After 15 years as ePrize, the Detroit-based digital engagement firm changed its name to HelloWorld. The new brand reflects the substantial growth the company has gained in the past few years as well as its development of a robust software platform that allows brands to execute a wide array of rich consumer experiences. HelloWorld’s SaaS capabilities merge what previously took multiple vendors and custom software development into a single, easy-to-use platform.
Many Fortune 500 companies, including Coca-Cola, Microsoft and P&G, currently leverage HelloWorld’s rich engagement platform to motivate consumer behavior.
The HelloWorld rich engagement platform includes the following solutions that can be deployed across microsites, SMS, social, mobile sites, apps and in-store.
HelloWorld CEO Matt Wise participated in a Q&A with Loyalty360 and shed more light about the big change.
What factors contributed to the rebranding of ePrize and name change?
We hit a point where we needed a company name that better reflected our full service of offerings. Fifteen years ago, ePrize was a great name for the promotions company that we were. Today, promotions represent only a fraction of our capabilities. We offer marketing services, tailored campaign creation, SMS engagement campaigns, brand conversations with mass audiences through live events, and in-store coupon and scavenger hunt activations. HelloWorld’s SaaS capabilities merge what previously took multiple vendors and custom software development into one, single, easy-to-use platform. This software platform and tailored marketing strategy required a strong company name that best reflected our full capability landscape.
How do you think this new name will resonate with customers?
The best way to begin a conversation is by simply saying, “hello.” HelloWorld aims to offer brands a simpler way to engage customers and begin a relationship. With rich engagement solutions and a variety of platform and marketing options, HelloWorld will enable brand engagement to a single customer, a local market area, or the entire world.
The second facet of our new name choice is based in the world of coding. We are a technology company at our core, and we wanted our new name to incorporate our rich engagement platform. When it comes to software engineering, one of the first programs a coder learns is “Hello World.” We thought that this was the best representation of the two sides of the HelloWorld coin: worldwide community engagement paired with a foundation in technology.
How do you hope it will impact customer engagement/loyalty?
The HelloWorld rich customer engagement offerings will continue to spark a dialogue between brands and consumers through campaigns, promotions, loyalty programs, mobile messaging, and live event engagement. These solutions create an ongoing line of communication all the way to point-of-sale. When customers are able to engage with, receive rewards from, and feel an emotional fondness for a brand, they are more likely to remain loyal to it moving forward. We aim to form a lasting connection between brands and consumers, one that is positive, relevant, and constantly evolving.
How has digital customer engagement evolved in recent years and what are the biggest trends you’re seeing for this year and the near future?
Mobile will continue to be an area of growth. More and more, businesses are seeing the value of being able to interact with consumers via mobile devices. Because of this, we expect to see an increasing number of brands looking for new and innovative ways to not only reach their consumers but to create engaging dialogues with them via mobile.
What keeps you up at night as a provider in this space?
These are hard decisions to make -- deciding to change our company’s name, to start with a clean slate after working for 15 years to establish a positive sentiment around our brand persona. I, however, am a firm believer that it is imperative to be sure we are never getting caught in the comfort of what we know.
What keeps me up is making sure that our company is continually growing and evolving to be able to best offer brands a solution to create engaging experiences with their customers. We want brands to thrive, and to do so, we must always take a step back to reassess what we are doing well on our end, and any room for improvements. We are confident that our new name, HelloWorld, will be greeted with success in helping brands to connect with their consumers in an always innovating manner.