Case Study: Verizon Wireless achieves rapid insights into PRISM-driven brand damage with Crimson Hexagon ForSight

Verizon Wireless - Customer Case Study

Verizon Wireless faced a major PR crisis when the NSA PRISM surveillance revelations implicated the carrier, and Crimson Hexagon was engaged to answer a simple question: how does a customer-privacy PR crisis affect consumer perceptions of our brand? Before the leak, social media sentiment was already largely negative (73%), driven by complaints about bills, fees and poor customer service, alongside some praise for Verizon’s network performance (25%).

Using its ForSight™ social listening platform, Crimson Hexagon compared conversations before and after the PRISM disclosure and quantified the impact: overall negativity rose from 73% to 93%, distrust mentions jumped from 3% to 31%, praise for network performance fell from 25% to 4%, and customer‑service complaints surged from 12% to 40% — an unexpected spillover linking privacy concerns to service issues; intent to leave remained low (≈2–8%). The study demonstrated how real‑time social analytics can expose shifting perceptions, measure brand risk, and inform crisis response.

Verizon Wireless