How we helped give birth to Vodafone Social, the official blog for Vodafone UK, and nurture it into one of the most powerful tools in company’s communications arsenal.

1. Vodafoneblog
The story so far
Casestudy
HowwehelpedgivebirthtoVodafoneSocial,the
officialblogforVodafoneUK,andnurtureitinto
oneofthemostpowerfultoolsincompany’s
communicationsarsenal.

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A little bit about us and contact details

3. THE CHALLENGE
Vodafone UK needed a credible channel to talk about its
technologies, innovations and the people behind the network, in
order to build and engage a sustained audience.
WHAT WE DID
We launched an official blog called Vodafone Social, with content
tailored to our target audience’s interests, and developed an
editorial strategy that would inspire them to share our long-form
stories with their peers, before come back for more.
OUTCOME
The blog continues to grow a loyal audience with over 1.2 million
readers visiting Vodafone Social in 2014 (up 82% on the previous
year) and 55% of those being returning visitors (versus 37% in 2013).
“Vodafone Social has proved its worth time and time again and is
established as a trusted source for media and the customers alike –
breaking news, giving the brand a clear voice and telling great
stories in the progress”. Dan Bowsher, Strategic Lead for
Social Media Comms, Vodafone UK
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4. Vodafone UK needed a place where it could open up and express
itself more freely. Somewhere to talk about stuff that previously
might’ve been considered out of bounds, or unconventional. An
online channel inviting folk to peek behind the red curtain and
absorb deeper stories about its technologies, innovations and the
real people powering the network. A credible environment for
sustained comms, built to last, that could offer increasing value over
time by organically cultivating a loyal audience to help raise
awareness for its products, services and what it does differently.
Our role? To build, launch and grow a brand new owned editorial
channel for comms, with the goal of attracting and engaging our
target audience.
Our relationship with Vodafone is more that of a partner than a
supplier, and during the process of setting these original goals, we
collectively recognised that one of the biggest challenges we’d face
would be getting ongoing internal support from across the business,
including top brass. This awareness would be key in helping us
surface interesting stories, and in demonstrating the value of the
channel to key execs, and teams.
The challenge

5. 1. AUDIENCE
As always, we began with the audience. Kick-starting launch
preparations by identifying who we wanted to have a dialogue with.
We had two groups we wanted to reach from day one. The first were
key online influencer publications in the consumer technology space
- by re-telling our stories to their audiences they would help establish
Vodafone UK’s credibility as a brand publisher. The second was, and
remains, existing Vodafone customers - by creating compelling and
discoverable content, they would be more likely to feel inspired to
return and share our stories with their peers through social media.
2. BENCHMARK DOCUMENTS
Gathering research on their interests and online media consumption
habits, we created a set of solid reader profiles and tone of voice
documents. This initial process gave us a valuable steer on the sort of
content and broad themes that would best resonate with our target
readers. Vodafone UK’s competitors weren’t telling stories about their
technologies or the real people behind the scenes, so there was a
great opportunity to differentiate and become a voice for telling the
story of what goes into making a better network. This became a
central thread for our content strategy and editorial narrative.
What we did and why
Further research, along with our previous experience in growing
engaged audiences for global brands, taught us that daily long-form
written content remains the most trusted and authoritative format,
and should form the backbone of our regular content output. From
here we started developing our style guides, story themes,
benchmark documents for articles, and a content calendar.
3. MOBILE FIRST
A WordPress blog was the perfect publishing platform on which to
build this new owned editorial channel. Quick, versatile and easy to
integrate across Vodafone UK’s online eco system. Our insights had
also informed us that our target audience was reading more and
more content on their mobile devices, and we wanted to ensure we
always delivered our stories to them on their terms. So when we first
designed the site we turned things on their head, and with smart use
of HTML 5 and CSS3 created a single site (no m. URLs here) that
would perform well on even the most basic phone, and gracefully
upscale to work brilliantly on smartphones, tablets and desktop.
Before it had become commonplace, we were designing mobile-first
for Vodafone.

