New Verizon Ad Campaign Combines Products, Services With Real-Life Communications Solutions

NEW YORK - A businesswoman trying to close a deal. A father who wants to read a bedtime story to his children. A cattle rancher who's wondering how the market is doing today.

Those scenarios and other everyday occurrences are featured in a Verizon Communications advertising campaign kicking off today. The campaign focuses on how the products and services the company delivers fit customers' busy lifestyles and business demands. The campaign also conveys how customers can benefit and succeed by using Verizon's full-service capabilities.

With a theme and tag line of "Verizon. How to get life done," the campaign will run in 20 major markets throughout the United States using television, print, billboards and other outdoor vehicles, and the Internet.

Verizon spokesperson James Earl Jones plays a key part in the campaign, which was created by Chicago-based Burrell Communications Group.

"This campaign continues to define who Verizon is in the marketplace," said Janet Keeler, Verizon senior vice president for Brand Management and Marketing Services. "Verizon is a new company, with fresh solutions for our customers. People and businesses want to communicate easily, effortlessly, when, where and how they want. We're committed to taking the complexities out of communications and giving our customers real-life solutions so they have the freedom to focus on their businesses and their lives."

Keeler said Verizon wants to assure customers that the company provides solutions, not just products. "We are emphasizing with our customers that their interests are at the heart of everything we do. All of our services -- from providing dial tone to sending a monthly bill to making an Internet connection -- all speak volumes about how we value our customers' business."

The campaign will kick off with 60-second and 30-second umbrella television spots and three print ads in which Verizon communications services come to the rescue in everyday settings and situations. In the umbrella spots, Verizon products are flashed on the screen as simple answers to what customers want to accomplish. At the end of the spots, Mr. Jones' trusted voice tells viewers that "Verizon puts together the world's most powerful technologies in your hands - so you can do whatever you want, whenever you want."

The initial phase of the campaign will run through mid-December. Early next year, the campaign will focus on different customer segments and communications solutions designed specifically for them. Parallel executions for the campaign were done by La Agencia de Orci & Asociados for the Hispanic market and by Burrell for the African American market.

"Verizon is very happy to have James Earl Jones play such an important part in this campaign," said Keeler. "His integrity and respect are indicative of the values Verizon represents."

"This new campaign will go a long way in building Verizon's reputation as a company that provides advanced technologies that are simple to use...anytime, anywhere," Keeler said.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), formed by the merger of Bell Atlantic and GTE, is one of the world's leading providers of communications services. Verizon companies are the largest providers of wireline and wireless communications in the United States, with more than 101 million access line equivalents and more than 26 million wireless customers. A Fortune 10 company with more than 260,000 employees and approximately $60 billion in 1999 revenues, Verizon's global presence extends to 40 countries in the Americas, Europe, Asia and the Pacific. For more information on Verizon, visit www.verizon.com.