U.S. Cellular

"2ergo is helping us make a big impact on brand loyalty by unifying multiple mobile channels into seamless experiences for our customers."

Ally Ritt, Manager, Direct Marketing for U.S. Cellular 

The Challenge

U.S. Cellular (NYSE: USM), the sixth largest wireless carrier in the United States, wanted to build deeper customer relationships using personalized, engaging and innovative mobile marketing.

The Direct Marketing team wanted to improve customer satisfaction and promote new products and services to increase average revenue per user (ARPU). The Sponsorship & Events team needed to increase awareness of U.S. Cellular in the market and provide fun, integrated brand experiences at live events and sponsored venues.

To meet these challenges, U.S. Cellular knew they needed to partner with a mobile marketing agency that could help them leverage innovative mobile solutions and use multiple channels including mobile websites, QR codes, MMS (multimedia messaging) and mobile coupons to make a big impact on brand awareness, event attendee experience, churn rates and revenue.

In order for them to be successful, it was vital to have ongoing access to strategic guidance, project management and advanced reporting services to move their campaign strategy forward.

So U.S. Cellular set out to partner with a mobile marketing leader that understood their market and had a proven track record with both technology leadership and dynamic creative abilities, helping them stay ahead of the curve.

The Solution

In May of 2011, U.S. Cellular turned to 2ergo because of their innovative approach to providing a turnkey solution that included comprehensive access to mobile channels that were new to U.S. Cellular. As a 2ergo Mobile Managed Services customer, U.S. Cellular benefits from an end-to-end service for mobile strategy planning, mobile technology platform, campaign execution and analysis.

Day-to-day, 2ergo works with multiple groups within U.S. Cellular to communicate with its millions of customers and event attendees by developing, executing and analyzing results-oriented mobile campaigns using 2ergo's SMS and MMS messaging, mobile website, branded QR and mobile voucher platforms. As part of the Managed Service, U.S. Cellular has a dedicated Marketing Manager and on-demand, flexible access to creative, technical, project management and QA resources.

2ergo hosts and operates the messaging tools that allow U.S. Cellular to connect with its customer base by sending out high volume SMS and MMS blasts. In addition to the technology platform, a key differentiator is the real-time and post-campaign analysis which is funneled into strategic guidance and market intelligence that U.S. Cellular can use to better understand its customers.

The 2ergo Managed Services team is deeply integrated into U.S. Cellular's Direct Marketing and Sponsorship & Event teams and because of this, U.S. Cellular's business goals become 2ergo's campaign objectives, producing focused alignment.

The Results

Through the end-to-end managed services relationship, 2ergo has been able to craft hundreds of campaigns and send millions of messages that are tightly aligned with U.S. Cellular's marketing goals and business strategy. Programs undergo detailed A/B testing to determine the most effective path and key takeaways influence the implementation of future campaigns.

2ergo gives U.S. Cellular the ability to precisely target subscribers, promote new services and offer innovative ways for consumers to interact with its brand which ultimately increases ARPU, reduces churn and leaves customers more satisfied. In addition, U.S. Cellular benefits from streamlined campaign planning, execution and tracking, including real-time reporting and monthly in-depth analysis.

With 2ergo, the carrier gets access to a host of skill sets - marketing, design, development, project management and QA - which reduces the cost of adding internal staff and offers flexibility to shift resources as needed month-to-month.

Some of the programs and successes to-date include:

• innovative Tailgate for Tickets QR & mSite campaign saw over 3,200 scans in the first few weeks, which provided for personal brand interactions and acted as a traffic driver into retail stores

• increased adoption of new services and applications with conversion rates up to 24%

• streamlined customer service through the use of FAQ mobile sites with the goal of reducing call center volume

• new smartphone customer retention campaigns that link targeted SMS messages to easy-to-use instructional mobile videos

• automated bill reminders that reduce churn of pre-paid customers

"2ergo is helping us make a big impact on brand loyalty by unifying multiple mobile channels into seamless experiences for our customers," said Allison Ritt, Manager, Direct Marketing for U.S. Cellular. "The level of service provided by 2ergo is top-notch, and we truly enjoy working with their team."

"U.S. Cellular is all about creating engaging experiences for consumers that reinforce a positive impression of our company, and 2ergo is helping us accomplish that," said Rebecca Kruse, Senior Sponsorship & Events Manager for U.S. Cellular. "Being able to utilize branded QR codes, mobile sites and mobile coupons through 2ergo expands our creativity to execute innovative campaigns."