6. 4. INTERNAL CASE STUDIES
Our editorial team continues to work closely with many of the
different teams at Vodafone UK to help uncover and create
compelling stories to publish on the blog. This support has grown
steadily as a result of us regularly sharing case studies, internally
showcasing the success of individual stories and the blog as a whole.
5. BUILDING CREDIBILITY
Early articles such as Signals in the Shard, provided a great example
to the business of how the blog was becoming a credible source for
generating positive news cycles. It demonstrated how this new
channel was attracting and engaging our target audience, and how
stories of this nature could earn media coverage (such as on Tech
Radar and Engadget UK) without any additional PR or paid support.
Developing internal advocacy, and even just raising awareness with
employees that a public-facing blog exists, remains a key part of its
success. This process helped build confidence in the channel, and
has led to greater involvement from teams and individuals across
most parts of the business, including the CEO.
What we did and why
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7. 6. INTEGRATION
Alongside generating engagement and coverage independently, our
stories have become increasingly visible across other Vodafone
digital platforms, with articles featured in newsletters, mobile apps,
on the main Vodafone UK website, and even across partner websites
such as Spotify, linking back to our original posts.
7. HUB AND SPOKE
Within its first year the blog cemented itself as a home for deeper
editorial content from Vodafone UK. This remains the case, and
Vodafone Social is now used as a key tool for supporting propositions
and ongoing activities, with long-form articles rarely living in
isolation. Instead, we use a hub-and-spoke model, with the blog’s
richer content sat at the heart of any digital comms efforts - acting as
fuel for Vodafone UK’s social media output, as well as being a prime
destination for traffic from other owned channels, in order to enable
our audience to easily explore a subject in greater depth.
The ongoing roll-out of 4G is a great example of this. Instead of
launching a dedicated, story-rich 4G microsite, the blog serves as the
perfect place for readers to explore valuable and up-to-date 4G
content. It became a lynchpin in a much larger 4G comms piece, with
What we did and why
multiple Vodafone channels promoting the editorial, because it offers
an authoritative space where we can quickly share news and
opinions, answer one-to-one questions publicly and in a permanent
way, and point folk in the right direction for further 4G info and more
nitty-gritty technical help from the likes of the eForum.
Here’s an example from the early days of Vodafone’s 4G launch, which
became home to 111 questions and answers in the comments
section. Since then we’ve published a further 54 articles around 4G
alone, sustaining interest in the topic with around 800,000 visitors
engaging with these original stories to date.
8. BUILT TO LAST
Launching an official corporate blog means you’ve got to go into it
seeing the long-game. All credit to Vodafone UK for recognising the
opportunity and believing in the possibilities early on, as it’s this
sustained commitment to the channel, and close-working
collaboration between our teams, that has been instrumental to its
ongoing success. Sure, you might be sat on a diamond mine of great
stories with heaps of promise, but it’s only with joint willingness and
ambition that the promise becomes reality, and builds into a truly
engaged audience for your brand.

8. Republic helps us to maximise Vodafone Social’s potential.
For them the blog is a living and breathing thing, not just a
platform to fill with content, and that’s really important to us.
We treat them as an extension of our team so they’re coming
up with loads of ideas, getting really involved with our
projects and enabling us to push the reach and impact of the
channel further and further. They're great to work with, and
get the job done brilliantly.
“
”Dan Bowsher, Strategic Lead for Social Media Comms, Vodafone UK

9. Our audience continues to grow, with stories attracting 1.2 million
readers in 2014 versus 622,000 the previous year - an 82% increase
year-on-year. Our shared goal of continuing to build a truly loyal
audience is also being met, thanks to a sustained calendar of high
quality long-form editorial that has been made easily discoverable
through other key Vodafone channels. The result is an uptick in
returning visitors, from 37% in 2013 to 55% in 2014.
Dan Bowsher, Strategic Lead for Social Media Comms, Vodafone
UK, explains, “Vodafone Social has proved its worth time and time
again and is established as a trusted source for media and the
customers alike – breaking news, giving the brand a clear voice and
telling great stories in the progress”.
Outcome

10. We are a digital content marketing and communications
agency partnering with global brands to sustain compelling
and effective online brand channels - both owned
destinations and through key social media platforms.
Our journalistic background is the lynchpin to everything
we do. Specialists in editorial, website build, online video
creation and social media, we are trusted advisors to our
clients who love what we do.
Get in touch info@republicpublishing.co.uk
Find out more republicpublishing.co.uk

11. What we do and who we do it for
Social &
advocacy
Editorial Video
Websites Social &
advocacy
Video
Websites
StrategyStrategy

12. Editorial
We write great stories which
captivate readers
They share and discuss them
Your reach explodes
Clients include:
Red Bull
Here
Microsoft
Sharp
Vodafone
The Gadget Show
Explore editorial | Click images to visit story examples

13. Video
We create compelling online video
They tell powerful brand stories
You engage a significant audience
Clients include:
Vodafone
Stihl
Nokia
Microsoft
Sharp
SHOW
REEL
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WATCH
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14. Social and advocacy
We amplify advocates
We engage detractors
We build lasting relationships
Clients include:
Vodafone
Microsoft Lumia
CA Technologies
Sharp Europe
Vodafone Foundation
Stihl
JINS
Explore social | Click screens to visit examples

15. Websites
We build and manage delicious, responsive websites
They are playgrounds of content
Visitors love to explore them (on any device)
Clients include:
Here
Microsoft
Vodafone
Sharp
The Quarto Group
Explore websites | Click screen to visit a recent example

16. Thankyou
100 Montgomery Street
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London
EC1V 0DX
United Kingdom
Find out more republicpublishing.co.uk
Get in touch info@republicpublishing.co.uk
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United States
@RepPub
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