Qualcomm
Transforming complex technologies into compelling brands
Qualcomm is the global leader in wireless technology. For over 25 years, the company has been a driving force in the digital revolution, shaping nearly every aspect of mobile life.
A resource through brand and category evolution. For nearly half of Qualcomm’s lifespan, Applied Storytelling has provided the company with brand development and management insight, helping some of its most high-profile services and initiatives to achieve traction and sustain growth—at times through multiple stages of brand evolution, and mobile evolution at large.
Our relationship with Qualcomm began in 2001, when Qualcomm released BREW, its open application development platform for CDMA-based wireless devices. Applied Storytelling developed the brand and communication strategy that expressed the platform’s value to carriers, developers and OEMs, helping BREW’s key audiences understand how to monetize applications built on the platform, drive incremental revenue growth, and create a more rewarding consumer experience.
From complex technologies to clear expressions of value. Since then, we have helped Qualcomm to name, launch, message, visualize or express its offerings for mobile retailing, M2M communications, instant voice and data communications, data optimization and augmented reality, among others. In every case, we have translated complex technologies into clear, compelling value propositions while helping stakeholders to create a fresh, intelligent impression in a crowded, cliché-ridden category.
Beyond product brands, Applied Storytelling has also supported Qualcomm at the corporate level. In 2010, we helped to write the first iteration of QDevNet, Qualcomm’s online developer network site—and the most significant brand touchpoint for developers working on any Qualcomm platform. More recently, we helped company articulate and apply its corporate values at a time when its distinctive culture is tested by an influx of new employees worldwide. The values platform is referenced every day for hiring, partnering, contract writing, office location and other key business decisions.
As Qualcomm moves towards a new worldwide master brand strategy, we are helping to fold stories, messages and assets—equity, ultimately—from individual product brands back into the parent. At the same time, we are engaged with the company on helping to articulate the role it will play in the new, hyperconnected world to come.
“Novel technologies don’t sell themselves. First, they must be immediately understandable. Next, meaningfully different. And then, business-relevant. Qualcomm, unlike so many engineering-driven companies, recognizes this.”