Company: History Factory, Washington, DC
Company Description: Since 1979, History Factory is the brand heritage and archives agency that works with many of the world’s best enterprises to employ their institutional memory and heritage to advance their missions and fuel growth. For 44 years, History Factory strengthened its clients’ performance by transforming their strategy, brand positioning, marketing and communications to drive memorable outcomes.
Nomination Category: Marketing Campaign Categories - Specialty
Nomination Sub Category: Branded Content Campaign of the Year
 Nomination Title: The Verizon Story Digital and Environmental Experience
- Which will you submit for this nomination, a video of up to five (5) minutes in length about the nominated campaign or program, OR written answers to the questions for this category? CHOOSE ONE:
Written answers to the questions
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the nominated video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video.
- If you are providing written answers to the questions for this category, you must answer this first question: Specify the date on which this campaign or program was launched:
May 1, 2021
- If you are providing written answers to the questions for this category, you must answer this second question: Describe the genesis of the nominated campaign or program: the reasons it was initiated, the challenges it was created to address, the problems it was developed to solve, etc. (up to 250 words):
Total 242 words used.
Verizon was at a pivotal point in its history. With its 20th anniversary on the horizon and CEO and chairman Lowell McAdam stepping down, the company was about to embark on a new era accentuated by the rollout of an updated purpose statement. Furthermore, the retirement of long-standing employees had resulted in a loss of institutional knowledge, underlining the urgency of acting on Verizon’s long-held desire to preserve its heritage and pass down the stories of those individuals to the next generation.
Verizon needed the right content to tell its story well and reach that next generation, comprising more than 118,000 employees worldwide. We needed to help Verizon celebrate the milestone, inspire and create future Verizon storytellers. Verizon needed to affirm how the company’s deep commitment to its purpose, “We create the networks that move the world forward,” has enabled it to become and remain an industry leader.
The obstacle Verizon faced was that its brand stories — drawn from a multitude of legacy companies with rich histories of their own — were dispersed throughout the organization and not told in a strategic or systematic way. Valuable historical materials were spread across regional offices, former legacy headquarters and a disjointed, decentralized repository system.
The objective of our engagement with Verizon was to collect these known assets, arrange and preserve them, and surface the rich nuggets of the company’s past to tell its story in an informative, inspiring and sustainable way.
- If you are providing written answers to the questions for this category, you must answer this third question: Describe the development of the campaign or program: the planning process, the goal setting, the creative and media development, the scheduling, etc. (up to 250 words):
Total 244 words used.
Working with Verizon’s records managers, we conducted an archival assessment and made on-site visits around the United States to review historical assets and centralize them in our Archives and Digitization Lab in Chantilly, Virginia.
We reviewed transcripts of informational interviews and oral histories with key executives involved in Verizon’s origin story and growth in its early years. Their stories uncovered consistent themes of technological innovation, leadership, determination and overcoming adversity.
Finally, we focused on an external analysis of the history of human communication to show its progression over time. By understanding Verizon’s role in the development of modern communications and network technology innovations, we could place them in context over the course of human history.
Using our trademarked methodology, Start with the Future and Work Back®, we worked with Verizon to define desired outcomes of the campaign, target audiences and channels for communication.
The campaign’s goals were:
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To communicate the Verizon Story to a geographically dispersed staff and catalyze employees to become more engaged in the company
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To use interactive storytelling to reinforce core messages of purpose and mission to new and long-standing employees
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To build a shared sense of purpose and pride to help unify the organization as it launched its renewed purpose statement
These laddered up to creating a stable of internal brand ambassadors who would draw on the company’s heritage, to create a common fabric binding the company and its work back to the qualities of those who helped build it.
- If you are providing written answers to the questions for this category, you must answer this fourth question: Outline the activities and concrete results of this campaign or program since the beginning of 2021. Even if your initiative started before 2021, limit your response to activities and results since the beginning of 2021 only (up to 250 words):
Total 240 words used.
To deliver on campaign goals, we identified three major initiatives:
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Establish a physical archive
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Develop (five) physical exhibits
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Launch a global digital exhibit
The archival program centralized, preserved and made accessible the physical and digital records that speak to Verizon’s history and evolution. We created and installed five exhibits in its Basking Ridge, New Jersey, headquarters.
The onset of COVID-19 made digital storytelling an urgent priority. We adapted the in-person exhibits to a web-friendly format to reach the company’s global employees and the wider public.
Net wins:
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Verizon’s overall corporate digital communications rose in 2021 to No. 5 on the Bowen Craggs Index, with the Digital Experience story “Verizon in the wild” cited as best practice
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Verizon Story content performance exceeded benchmarks across all social media platforms and audiences
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Current and past Verizon employees had more than 2.5x higher CTR than other audiences
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History Factory and Verizon launched an oral history program to interview key leaders and preserve institutional memory
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Material from the Verizon Archives formed the foundation of Verizon’s MMS experience 9/12: The Untold Story of Reconnecting New York, produced by Verizon’s in-house agency. The work won Gold at the 2022 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the Clio Awards, the One Show and the International ANDY Awards, and earned the coveted D&AD Yellow Pencil.
- You have the option to reference here any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
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