April 10, 2006

Meet the System–Comcast Metro Atlanta: Takin’ It to the Streets

Who are the friendliest people in Atlanta? Look closely—they may be Comcast Street Team members spreading the cable gospel.

By Simon Applebaum

If you're at the National Show in Atlanta and you just can't get enough of the cable business, head south from the Georgia World Congress Center and take a left turn off Andrew Young International Blvd. Proceed to gate D at the Georgia Dome, where the Atlanta Falcons play pro football. Comcast's Metro Atlanta system practically owns the gate.

Comcast's logo and service information appear on every door of gate D. They might as well rename the entrance "Comcast-gate." Inside there's a demonstration kiosk, staffed by Comcast personnel during events. A poster invites DBS customers to "ditch" their dish.

If you're at the National Show in Atlanta and you just can't get enough of the cable business, head south from the Georgia World Congress Center and take a left turn off Andrew Young International Blvd. Proceed to gate D at the Georgia Dome, where the Atlanta Falcons play pro football. Comcast's Metro Atlanta system practically owns the gate.

STEP RIGHT UP: A Comcast street team member (right) at work at the UniverSoul Circus in Atlanta last month.

Comcast's logo and service information appear on every door of gate D. They might as well rename the entrance "Comcast-gate." Inside there's a demonstration kiosk, staffed by Comcast personnel during events. A poster invites DBS customers to "ditch" their dish.

Or head to Philips Arena, where Atlanta Hawks basketball fans and Thrashers hockey fans can't miss Comcast signs. Even the Zamboni machine is branded with Comcast's logo. If you're going to cure your spring fever this week, you're not likely to miss Comcast's presence at Turner Field, either.

Comcast's omnipresent public, street-level marketing doesn't begin and end at sports arenas, however. Its "street teams" fan out to all sorts of events, from the UniverSoul Circus to the annual Sisters Only trade show. Chances are if you live in Atlanta and aren't agoraphobic a street team member has handed you a Comcast information card.

A cable system has to create as many opportunities as possible to win or win back customers, says Michael Hewitt, VP and general manager at the Atlanta Metro system. Direct contact is also the best way to improve cable's reputation, particularly in the area of service, he adds. (Leadership runs in the family: Hewitt's brother Paul coaches the men's basketball team at Georgia Tech.)

ONE-ON-ONE: VP/GM Michael Hewitt says his street teams demonstrate Comcast's commitment to localism.

"There's a perception still out there that the cable company, any cable company, is not on time and is not reliable, and can't deliver world-class service," says Hewitt, Metro Atlanta GM since the system was acquired from AT&T Broadband in late 2002. "There's perception and there's reality, and it's up to us to show the reality that we deliver great services and great service that match people's expectations. How do you do that? Be local, be nimble, get out and reach your community."

Comcast Metro Atlanta, serving more than 305,000 basic customers in the city and counties to the south and east, has been focusing the last two years on expanding its customer universe and beating back satellite penetration, estimated by Media Business Corp. to be 20% in the city and 33% in the Atlanta metropolitan area. MBC estimates DBS penetration nationally is 21.8%.

STREET THEATER

Under Hewitt, Comcast has resorted to unorthodox methods to make sales and change perceptions, the most notable being the adventures of its street teams—roving groups bearing Comcast information cards. The teams are not exactly urban guerrillas; they're students, teachers, nurses and others looking for supplemental income whose presence at events is worked out in advance with local organizations.

Blacksmith Marketing, a local promotions vendor, sets up the street teams on Comcast's behalf. For an event where 25,000 people are expected, Blacksmith will supply up to five people for the team and Comcast will have five salespeople on duty. Events attended by 50,000 people require a minimum of 10 team members. Comcast pays Blacksmith $300 an hour for up to four team members at an event, with the fee doubling if a team expands by another three to four members.

ORDER COMCAST AT THE SHOW

System salespeople chaperone the team members at events. Street team members work the crowd, talking about Comcast's services, giving out cards and sometimes candy or other tokens in exchange for taking a Comcast info card. At concerts and other performance sites, a street team works before, not during, the show. If someone takes an info card and wants to order service on the spot, a salesperson can accept the order and arrange for installation the next day, or at the customer's leisure. If someone wants to order service after the event, a salesperson or street team member takes down the name and phone number as a lead, then passes the contact info to one of the system's three call centers. A CSR then follows up and attempts to close the sale.

