How UScellular thinks about relevance.
Brands shouldn’t try to force relevance by explaining product features. Instead, they should tap into something people care about culturally.
That’s what UScellular did when it shifted from talking about phones as a product and started talking about how people feel about them.
“Our phones both foster connections and undermine them,” said Elizabeth Paul, executive vice president and chief brand officer at The Martin Agency, during a presentation at Ragan’s PR Daily Conference.
Acknowledging the downside of screens became the foundation for the company’s PR strategy.
Back in 2022, the brand leaned into a growing discomfort with screen time.
“It might not have been a monocultural conversation, but it was really starting to pop up on the margins,” Paul said.
Find what people already feel
UScellular’s campaign, “Phones Down for Five,” reflected the growing tension.
“Almost everybody wanted to spend less time on their phones,” she said. “But nobody wants to be told to spend less time on their phones.”
The campaign asked people to step away for “five minutes, five hours or…five days,” said Eric Jagher, chief marketing officer at UScellular.
When brands look for tensions people already feel, they can draw engagement, visibility and relevance. It’s about opening the door, Jagher said.
Make it human
The campaign showed everyday behavior like missed conversations, constant scrolling or the feeling of always being “on,” Jagher said.
It was less about the product’s capabilities and more about relationships, he said.
As Paul put it, challenger brands need to give people “a reason to pick you or to root for you that goes above and beyond the product you sell.”
This human way of thinking helped the brand move away from pushing specs to a more meaningful space that invited discussion, she said.
If your message could apply to any brand in your category, it’s too generic. Focus on real human behavior instead, she said. Where can your brand fit into that conversation?
Design for conversation
The team built moments around phone culture, including a Super Bowl activation highlighting how many fans missed key plays while on their phones.
“We wanted to do something that would drive radical reappraisal,” Jagher said.
The campaign drove a more than 2,000% lift in earned media impressions, he said. The brand was being surfaced even when there was no direct product link. This was because people wanted to have the conversation and feel heard, he said.
If earned media is one of the goals, start with an idea people recognize from their own lives. That’s what makes them stop, react and share, he said.
When companies can draw from something people are already thinking about, the message doesn’t feel like marketing.
“It feels like it belongs,” Jagher said.
Courtney Blackann is a communications reporter. Connect with her on LinkedIn or email her at courtneyb@ragan.com.
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