Rogers is reaching new heights in its quest to show off its “Roam Like Home” international coverage.
The wireless provider’s latest campaign follows real customer Michael Horst, as he reaches the summit of a mountain in the French Alps and makes a FaceTime video call to his family back in British Columbia.
Crafted by Publicis, the ad is Rogers’ latest “Roam Like Home” spot to feature real customers. The is an extension of a campaign the brand launched last spring with spots that similarly documented the lives of real customers from Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Livia Zufferli, senior vice-president, Rogers brand, said the initial spring campaign was one of the brand’s most successful to date in terms of increasing awareness and improving positive perception of the wireless brand. Given its success, Rogers decided to continue using real customers in its Roam Like Home creative.
Horst is an international mountain guide who uses Rogers’ Roam Like Home service to stay in touch with his family back in Canada when working abroad. Publicis and Rogers shot scenes with Horst and his family in Squamish, B.C. as well as on-location in France.
Zufferli said the brand found Horst via word-of-mouth and connected to him via The Solidarity Union — the production company that worked on the spot. “We went to speak to him and he was a really happy Rogers customer that used the service extensively and could speak about it and talk about how it benefitted his family and helped him stay connected to the things that matter the most to him,” Zufferli said.
“It was a really great way to show in an authentic way how our customers can benefit from our Roam Like Home service and the quality of our network overall.”
According to Rogers, the FaceTime call between Horst and his family in B.C. in the spot was filmed using Horst’s phone in France without the use of a green screen.
Zufferli said roaming charges have historically been a major pain point for Rogers customers. But, she said the company had seen a boost in customer satisfaction and the number of customers who rate Rogers phone plans as high value, since introducing Roam Like Home in 2014.
The company tapped a customer to star in the ad, Zufferli said, in an effort to illustrate how the feature works in a real, authentic situation. The goal of Roam Like Home is to improve the customer experience, she said. “It’s good when our customer can say that and it’s not just coming from the voice of Rogers,” she said.
There are 30 and 60-second versions currently in market. The media buy was handled by OMD and Rogers’ internal media team and includes a national TV buy, digital pre-roll and cinema. The campaign also includes print and social media ads. The video spot is currently running on CBC, CTV, Global and Sportsnet.
Roam Like Home launched in 2014. Initially, Rogers offered the extended international coverage in the U.S. only, but it has since added 100 locations around the world including much of Europe, South and Central America and Asia. The service allows customers to use their phones abroad as they would in Canada at a fixed fee without worrying about excessive roaming charges.
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