Wave Broadband Brand Refresh

Background

Wave Broadband, headquartered in Kirkland Washington, provides residential and business class cable TV, broadband internet, and telephone services on the West Coast. The company, often growing through acquisition, focuses on markets underserved by major competitors. The company currently serves over 400,000 customers in western Washington, Oregon and California, operating under multiple brands including Wave Broadband, Wave Business Solutions, Blackrock, Astound Broadband and CondoInternet.

Wave offers cable TV, Internet and phone service packages at competitive prices, differentiating itself in the market through superior customer service. For example, Wave offers local, 24/7 customer support with guaranteed service appointments. In addition, Wave offers highly flexible service packages without locking customers into a long-term contract.

Challenge

Competing in a highly competitive market against national brands with much deeper pockets, Wave and its affiliated brands suffered from limited local awareness, being drowned out by the “speeds and feeds’ marketing by the competition. In addition, with different markets operating under different brands, Wave was unable to benefit from overarching brand-building marketing activities.

To continue to meet growth objectives, Wave needed a brand identity system that would allow the different brands to stand independently, yet comprise a greater whole with expanded marketing reach.

Outcome

Stoke developed a visual identity system to create brand cohesion between the multiple operating companies, yet still allow for flexibility across regions and business units. Importantly, the new visual elements allow Wave to consolidate marketing efforts by creating efficiencies in media buys, online and print marketing.

To differentiate Wave among it’s competition, Stoke developed a comprehensive advertising campaign including print, outdoor, transit and radio, called Your Friend in Broadband. The campaign identified Wave as the trustworthy, honest and local choice in broadband, resulting in a 125% increase in subscriber adds (against the campaign gold) and supporting the company’s entry into Seattle and the surrounding areas.