A Singular Stance: Cingular's Commitment to Creative Expression

By Joan Leotta

When Cingular Wireless, a cellular phone company that formed recently from several smaller firms, set out to create its first advertising campaign, the focus, the company decided, should be self-expression. While other companies were touting their products and services, Cingular wanted to emphasize the company's mission to serve the unique needs of each customer.

Of course, the ad campaign would also have to stick in the minds of customers. These goals, relates Cingular Chief Marketing Officer Virginia Vann, led to a series of ten "branding" ads that would feature the theme of self-expression. One high-profile ad in the series featured Dan Keplinger, an artist with cerebral palsy.

Customer, not product, focus

"We developed a position for the company way before we named it and before we hired a firm to create these ads," says Vann. "When crafting our mission statement and vision, we looked at how we could differentiate ourselves from other firms. We looked at the competition and noticed that all of the wireless companies talked about themselves. None of them appeared to think about customers and their needs. So we decided to fill that niche, to focus our public outreach on the individual—and how these individuals can use our company and products to remove barriers and enable self-expression."

The Cingular branding spot featuring artist Dan Keplinger aired during Super Bowl 2001. The ad placed emphasis on Keplinger's creativity and unique characteristics as an artist. "The Cingular ad," relates Keplinger, whose condition affects both his speech and his mobility, "is about me as an artist, and that's who I am."

The branding campaign stresses the firm's celebration of expression and its commitment to people. What makes this perspective unique is that the company struck such a fine balance—not working on promoting people with disabilities, but treating a person with a disability as a creative individual with talent. What comes across does not have its origin from Keplinger's disability, but from his ability and artistry.

Notes Vann, "Self-expression and individuality are what Cingular is all about. When we met Dan and saw his work, we knew he embodied what we wanted to communicate. Our ad agency, BBDO, worked very effectively with Dan and our marketing team to relay these feelings."

"Keplinger uses art to communicate," says Vann. "Cingular uses advertising and public relations to communicate. When BBDO sent us a documentary on Dan to introduce us to his form of expression, we knew that the merger of our two unique visions would be effective." The documentary, entitled "King Gimp," is an Academy Award winner.

Given the instruction to emphasize self-expression, the agency had much leeway to create the ads in the manner they saw fit. Says Vann, "Cingular gave BBDO a broad mandate for creativity. One of the things we wanted to express was that if one believes in individuality, that means all kinds of self-expression. Consequently, our ads explore a wide range of emotions in defining creativity. The ads are not always funny. Some are touching. But all the others share the message of self-expression by the individual."

Wide audience

Choosing to debut Keplinger's ad in a Super Bowl time slot was sure to attract attention. "Considering the venue for the ad, we knew that the Keplinger spot was not without risks, says Vann, "but these were risks we were willing to take and the ad has been very well received. The comments were overwhelmingly positive, from both employees and customers."

Cyndi Jones, the director of the Center for an Accessible Society in San Diego and a wheelchair user, says about Keplinger's spot, "There are just so many things this ad does for us—but the most important is to show that disability in and of itself is not bad."

Agrees Greg Smith, host of the "On A Roll" nationally syndicated radio program on disability lifestyle issues, "Dan Keplinger's presence in front of millions of television viewers pushed the envelope of inclusion. People with disabilities represent a large part of diversity that is beautiful, but the beauty of disability remains undiscovered in our society because of the old stigma that exists. This stigma, based on antiquated attitudes, is like a scab that is slowly but surely being scratched off. Cingular should be applauded."

Internal Impact

Employees with disabilities have also felt the effect of Cingular's mission. Susan Palmer, Associate Director for Federal Regulatory Affairs with the firm, says that Cingular lives out its philosophy of self-expression in a broader attitude toward employees and in customer-service training. She relates, "I think respect for all human beings and appreciation of differences is not just a tag line—it makes it a great company to work for, with a disability or not!"

Palmer, who is blind, notes that whenever she needs an accommodation, the company reacts with alacrity and a positive attitude. She says, "It's a nice feeling—any accommodations I need are treated as business as usual." At Cingular, Palmer notes, needing a screen reader is in the same realm of normalcy as asking for any other supply item necessary to get a job done.

A Cingular disabled employee group has sensitized the company to customers with disabilities. The group's work was a catalyst toward including people with disabilities in the branding campaign. Says Palmer, "Our employee group primarily focused on customers and indirectly helps employees too. One strategy recommended including approaches on effectively communicating to people with hearing loss. These strategies are also implemented within the company."

Other expressions

To raise the profile of its products while also contributing to the community, Cingular recently forged a relationship with Special Olympics. Notes Vann, "We have a four-year partnership with Special Olympics to raise $40 million dollars. Our work with them originated with some of our local people. We have tied it into the promotion of our products. Customers can donate a fixed amount and get a special rate plan. It's been a wonderful promotion."

Cingular's NASCAR presence also strengthens the Special Olympics bond. Clay Owen, Director of Media Relations, says, "Many of the Special Olympics athletes have helped as honorary pit crew members or by coming to the race and acting as race starters, proclaiming 'Gentlemen start your engines!'" The Special Olympics athletes have also participated in Cingular retail store openings.

The company's dedication doesn't end there. Vann relates, "One of the things we do in product development is work to make sure our products meet Section 255 of the Communications Act that requires our products to be accessible to persons with disabilities. We work closely with our employees with disabilities to obtain their insights and feel for training and to gain a feel for training practices as we introduce new products."

For its many contributions, but mostly for its advertising outreach, Cingular was selected as the 2001 winner of the Media Award by the Baltimore County Commission on Disabilities.