WORK
GATEWAY FIBER
TAKING ON BIG CABLE
Gateway Fiber brings lightning-fast fiber optic internet to their customers in exurban areas throughout the Midwest. That’s a big deal, because fiber is simply better than cable. It’s faster, more reliable, has symmetrical speeds (a fancy way of saying it uploads as fast as it downloads) and doesn’t suffer the same throughput limitations as cable, decreasing speed as additional households use internet service.
CAMPAIGN LAUNCH
SOCIAL MEDIA
DIGITAL DISPLAY
DIRECT MAIL
OUTDOOR
BAITING THE SWITCH
So why isn’t everyone lining up to switch? The truth is, tech-savvy early adopters are. They’re already signing petitions to bring Gateway Fiber into town. As we moved to convince a critical mass of their neighbors, we needed to spell out the benefits of fiber optic internet to appeal to them with more specificity.
After learning everything we could about fiber optic internet, symmetrical speeds, customer service experiences and the mindsets of cable customers, we alighted on a simple insight that was almost hidden in plain sight:
EVERYONE HATES THEIR CABLE COMPANY
Cable companies routinely finish last in customer satisfaction surveys. They charge too much, have awful customer service, poor reliability, and it takes hours on the phone to cancel.
But many good, honest folks feel compelled to keep their slow, unreliable and overpriced cable internet for one very simple reason: their TV service comes bundled with it.
To lead people to the promised land of super fast fiber optic internet, we needed a campaign that exposed the cable bundle for what it truly is. That meant reframing it from a collection of convenient value adds to a series of expensive irritations.
THE CABLE BUNDLE INCLUDES MORE THAN INTERNET, TV & PHONE
It’s a collection of all the frustrating things about cable internet—including bad service, outages, slow speeds, sneaky price increases, copious small print and channels you’ll never watch. With Gateway Fiber, you just pay for what you want: absurdly fast internet with the freedom to add any streaming TV services you want.
BREAK THE BUNDLE
We executed a customer acquisition blitz targeting existing cable customers.
The campaign takes the annoyances, frustrations and fury-provoking elements of cable service and “bundles” them into a single, terrible package. Married to visuals that blend cute child-like illustration with infographic conventions, we like to think that the work is too cute to ignore and too truthful to forget.
The campaign unfurled across multiple channels, including outdoor, social, digital display and direct mail.
Though disdain for the cable company is universal, switching providers is admittedly a hassle—and most folks are content in their discontetedness . So, we retargeted consumers using their own words to remind them how badly they need to escape the bundle.
Then, we followed up with our audience once more with singularly focused messaging.
UNBINDING THE BUNDLE
It’s not easy to separate cable companies from their hostages, sorry, customers. We’re excited that Break the Bundle has helped introduce more households to lightning fast fiber optic internet from Gateway Fiber.
"DARLING PUSHED THIS CONCEPT TO MAKE SURE IT RESONATED WITH OUR PROSPECTIVE CUSTOMERS. THEY NEVER STOPPED PRESENTING US WITH IDEAS."
—
JOHN MEYER
GATEWAY FIBER
CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER
