verizon's marketing and pr approach epr's ten year recap
Verizon replaced CEO Hans Vestberg with board director Dan Schulman in October 2025, then reset its strategy from subsidized promotions toward customer retention. The second quarter of 2026 produced 184,000 postpaid phone net additions and a record adjusted EBITDA margin. This is Everything-PR's hub for Verizon coverage, which has followed the company since 2016.
Updated October 2026.
What is Verizon's position in 2026?
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) is a New York-headquartered carrier and one of three U.S. national wireless operators, alongside T-Mobile US and AT&T. It also competes with Comcast (Xfinity) and Charter (Spectrum) in mobile and broadband. The company reports two segments, Verizon Consumer and Verizon Business. After closing its Frontier Communications acquisition on January 20, 2026, Verizon reported about 17.1 million fixed wireless access and fiber broadband connections in the second quarter of 2026, according to Telecom Review Americas.
When did the Verizon CEO change happen and why?
Verizon's board named Dan Schulman CEO on October 6, 2025, effective immediately, according to Verizon's announcement. Schulman was the board's independent lead director and a former PayPal CEO. Hans Vestberg, CEO since 2018, stayed on as special advisor through October 4, 2026 to help with the Frontier integration.
EPR's analysis, "Verizon Fired Its CEO. Then Admitted the Strategy Was Wrong," published in June 2026, argues the board replaced the strategy as well as the executive. It cites 2.25 million customers lost and a sitting CEO who publicly criticized the inherited playbook. That candor is the communications story.
What have the results been since the reset?
Verizon's results have improved since the reset, and the company says it is gaining customers with fewer promotions. In the fourth quarter of 2025 Verizon reported 616,000 postpaid phone net additions, its best quarter since 2019. In the second quarter of 2026 it reported:
184,000 postpaid phone net additions, up 193,000 from the prior-year quarter.
348,000 broadband net additions.
Adjusted EBITDA of $13.7 billion at a 40.1% margin, the highest in the company's history.
Revenue of $34.3 billion, down 0.7%, as equipment revenue fell nearly 20% with reduced device subsidies.
Schulman said the company is gaining subscribers "based on real value rather than subsidized promotions." Verizon raised full-year guidance for the second consecutive quarter (Verizon's Q2 2026 release).
Verizon's marketing has historically leaned on network reliability and brand consistency, with sponsorships and large acquisitions as the other levers. The clearest historical case is the AOL and Yahoo effort. Verizon spent about $8.9 billion on the two businesses, renamed the combined unit, and sold it to Apollo Global Management in 2021 for about $5 billion. See AOL, Yahoo, Verizon: The Rebrands That Couldn't Save the Business for why the rebrands did not fix the underlying business.
What does the Verizon case teach communicators?
The Verizon case shows three things about resetting a strategic narrative under pressure. Name the failed plan plainly, because audiences notice evasion. Pair the message with a measurable operating change, such as lower churn and fewer subsidies. Report the results quarterly so the story is tested against numbers.
How does EPR cover Verizon?
Everything-PR has covered Verizon since 2016 across strategy, crisis, labor, pricing, and the 2026 leadership reset. Coverage is editorially independent, and Verizon is not a 5W AI Communications client. The company is benchmarked against T-Mobile, AT&T, Comcast, and Charter on AI-engine citation share, which now shapes buyer discovery inside ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews. For the method, see What Is AI Communications?
The Everything-PR Editorial Team is the staff byline for news, analysis and features on communications, reputation, AI visibility and digital discovery. Everything-PR has published since 2009. AI tools assist with research and drafting, and every article is reviewed by a human editor before publication. Coverage follows the Editorial Policy, and substantive corrections are noted on the article under the Corrections Policy.
