Matthew Doherty Design

TruComm. A regional phone company with a pricing transparency and overall service quality unique within the industry. The honesty and straight forward nature of their pricing and service packages needed a strong identity that could cut through the visual clutter in any environment: print ads, on-sight exhibits in public venues, direct mail, or competitive listings in local phone books. The core value of “truth in communication” kept the business strategy, services and pricing decisions on a foundation that assured the consumer would understand what they were buying, that it would be a better service at a better price, and they would never be surprised by the bill. Ever.

The communications program developed a bold, clean visual, with clear language that provided the consumer a clear understanding of the service features and the costs. No hidden fees, no confusing language. In the competitive environment of the moment, it sounded too good, too simple, to be true. Projecting the right brand image, was the challenge. The service and value were already in place.

The brand needed a stronger identity than the one developed when first launched. The original was not balanced or visually strong enough to work at all sizes required for marketing — from small spot ads in the yellow pages along side local and national competitors, up to store display and billboard placement.

The program has to work in direct mail, point-of-purchase and point-of-service locations, small and large signage and billboards, print, web and television media as well as radio spots.

The image needed to establish a strong image that is easily recognized after only one or two viewings. The presentation provided the phonetic guide to pronunciation and emphasis.

Branding: Identity Tag line development identified several great options, but the process overlapped several competitors launching new campaigns using exact or similar phrasing. In the end, “A Great Phone Service. For Less.” was adopted for its simplicity, statement of who and what TruComm is, and how it sounds as an audio tag.

Branding: Marketing In a highly competitive market, with entrenched national players, it is critical to lay out a comprehensive strategy (that does not have to be large and complex), with clear goals, and a commitment to see it through in order to fairly judge campaign success. With that commitment, you create a repeatable cycle that allows you to recalibrate based on feedback, and improve message and market penetration.