Last holiday season, U.S. Cellular faced its biggest challenge yet. How does a regional, community focused wireless company compete with the two biggest spenders in advertising?
The answer was surprisingly simple: Goodwill.
So while the monoliths spent their money on TV ads, we stole – well "re-purposed" – 100,000 dollars from our media budget, piled into an RV and gave it out to people who were doing good in their communities. They never asked for a reward, but we thought they deserved one.
The outcome was powerful. By leaning into our community roots, the campaign generated PR and social results we never expected.
The objective of the 30 Days of Good campaign was to champion the holiday spirit, by spreading goodwill throughout the U.S. Cellular footprint. As a brand that believes in putting people first, it was important to give back to the communities we serve and connect with customers and non-customers in a meaningful way. In order to do this, U.S. Cellular held nearly 600 events across the nation, to connect with people through one-to-one interactions. The teams on the ground had one mission: inspire joy and happiness by giving back in small and big ways. We documented the entire journey and highlighted stories from the road on the 30 Days of Good Tumblr. All-in-all, the campaign yielded over 25 million impressions, 726,829 video views, hundreds of positive social mentions, and a 5.12% social engagement rate. Best of all - 28,000 people visited the site and followed along on our journey to spread some good.
