2009 PRO Awards: How Sweet the Sound

Agency: Momentum Worldwide
Client: Verizon Wireless

The theme Verizon Wireless chose for its “How Sweet the Sound” campaign — gospel music — hit a bulls eye with the African American community. VW’s goal was to drive brand engagement through three cultural pillars — community, church and music — and they succeeded.

The 11-city gospel contest was promoted through print, TV, radio, out-of-home, public relations and gospel influencers. The low-priced tickets ($5-$7), family oriented 6:00 p.m. start time, alcohol-free concessions, locally featured art exhibits and pre-event gospel karaoke drove high community involvement. Free ringtones of local art, as well as the V CAST demo station, text-to-screen messages and text-to-vote capability all tied the concert directly into the Verizon Wireless brand.

The results say it all. In addition to 80,000 attendees, 6 million impressions were generated through exposure to seven branded tractor trailers and four tour buses. More than 80 million online impressions were generated with the average user time exceeding five minutes. Perception of the Verizon brand and intent to purchase improved by 33%. Cash prizes awarded to 84 church organizations, as well as the gospel contest details, generated 100 million PR impressions and improved VW’s perception as a company that “cares about the community” by 20%.

Return to the list of 2009 Pro Awards winners.