Bell Enterprises is repositioning itself in the minds of potential customers. In a year-long TV campaign, the provider of information and communications technology solutions such as security, web, voice and wireless is using customer testimonials to showcase Bell’s IT solutions.
Similar to testimonials, 25 ‘one-minute-short programs’ are currently airing on prime time CBC Newsworld and Quebec’s RDI, and the adverts all showcase Bell customers gaining business efficiencies.
‘The segments have been conceived to make Bell top-of-mind with customers,’ François Morin, senior director, communications, Bell Canada Enterprise tells MiC. ‘When you think of business solutions, [most of the time people] think of IBM, and that is one perception that we are trying to change,’ adds Morin.
The ads aim to address big corporate customers such as banks and hospitals, as well as small and medium businesses. One segment shows how Concordia University of Montreal and its Bell-designed and -implemented outdoor wireless mesh network has converged voice and data to let students and faculty tap into the university’s student portal both on and off campus – and is a first for a Canadian university.
Another TV segment shows how Quebec and New Brunswick pharmacy chain Familiprix uses its private telecom network to link all its members. Bell created the ads, while Niveau 12 Media handled media.
According to Morin, the testimonial route works better when it comes to B2B, and adds that putting actual customers in the ads provides a message that the customer is front and centre for Bell. This also ties in with Bell’s overall marketing strategy to focus on customer relations and improve its customer service, he adds.
The campaign will continue until next September, with another 25 clips set for production in 2009. Bell plans to send a newsletter to its 3,000 mailing list members to make them aware of the new clips, which will be available on a microsite, www.furtherandbeyond.ca.
