The Conversation Group

Challenge:
Positioning and launching a Voice 2.0 company in an exceedingly noisy market. Ribbit — an early-stage company in 2007 — had a technology platform that bridged the old world of telephony with the new world of Web services. The platform potentially had value for consumers, software developers, and telecommunication providers. But in a busy market, how could the company market itself simply, effectively, and with the requisite force to rapidly emerge as a global player?

Solution:
TCG positioned Ribbit as “Silicon Valley’s First Phone Company,” a claim that was at once controversial yet defensible, given the company’s underlying technology infrastructure. The corporate launch and subsequent consumer product preview, which TCG dubbed “Amphibian” (later named Ribbit Mobile), drew an overwhelmingly positive response from the global media marketplace — from traditional media to digital influencers alike — leading to the company’s acquisition by BT just seven months after the launch.