Launching a brand: Birch Telecom

Situation

New market opportunity with the deregulation of the local phone service industry (Bell monopoly).

Action

Be quick to market. Win on brand. Tap into strong negative emotions toward Southwestern Bell / Bell South. Developed a bold challenger brand persona embedded in every consumer touchpoint and permeating company culture.

Result

The talkworthy brand attracted top talent and investors to the tune of $160 million to fuel expansion from 30 to 2,500 employees and regional superpower status. Our IPO in April, 2000 ended mid-Road Show, as the NASDAQ experienced its worst week in history (i.e. the dot com bubble). Without that needed investment, Birch was unable to sustain its debt load and filed Chapter 11 in 2002.

Fun facts

The week ending April 14, 2000 was the worst week in NASDAQ’s history.

The bubble in telecom was called "the biggest and fastest rise and fall in business history".