Customer Relationship Management

Customer Relationship Management is something all businesses must use effectively to run a successful business. Verizon however continually fails when it comes to this aspect. Verizon's relationship status with their customers is often ruined in large part because of their horrendous customer service. However, Verizon does use the data they obtain from their customers to their advantage and that is how they run their business successfully. Verizon uses the data it obtains to build a profile of its customers to effectively cross sell. Consumers who buy Verizon's droid models are often knowledgeable when it comes to the latest technology. They are also will to spend a large amount of money on the newest technology. This profile allows Verizon to cross sell products such as the newest televisions, newest home phone technology and newest Internet technologies. Also, since Verizon offers their droid models at a much cheaper price if the customer agrees to a two year contract, Verizon will have that customers brand loyalty for at least the life of that contract and it also gives them time to collect data and build the relationship beyond those two years.

Integrated Marketing Communications

 

Verizon uses many things to communicate its messages to its target market and uses all four concepts of a promotional mix. One of Verizon's major ways of communicating to its market is through sponsorships. Verizon uses its sponsorships to communicate its message through them in a positive and very public way. They evaluate how much exposure the sponsorship will give them and how much positive emotions it will cause to be associated with the Verizon brand. Verizon also uses social networks to send out its message, using sites such as facebook.com/Verizon and myspace.com/Verizon. Also, the message Verizon tries to send through its advertisements is that people who have Verizon have many friends and are the typical happy family as evidenced by there commercials that include hundreds of people following the "Verizon Guy". In Verizon's most recent commercial, a advertisement for their newest droid model the Verizon Fascinate, Verizon shows the phone with many different attention provoking colors in the background, while also playing exciting and attention grabbing music. In a way Verizon communicates its message that the Fascinate is a great "sexy" phone without saying a single thing in its advertisement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJGL3-0idic

Product Concepts

Verizon wireless has many products but its main products are their cellular phones and the monthly bill, warranty, customer service and all the features and convenience that their phones like their droid model comes with. Speaking of Warranties, Verizon offers free warranty for a year and if you would like to continue it, it will cost you upward of five dollars a month and research shows that after a year or so there are more problems with Verizon phones, which could be a form of planned obsolescence. Verizon has also extended their product line to include an internet system, home phones, a type of television brand, among many others which has separated them from some of their prime competition in the phone industry such as AT&T and T-Mobile. Verizon's brand is often identified not only by its name but by its colors, in that the word "Verizon" is always black but the "z" is always red, resembling its red check mark above the word. Verizon has many product line as well, but their most successful is their cellphone product line which they have added hundreds of new phones since its inception due to the accelrated rate at which technology evolves.

Sales Promotion and Personal Selling

Verizon uses many different sales promotions. Verizon uses premiums, loyalty programs, training programs, rebates, and various online promotions. A premium Verizon has recently started is a buy one get one free promotion on their newest droid model, the Fascinate. The promotion is over at the end of the month and by
putting a clock on how long the premium will last, Verizon has created a need and urgency for customers to buy their product. Verizons upper office also provides training for the "middle man".  When the newest droid came out, Verizon trained all its store employees and its technical support staff on how to use the phone and fix any potenial problems customers have. This is a sales promotion because people will buy the product if the the sales person doing the personal selling can show them the features of the phone and explain them intelligently. Verizon also uses several online promotions such as their online only discount on their droid models. When buying the phone in stores, you get a  hundred dollar rebate, which from personal experience takes very long to arrive. However if you buy the phone online you get the hundred dollars off the top and
dont have to wait for anything. Lastly, Verizon also rewards its current and loyal customers by allowing them to upgrade their droid phones once every year.