CCO: Susie Jaramillo
CD/Copy: Laly Boiso
AD: Harry García
AWARDS
DAVEY AWARDS 2011: SILVER
EFFIE 2011
The Challenge
Vonage had to enter a space already saturated by big-name competitors, with much larger budgets, to convince US Hispanics that its unlimited calling was the most cost-effective way to call back home.
However, as many competitors relied on the old bait-and-switch tactics to lure new consumers in, and then ‘surprise’ them with undisclosed fees and high per-minute rates, Hispanic consumers were very skeptical…
The Background
Vonage‘s general market retail campaign was out years before the Hispanic-specific outreach began. But contrary to the General Market target, our Hispanic consumers were older, less tech-savvy, heavy international long-distance callers, price-conscious, and heavy users of calling cards.
Very few were familiar with Vonage, and of those few, even fewer understood how the service worked and the savings it represented.
How we did it
An initial study told us that Hispanics didn’t even know what was “the right way” to pronounce Vonage. So, we realized we had to make it more digestible, creating a signature that worked as both a memorable mnemonic device and a brand statement.
We based it on a well-known selling phrase from the street markets: Bueno, Bonito, Barato, or “good, beautiful, inexpensive”, but with an irreverent twist, we slid the brand into it by switching the “b’s” for “v’s”. Ignoring, blatantly, the proper Spanish spelling. Thus, “Vueno Vonito Varato” was born.
Amazing Results
From there, I led a team that created a completely original multimedia retail campaign for the Hispanic market, which was a big success and won a 2011 Davey Award for its effectiveness, as well as an Effie 2011 runner-up nomination.
Vonage consistently surpassed quarterly acquisition goals for Hispanic customers.
Copy testing of the commercials revealed that Vonage metrics exceeded those of other telecom companies and Hispanic competitors in awareness, brand shift perception, and superiority.
Direct Mail
Online Banners
TV & Online