• by Emily Burg , February 15, 2007

Verizon is targeting African-Americans with an ad campaign for its Double- and Triple-Freedom plans that emphasizes the ability to personalize bundled service plans based on lifestyle. It's one of several multicultural efforts launching this quarter.

"Personalize Life" from Burrelle, Chicago highlights the flexibility and customization that Verizon's bundled services enable. The packages let customers mix and match services such as high-speed Internet, DirecTV and XM Satellite Radio.

"African-Americans are seen as trendsetters when it comes to fashion, hairstyles, cars and cell phones, and ... they like customization," said Jeff McFarland, Verizon's director of multicultural marketing. "This campaign is about customizing products so you can pick and choose your communications and entertainment needs to make your life better."

The TV spot features an African-American woman who just moved into a new apartment. She talks on the phone with her mother; then she talks to her friend and online at the same time, orders a new sofa and downloads music for her housewarming party. Then she watches TV via DirecTV, Verizon's TV service partner, as it implements its FiOS service. The woman then gives a thumbs-up sign, which becomes a red fingerprint with the words "personalized life" appearing over it. The final shot directs viewers to visit personalizemylife.com or to call a toll-free number for more information.

The first round of "Personalize Life" ads, which will include TV, print, online and radio components, will run through the end of April in six markets: New York, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Richmond and Norfolk, Va. McFarland declined to comment on the size of the campaign.

This campaign follows on "Realize" ads that ran for 18 months and focused on entrepreneurship.

McFarland said campaigns targeting the Hispanic and Asian communities will be revealed in the coming weeks, produced by agencies of record La Agencia de Orci of Los Angeles and Ad Asia of New York, respectively. "We are shooting three or four Hispanic commercials next week that will be on the air in the next three to four weeks," he said.

Separately, Verizon announced the availability of Lunar New Year eCards on its Verizon Chinese and Korean microsites.

Also, Verizon Wireless announced a partnership with BET to create a new V CAST channel showing BET's brands and content.