Iris Meijer’s Post

I had such a good time celebrating at today’s NYC Pride March! Having attended pride parades around the world, including the vibrant parades in London and Amsterdam, I’ve witnessed firsthand the power of unity and visibility. These events are not just celebrations, but also symbols of courage, resilience and hope for a more inclusive world. I’m proud of how Verizon Business is committed to supporting diversity in all its forms, which of course includes our LGBTQ+ small business owners around the country, who play a crucial role in our communities. I’m thrilled I got to mark the end of Pride Month with the parade, and hopefully everyone who attended is as inspired as I am to keep championing a future that is inclusive for all.

At Verizon, we power and empower the way that people live, work and play. It’s an incredible sense of purpose that drives us every day, and today’s brand refresh highlights exactly who we are. We know that the innovation, security and connectivity that we deliver every day in partnership with our customers is something special. And it’s driven by an awesome team of #VTeamers who bring that energy and excitement to our culture, our customers, and our communities. So I’m delighted that over the next few weeks, you’ll see Verizon Business show up in a way that highlights our customer-centricity even more than before. I can’t wait! Find out more: https://lnkd.in/eyi6eh8h

The day is finally here! I’m so excited to share that today we are launching Verizon Business Complete. I still remember when Darren Kaufmann, michelle trainor and I first talked about this idea. We had heard from our customers that while they wanted to provide their employees with smartphones, the sheer logistics, the administrative burden and cost of management is challenging to them. So we started bouncing around the idea: why not create a solution that would take care of everything, from shipping and onboarding to upgrades and replacements, all the way to recycling. And at the same time provide our customers with the flexibility to add and remove smartphones based on their business needs. From those early days to launch was an adventure - with all the ups and downs that entails. But we stayed the course, and always kept our customers’ needs as our north star. As with all adventures, it takes a fellowship: I particularly want to recognise Wael Faheem and our Global Technology Solutions team, James Gowen and our Global Supply Chain team for their amazing partnership, Vijay Paulrajan, Sheryl Teague and Michael Adams for getting us to the finish line, and everyone else who has been working tirelessly on this!  Here’s to being the only U.S. carrier to offer this solution to our customers! Find out more here:

Over the weekend, I read this Forbes article about the role of marketing. Basically, the author argues that as marketers have been focused on optimising their channels to help manage cost and to better report value to the C-suite, driving business growth has taken a back seat for some. As a result, executives are demanding that marketing be repositioned as a growth driver. I have always advocated for this and firmly believe marketing can and should have a seat at the table driving the commercial success of the company. Having said that, performance marketing at the expense of brand marketing is not the right way to go either. As Hiroki Asai, Global Head of Marketing at Airbnb says, “When you’re over-indexed on performance, you don’t really have the opportunity to put a narrative out there to tell your story.” It’s certainly not an easy task, but finding the balance between sharing your brand’s story and growing the business is essential - and actually the only way to achieve sustained growth. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/ekgAWqaS

Last night I had the pleasure of spending the evening with customers and colleagues at the Verizon Business Innovation Session in NYC’s famous Radio Music City Hall! The event was fantastic, and we invited our customers directly onto this iconic stage to come face-to-face with the latest innovations coming from Verizon Business and Samsung Electronics. I also loved the conversations between our partners and customers including Samsung, Mastercard, Paramount, SiriusXM and LiveU alongside my amazing colleagues Jennifer Artley, Scott M. Lawrence, Massimo Peselli, Daniel Lawson, Mark Tina and Danny Johnson, where they discussed everything from curating new customer experiences to the importance of reliable connectivity for streaming events like the Olympics! I also want to call out all the incredible people behind the scenes who make events like this a reality: Stacy Cummings, Kevin Johnson, Denise Corbett, Amy Trudell, Annmarie R. Huber, Angela Fuccillo, Kyle Hamilton, Tony DelSignore, Jr., Jennifer Burton and so many more. #VerizonBusiness #VerizonBusinessInnovationSessions

Seeing this post cheered up my Monday morning. I have had the privilege to see Xavier’s impact in action and I’m so proud to have him in our team. Tom’s story is powerful. You can watch the video and learn more about how technology can be used to create empathy and understanding here: https://lnkd.in/gCScGmDW.

What a great day in Irving for our next Product & Marketing team pit stop! I loved our conversations during the town hall and in our various roundtables, where we discussed everything from customer experience to building our culture. We have an incredible team with such a depth of knowledge and a passion to succeed, and I know we’ll continue to win together. It was so great seeing everyone, and please do keep the ideas and suggestions coming! I also want to recognise our All In Award winners who are doing amazing work: Lisa Wigodner Danon, Michelle Dodson, Sandeep Ramesh and Sheryl Teague! Scott M. Lawrence, Michael L. Cingari, Krishna (Kris) Narayanan, Tom Zimmerman, Sonal Patel, Shamik Basu, Alex Doyle, Vijay Paulrajan, Paul Ruelas, Maria Rodrigues Koller, Roopa Oberoi, Sarah Heinz