In case you missed it, Verizon recently made history with the launch of its first employer brand: the V Team Life!

This exciting moment is the result of a two-year journey, and you might have some questions like, what goes into the creation of an employer brand? And what is an employer brand? 

We sat down with Tara Orlando (Senior Director- Talent Acquisition) to get her take on the V Team Life and all the work that went into making it an impactful and successful launch.  

Verizon Careers: For our readers who might not know, can you explain the purpose and importance of an employer brand? 

Tara Orlando: An employer brand is how we attract, qualify, and retain future V Teamers. It reflects the promise we make to our current and future employees about what it feels like to work at Verizon. And because our V Teamers are our greatest assets, our employer brand strategy empowers them to speak out and share what makes them proud to be a part of our global family.

Our employer brand is a great platform to help us win talent and invite our employees to feel heard. Together, we’re showing the world what makes Verizon a great place to work, which has really illuminated a sense of pride in our workplace. 

VZC: Launching an employer brand is not an easy task. Can you walk us through this experience from ideation to conception to execution? 

TO: The process was extremely comprehensive. We started by listening to our employees to understand what they believe makes Verizon a great place to work and why they stay.  

We conducted a ton of research, hosting focus groups with employees from every part of the organization — from new hires, early-in-career, apprentices, and frontline workers, to tech and corporate professionals. From their perspectives and insights, we were able to understand the magic behind being a part of the Verizon family. We also held external focus groups with over 1,000 participants across 143 companies in the U.S. This included potential candidates in retail, technology, field operations, and early career. This helped us set a strong foundation.  

From there, we did market research to understand key common themes across the industry to uncover the sweet spot for Verizon’s employer brand. We quickly found that there's a lot of the same language and promises from our competitors. So we asked ourselves: How do we create something that's differentiating in the marketplace, unique to Verizon, and super authentic to who we are? 

VZC: What three words would you use to describe our employer brand journey? 

TO: Comprehensive, insightful, and creative. 

Comprehensive because I'm really proud of the end-to-end process that led us to where we are. We made sure that no stone went unturned and we really considered all the factors to make this employer brand something that our employees and potential candidates can resonate with.  

It was insightful because we learned so much; some of which was validation and others that were fresh perspectives. For example, the concept of family — especially in the frontline space — was overwhelmingly meaningful, special, and real to this part of the organization. This was something we hadn’t realized ran so deep before. 

And creative because we went through many rounds of ideation and concepting before landing on the V Team Life. Ultimately, our goal was to create a brand that feels like it rolls off the tongue as a part of our Verizon community, but that also creates disruption externally. As a result, we feel really good about where we landed.

VZC: What factors did the team consider when ideating and developing a concept for the employer brand? 

TO: The building blocks of the creative strategy that led to the V Team Life were a culmination of the common threads we heard across our internal and external research. This is how we established our core pillars — community, connection, impact, and trust. And our creative concepting was developed with these four pillars as the foundation.  

VZC: What has been the biggest challenge throughout this process? 

TO: When Verizon introduced our new purpose and cultureOS as part of our brand refresh, we paused and refined our work to ensure we were closely aligned with the new brand vision. 

We want it to be aligned and complimentary with who we are as a company and an overall brand. Our team grew from this exercise and emerged with a greater synergy with our consumer brand. 

VZC: What can V Teamers and potential V Teamers look forward to now that the employer brand is out in the world? 

TO: There are so many things to look forward to! For V Teamers, we’re bringing our employer brand to life with engagement activities across our hub locations, including pop-up photoshoots in our iconic red chair and opportunities to win swag. 

Another exciting way to get involved is to share your stories and perspectives as a brand advocate. Be the best champion you can be and let us showcase your voice, your amazing work, and why you chose Verizon. 

Future V Teamers can keep an eye on our social media channels as we continue to share the amazing stories of the employees who make up the V Team Life. They might even catch us at career fairs and other hiring events — just look for the iconic red chair! 

VZC: What does the V Team Life mean to you? 

TO: To me, V Team Life is a rally cry to embrace, lift up,  support, and champion our diverse team behind the curtain. It gives us the ultimate opportunity and platform to shine a light on the incredible people who make up our community and the imprint that Verizon has on the V Team and the world. 

Immerse yourself in the V Team Life

A big thank you to Tara for sitting down with us and giving everyone a peek into the making of our employer brand! This is only the beginning of our journey. Stay tuned for more exciting updates to come. 

Until then, immerse yourself in the V Team Life.