GOOD REP: Comcast's local outreach isn't lost on City Hall, says government affairs director Stacy Cole.

Comcast Metro Atlanta marketing director Lillian Harding is happy with the street teams' results and Blacksmith's assembly of the teams. "They take great care to have people who represent us in the best light and have fun," she notes. At the UniverSoul Circus last month, a street team drummed up eight new customers, and 60 leads were taken in just 90 minutes. That's a good—and typical—night for street teams working a crowd of some 2,500 people, Harding adds.

Foul-ups are rare. Team members generally are on their best behavior, and only once—at a church event—were members sent home for dress-code issues.

At this time of year, Comcast has street teams in action at two to three events per week. "Come spring, the events ramp up," Harding says. "Around December, activity gets reduced to one, maybe two events for the month."

Corporate policy prevents Metro Atlanta from disclosing how many basic, digital, high-speed and telephony customers street teams have won for Comcast. Hewitt says the teams are a valuable sales and promotional resource. "It's a major extension of what we do," Hewitt says. "They demonstrate our commitment to localism."

The street teams also catch the eyes of local government leaders and strengthens ties Comcast has with them, says Metro's government affairs director Stacy Cole. "They are always appreciative of something like this, because it says to them we're [improving] our reputation," says Cole, who was previously senior assistant city attorney under Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin.

WORKING ON THE RAILROAD

Beginning this month street teams of 10 to 15 people, known as "Rail Riders," will ride Atlanta's MARTA trains all day long promoting Comcast, specifically its launch of The Africa Channel and several Latino diginets. The Rail Riders will wear Comcast-branded garb and give subway passengers bottled water along with diginet information. For now, the Riders will not be chaperoned by Comcast salespeople, and no orders will be taken on the trains. Instead, the bilingual Riders will collect leads and forward them to Comcast.

The Rail Riders program is a joint effort of Comcast and The Rail Network, MARTA's TV system that broadcasts local programming and commercials on select train cars. "A representative from TRN came to us at a Brian McKnight concert last year, saw one of our street teams and invited us to [work with them]," Harding says. The MARTA joint effort could lead to Comcast running 30-second spots promoting its programming and services on the trains.

MULLING THE QUAD PLAY

The street teams haven't been given the go-ahead to spread the word about the system's upcoming $99 per month video, voice and high-speed bundle. Comcast hasn't set a date yet for deployment of its bundle marketing, in part because it's waiting to see if the Sprint/MSO wireless venture launches in time to make the Atlanta bundle a quad play. "Whether the Sprint deal happens when we're ready to go or not with our bundle promotion, wireless will be a positive addition for us," Hewitt says.

When the $99 bundle is ready for promotion, local radio will get most of the action. Besides running commercials, Comcast has agreements in place with DJs on nine stations to make product testimonials. In return for touting high-speed, video on demand or local sports nets BravesVision and FalconVision, participating DJs will get free installation of those services.

More marketing dollars in 2006 will go toward service promotions geared to African-American, Latino and Asian residents, Hewitt says. High-speed and telephony brochures in Chinese and Korean are in the works for distribution by Asian street teams.

For Hewitt, the job of changing perceptions of the local cable company will never cease. "You can't be satisfied with where you are," he maintains. "You must be better, and you must be in continual improvement mode. It's the nature of being a service-oriented business."

Comcast Metro Atlanta

By The Numbers

Employees: 362
Miles of plant: 8,000
Homes passed: 745,000
Bandwidth: 750 MHz
Percent upgraded: 100%
Basic subs: 305,000
Basic penetration: 41%
Basic rate: $47.75/mo.
Digital tier rate: $58.25/mo.
HSD rate: $42.95/mo.
HDTV: 18 channels, including local ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, WB channels, Cinemax, Discovery HD Theater, ESPN, HBO, In Demand, In Demand 2, Showtime, Starz, TBS Superstation, TNT HD, and coverage of Atlanta Braves baseball games
DVR rate: $9.95/mo.
VoIP: Launched 2005
VoIP rate: $39.95/mo.
Ad insertion: 60 channels

Source: Comcast