Q&A with Jerri DeVard (SVP, Verizon)

As I continue my conversations with ANA Annual Conference speakers, please find Jerri DeVard’s (SVP, Verizon) comments below on the impact of technology on brand building.

Jerri, your presentation at the upcoming ANA Annual Conference: Masters of Marketing is titled “Technology, the Backbone of Brand Building.”  What points can you share from your experience that contribute to building a successful brand?

Boiling it down, technology (defined by Encyclopedia Britannica) is the application of scientific knowledge to the practical aims of human life. Technology is never an end in and of itself, but how science can be applied to make life better, simpler or easier.

The sweet spot for the customer is the intersection of the brand and the technologies that enable a superior experience--regardless of the brand or the technology. For financial services, its an easy way to navigate ATM machines or a seamless and easy online banking experience; for a retailer, its the customers ability to engage and have their transactions recognized regardless of which channel they are using (catalog, in store or online), for a packaged goods marketer, its delivering your product to the customer how and when they want it.

For Verizon, it’s about taking the most advanced technology and building a network that will deliver better internet, communications and entertainment experiences for our customers--giving them more of what they want. And making sure that we leverage the technology to ensure that we deliver superior service.

The needs stay the same, technology raises the expectations of a brands' ability to deliver. Stay true to what your brands mean to your customers--the emotional connection that they have with you--and use technology as the great enhancer and ultimate enabler to that experience.

What advice do you have for marketers at other companies who are facing similar challenges that you face – both in revitalizing brands and creating new ones?

Know your customers and the equities of your brand that matter to them. When revitalizing, know why you mean something to them in the first place, stay true to it while you find fresh and new ways to increase your relevance. At the foundation, brands are revitalized with new products and applications that deliver a core customer need, perhaps one that delights and is unexpected.

Delivering against any promise that you make is critical--don't make it, if you can't deliver. Sears saw the potential of extending the core equities of the brand to better meet the needs of their female customers. A promise of a "softer side" of Sears was compelling, but the in-store experience didn't live up to the promise. In terms of creating new brands--be thoughtful. What is this new brand trying to accomplish, what place does it take in the life of the customer?

Can you provide us with insight on how you have managed to successfully balance Verizon’s portfolio of brands?

Verizon has three strong business units, broadband, wireless and Information Services. These businesses sit under the Master Verizon brand and bring all of the trust and reliability that customers have come to look to us for. As a Master brand, our challenge is keeping the brand fresh and relevant to meet the needs of all the new products that we're bringing to market.

What do you think attendees can expect to gain from attending the ANA Annual Conference – and what are you most looking forward to this year.

I always think that this conference, in addition to providing some great new insights, provides the opportunity for all of us to take pause and question and challenge the way we're doing things. On the flip side, I'm always heartened when I leave a conference of my esteemed colleagues and feel confident and good about all the things we're doing--it can be very validating.