Verizon had not changed the way it spoke to customers for years. Our voice wasn’t bad, but internally it was getting stale. Writers didn’t feel inspired to push their copy in exciting, creative ways. It was time for an overhaul.

Under the leadership of the legendary Gene Albamonte, a newly created Brand Voice Team set itself to this task. We started from scratch and built a new voice identity wholesale, and then we kept refining it until it lived up to Verizon’s core beliefs, as well as the excellent work that our Design and Photography teams were putting out. The results gave new energy to the entire marketing org.

Along with working on the Voice Pillars, I personally led the effort to create a new, modern editorial style to match the new voice. This new house style was intended to be human, inclusive and approachable. It’s currently used by nearly 140,000 employees to speak to millions of customers with a single, clear voice.

As stated in the announcement of our rebrand:

The new Verizon brand voice and tone are designed to be inspiring, aspirational and consumer-focused. The communication aims to shift from inward and credential-focused to outward and consumer-centric. The tone is confident yet approachable, emphasizing reliability, empowerment and innovation. The goal is to create a vibrant, interactive brand identity that speaks to different occasions and audiences, moving from a rigid, corporate feel to a more open and flexible system.

These elements ensure that Verizon's brand identity resonates with its consumers, fostering a meaningful and empowering connection

To roll out the new voice, we recorded a training video that was used company-wide (and in which I became famous for my line-reading of “Blammo!”)

We also built a workshop series for teaching writers and other creatives how to use our new voice—and make it their own. The idea, also, was to identify places in the customer funnel that had never been “voice-y” and to empower writers to inject personality and warmth into these areas.

Additionally, at first helmed by Gene and then by me when I took over the team, we instituted a monthly Writers’ Council for senior copywriters and a weekly Voice Office Hours to organically develop our new voice so that it was alive, evolving and present in more and more venues.

We also wrote and published guidelines and manuals that lived inside Verizon’s internal Parent Brand Guidelines.