The emphasis on competition and market-force dynamics makes marketing and branding key to success for community based telecom providers.  Gone are the days when independent companies didn't need to worry about its customers ... or about marketing its services ... or about its image in the community.  After all, where else could folks in rural areas turn?  Today, however, you must connect with your markets and fine tune all parts of your image, everything from your logo, your marketing materials, your employees, even how your CSRs answer the phone.  To customers, who you are and what you do are every bit as important as the products and services you sell. 

Branding

How is your company perceived?  Do customers look on you as the high-tech leader in your community, offering the latest in broadband services, bundles, or special deals?  Do your customers know what you mean to them and to their businesses, schools, community centers, et al.  If you hope to achieve the strong identity you "think" you are, you must take advantage of every opportunity to project affirmatively and build your image with customers and the community.  Especially now, while federal and state officials debate the future of universal service and targeted rural programs, you must go out of your way to tell your story and to raise the awareness both of your company and the services you provide.  Never before have pro-active public relations and marketing come together to enable you to increase name recognition and help you contend in the competitive marketplace.  Indeed, "Image is Everything" as the telecom industry travels down the broadband path, if you intend to be considered an innovative telecom provider worthy of a customer's loyalty and dollars.  JSI can help with strategies, campaigns, and initiatives to enhance your company's image and make it "top of mind" with customers:

• Company logos
• Product brands and logos
• Collateral material / external presentations
• Message creation
• Website development

Direct Mail

Direct mail and target marketing remain the single most effective way to draw customers' attention to your products and services.  It helps customers develop specific ideas and feelings about your company and your message, whatever it may be. Used creatively and in concert with other marketing and PR tools, direct mail helps you build brand awareness, attract and retain customer share, and strengthen your customer relationships.  JSI can help you plan and carry out direct-mail campaigns to:

• Introduce a new corporate name, identity, or logo
• Announce a new service or product
• Educate customers about service benefits
• Tell your story and build grassroots support
• Notify customers about service bundles and price discounts
• Encourage customers to sign up for a new service or plan
• Educate customers about new entertainment services, such as IPTV

To review samples of JSI-client marketing, branding and other materials, check out our Web Portfolio.

For more details about image-oriented ideas and campaigns, e-mail Chris Lehner at clehner@jsitel.com, or Brenda Cordwell at bcordwell@jsitel.com, or call 301-459-7590.