Chocolate Letter
Agency: Proximity London
Client: Royal Mail
Product: Mail media
Country: UK
Background
Royal Mail wanted to encourage the top 6,000 advertisers in the UK who are currently spending below-average amounts on DM to see the medium as more than a rational fulfilment technique. The pack had to demonstrate that DM can deliver a richer, more engaging brand experience to their customers.
Idea
Proximity asked the question: how do you create stronger, more intimate and ultimately more profitable relationships with customers? The answer: engage their senses.
This principle was brought to life by mailing 6,000 personalised letters made out of the finest milk chocolate they could find. The letter encouraged the target audience to smell, touch and taste it, and explains the principle of engaging the senses to create more emotive connections with their customers asking them to call Royal Mail to find out more about sensory marketing.
Results
Although the full results of the campaign will be measured over a 12-month period, since 19 November, 51 leads have been generated from the mailing. £1.17m in revenue has been predicted from these leads from a mailing budget of £210,000. The chocolate letter has generated exceptional cut through and achieved a good level of recall from the target audience of advertisers and agencies. Of those who have read the mailings, more than 70% say they have taken, or plan to take, action as a result. The mailings have had a positive impact not just on DM but also on the Royal Mail brand. The chocolate letter has been particularly effective in brand terms: 74% of those who recall the ‘Touching Brands’ campaign say that it has made them feel more positive about Royal Mail.
Synergy Says
The thing about great ideas is they always look so simple and so obvious. The brief was to dramatise how mail is the only advertising medium that works against all five senses, including taste. Though we are sure the brief wasn’t original, the creative execution certainly was. Mailed out to 6,000 marketers, over 11,000 said they had been sent the letter. That also is evidence of a truly great idea, when people claim to have been a part of it.
Creative Team
Creative Directors: Duncan Gray, Marcus Iles
Creative: Bill Hartley
Head of Art: Dave Dye
Creative Producer: Kate Duncan
Group Account Director: Paul Sims
Planning Director: Teresa Harris
Data Director: Claire Aldous
To binge on your own beautifully printed and bound copy collection of these campaigns simply drop Andrew a line with your postal address to andrew@synergy-print.co.uk. Please put ‘ROI request’ in the subject line. Have a thoroughly creative day!
