How Verizon Leveraged Grammy Buzz For V-Cast Launch

Getting Los Angeles to stand still is a next-to-impossible task. But that was the goal for Verizon Wireless, which was seeking to leverage all of the hullabaloo around the Grammy Awards to generate attention for its V Cast digital content delivery service. The brand wanted to hit industry types, as well as consumers and influencers, with a proprietary program that would help secure targeted distribution opportunities for the product.

To build upon buzz it had generated a month earlier at CES, Verizon took the spotlight at Grammy week by erecting a stage right at the intersection of Hollywood and Vine. What music act could justify the unbeatable location? The Fugees, who hadn’t played live for a decade. The show drew more than 10,000 consumers, all of whom got in for free.

To build hype, Verizon sent branded Hummers and double-decker buses outfitted with djs to 38 locations in five days, where reps conducted 1,500 product demonstrations and handed out 6,000 tickets. Another 1,000 tickets were handed out through SMS/MMS alerts to Verizon customers (all of whom claimed their ducats within three hours). The company even integrated V Cast technology into the ticketing process: The method of entry was a scannable bar code, sent by Verizon, to the mobile phone of each “ticketholder.”

The concert became the No. 1 downloaded V Cast music video in the company’s history; and Verizon projects it will take in more than $1.2 million from concert attendees over the next five years.