Friendly Internet Provider Ziply Fiber Launches Latest Campaign

DNA today launched a new integrated marketing and advertising campaign to introduce Ziply Fiber and its unique brand to the Northwest after the company completed a $1.35 billion acquisition of Frontier Communications’ operations in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana.

DNA is helping launch Ziply Fiber as a new kind of Internet, phone and TV provider, one with a mission to deliver superior fiber optic service and the best online experience possible. This even extends to a no-gimmick pricing model and real people who answer the phone. Different, no?

To highlight what makes Ziply Fiber different from its competitors, DNA created a different kind of campaign centered around the introductory message: Hi. We’re Ziply Fiber. Nice to meet you.

But before a campaign could be developed, the new company needed a name and brand. DNA worked with company executives to create the new brand including its name, branding identity, marketing platform and advertising. The friendly tone is carried through all brand communications and designed to contrast the new brand with their more corporate competition. 

“The name Ziply has a distinctive personality that speaks to our approach to serving our consumers as humans – personably, dependably and with the best and fastest internet possible,” explained Harold Zeitz, CEO at Ziply Fiber. “In launching our new brand, we wanted to show that we not only have the most technologically advanced fiber optic network, but also tell a story to the marketplace about what it means to be a modern brand today and treating your customers right.”

In developing the Ziply Fiber name, DNA explored ways to communicate speed in a way that was fresh and approachable. They took ‘zip,’ which spoke to the company’s blazingly-fast connection, and added the ‘ly’ at the end creating an adverb – ziply – that is reflective of how the company does business – honestly, capably, responsibly, quickly and enthusiastically. ‘Fiber’ was also an important clarifier as it establishes the quality and reliability of the  delivery system.

“Ziply Fiber is offering a simpler, more human experience than the big, corporate players, and that experience starts with what you call it and what the brand looks like,” explained Steve Williams, executive creative director at DNA. “The name sounds friendly and approachable, and the clean, modern design makes you feel good right from the start.”

The first of the launch ads lets people know that they can say ‘goodbye’ to the frustrations of typical Internet service, and ‘hello’ to a better experience. Viewers follow a white dot which represents a fiber optic cable. This white dot takes us through the world of a fiber optic cable

literally zips through space into a home where it connects to a typical home network as a voice explains, “Hello crazy fast Internet. Hi there high score. What’s up smarter smarter home.” 

“The dot is an icon that becomes the guide through the Ziply brand and represents a window into the world that fiber optics can deliver,” explained Noel Nickol, creative director at DNA, “In the advertising, the Ziply dot shows you everything Ziply excels at, from streaming content, to video games, to network reliability. But it also has an uncomplicated quality that comes from it being hand-illustrated to evoke a more approachable feeling, amplified by a fresh green and blue colour palate.”

The dot is carried through other branding elements in the dot above the ‘i’ in Ziply to the trucks, the signage, even the company’s mural inside its offices.

“The marketing approach really captures the spirit of our brand as one that is technologically advanced, refreshingly different from others in this space, and with local, Northwest attitude and knowledge,” noted JB Williams, head of marketing at Ziply.

Ziply Fiber was founded by a team of former Wave Broadband executives who set out to build a new kind of Internet company. It has committed to investing more than $500 million to upgrade the existing network and to bring fiber connectivity to communities throughout the region, many in smaller and/or rural areas who have never before had access to this type of service. Today, slightly more than 30 percent of businesses and homes in the four-state region have easy access to Ziply’s fiber-optic services and the company intends to grow that to nearly 85 percent in the next few years, much of it in the next year or two.