Shentel:
Always Connected to You

Shentel is a broadband provider serving rural communities in Virginia and West Virginia. These are historically underserved areas, and—because of poor infrastructure, lots of un-kept promises and subpar service—people there dislike cable companies even more than the rest of us. Shentel had been a little fish in these markets but recently made major investments in fiber optics, which has elevated them to technology leadership in speed and reliability for Internet, cable and phone service.

Despite these investments, they were not experiencing any real growth in their customer base. For highly mistrustful consumers, the claim of fastest Internet, sharpest TV and clearest voice was just another claim.

GKV was hired to re-brand Shentel, and we immediately set out to build trust for the brand. We began with the knowledge that absent in the advertising noise of all the competing broadband providers was any semblance of emotional connection with the consumer. GKV created a new logo, a new theme line, and a new advertising campaign that speaks to Shentel’s rural roots and unique position as the region’s only local provider (they began as Shenandoah Telephone over 100 years ago). “Always Connected to You” presents Shentel as an authentic, hard-working member of the communities they serve, a company that will succeed with actions, not words. We ratcheted down the volume and inserted Jack Daniels-type imagery and honesty into a category that was completely lacking in humanity.