CenturyTel, the nation’s ninth largest provider of local telephone access, long distance calling, wireless and Internet service, hired Duffey to reposition the company in the eyes of potential acquisition targets, customers, shareholders, employees and financial/industry analysts.

Duffey created a fully integrated internal/external branding program leveraging the various components of public relations, marketing and management communications and conducted a series of separate focus groups with employees, customers, lost customers, media representatives, shareholders and senior executives in 36 different markets.

Extensive market segmentation studies and competitive analyses were also conducted. Several new positioning campaigns including new print/broadcast runs and taglines were created by Duffey and tested. The agency also coordinated and staffed media tours, which led to placements in every market CenturyTel serves throughout 21 states. Other placements included the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and Forbes.

Duffey also created a standardized community relations program to involve local PR/marketing managers within their community. Each market was provided a protocol for response, evaluation and funding requests for sponsorships and support. The program allowed employees in individual markets to consistently support projects and programs that propel their communities forward while also serving the local business needs of CenturyTel. The company successfully completed three major acquisitions and the stock price went up 23%.