The Nokia Something-or-Other. The HTC This-and-That. The Samsung Here’s-What’s-New. The LG Gotta-See-This. We’re in the midst of an exhilarating but cluttered smartphone boom. There’s a revolutionary device released nearly every week, each one improving upon or adding something entirely new to the smartphone oeuvre. AT&T itself has released more than 50 devices in the past year, most of them also released across multiple carriers such as Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint. To help its sales force and consumers cut through all of this handset hysteria, AT&T asked FleishmanHillard to educate its sales force, social media mavens and consumers on the ins and outs of new devices about to be launched, helping them navigate the new smartphone milieu with a bevy of skills and know-how. AT&T and FleishmanHillard chose video – not traditional brochures, manuals and collateral – as the primary vehicle for the massive task of educating the more than 110,000 AT&T customer-facing employees and the millions of smartphone buyers. AT&T and FleishmanHillard created a “Device Launch" video series for employees and sales force. Through a collaboration with AT&T’s mobility team, AT&T’s North American national headquarters and the device manufacturers, FleishmanHillard’s AT&T “Device Launch" video series aims to: • Instruct the AT&T sales force on how to use a new device, highlighting specific features and demonstrating how they work, with the ultimate goal being to improve customer satisfaction with AT&T. • Create a utilitarian approach and aesthetic to mobile device use for the AT&T sales force and the consumer. The onboarding of AT&T employees is integral to the retail operations of the company, and FleishmanHillard provides educational video content that keeps the sales force engaged and excited. The “Device Launch" series is made up of content-rich instructional videos for Level 1 and Level 2 Android, Windows and BlackBerry devices for AT&T, meaning the devices that a cross-functional team of AT&T leaderships deem as premium: the cream of the crop. These devices are assigned a target demographic based on the particularities of the device – for example, the simplified user interface of Samsung’s Easy Mode are geared toward senior citizens and the customizability of the Moto X is ideal for 18- to 34-year-olds. This subsequently informed our approach to the video. For instance, we’ve shot underwater to highlight the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active’s waterproof camera and functions, and we’ve tested the Nokia Lumia 925’s camera zoom and reframe capabilities against the layered compositions of a painter’s canvas. Videos are divided into chapters: Highlights, Demos, and Features & Accessories. The chapters function equally well as standalone videos, to be distributed to specialized employees and groups. The demo constitutes the brunt of the video as far as pedagogic content, as it shows a step-by-step tutorial with voiceover of how to use a specific device’s highlighted features. The themes of the videos vary, each one tailored to the device, yet all still maintain a continuity of structure, aesthetic and verve. Each “Device Launch" video is planned, scripted, storyboarded, cast, shot, edited and designed (GFX and animation) by an in-house FleishmanHillard team within a matter of weeks before the device is officially launched or released. We use the same talent to establish continuity and familiarity with the viewers, cementing the status of the video series as a fun and reliable source of information. Then, the “Device Launch" videos are distributed through various internal channels. They are uploaded into MyCSP, AT&T’s intranet sharing site, where they are placed on the home page feature carousel and can be seen by more than 110,000 retail employees. When information about the devices becomes public, videos are shared on the external AT&T website, as well as the device pages of the AT&T eCommerce Store, their official online retail site, and the ShareATT YouTube channel, also managed by FleishmanHillard. In the past year: •AT&T and FleishmanHillard have written and produced more than 30 “Device Launch" videos of two to five minutes each. •AT&T has reported a marked increase in Device Net Promoter Score during the period when the “Device Launch" videos were released. There has also been a decrease in return rates due to misinformation or frustration among AT&T smartphone customers. •Employees are clearly watching and learning from the “Device Launch" series in an effort to better describe the key features to customers and deliver higher sales. In 2013, MyCSP was ranked in the Top 10 Corporate Intranet sites in the world by the Nielsen Norman Group. “Device Launch" videos have constantly been among the highest-rated content on MyCSP, having received 4 out of 5 stars from AT&T internal customers and partners, making them one of the highest-rated video series within the intranet site. •One Retail Account Executive mentioned how the videos explain “the basics for people new to Android, but brief enough to keep experienced users engaged … [by] focusing on what is new and unique … the balance was perfect. All these videos have been amazing tools for us out in the field." •Once the device is launched, the “Device Launch" videos are uploaded to the ShareATT YouTube channel. “Device Launch" videos often surpass 2,000-plus YouTube views within a couple of days of release, with increasingly positive comments from the YouTube community praising their helpfulness.
