25% and unique visitors to our website increase by 22%. Our campaign efforts have resulted in sales growing over 30% during its duration.



SMP: What as the budget used for the campaign?

V: The campaign budget was in the six-figure sum. This includes the video content, rebranding our YouTube channel and media buys.

SMP: How did you make the campaign social?

V: Over the next year, we are aiming to grow our presence on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, creating relevant shareable content for our customers and those looking to set-up their own home-based business.

SMP: Are there any dedicated hash tags or social media profiles for the campaign?

V: We are in the process of developing the other social elements of the campaign, currently we are focused on developing content for our YouTube, LinkedIn and website (in advance of its relaunch in July).



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