C05. Financial Services, Commercial Public Services, Business Products & Services
Entrant Company
JOE PUBLIC TAKE-AWAY ADVERTISING Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Advertising Agency
JOE PUBLIC TAKE-AWAY ADVERTISING Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Production Company
SYNERGIQUE Haarlem, THE NETHERLANDS
Credits
Name
Company
Position
Antoine Houtsma
Joe Public Take-Away Advertising
Creative Director
Bart Oostindie
Joe Public Take-Away Advertising
Creative Director
Maarten van Kempen
Joe Public Take-Away Advertising
Copywriter
Matthijs Groos
Joe Public Take-Away Advertising
Art Director
Rikkert Boog
Joe Public Take-Away Advertising
Art Director
Jeroen van Eck
Joe Public Take-Away Advertising
Planner
Jolies van Rijn
Joe Public Take-Away Advertising
Client Services Director
Merel Groenenboom
Joe Public Take-Away Advertising
Accountproducer
Denise Willigers
Joe Public Take-Away Advertising
Accountproducer
Pepijn Borgwat
Synergique
Producer/editor
Susanne Opstal
Synergique
Director
Kasper de Bont
Synergique
DOP
Laura Solleveld
Synergique
Sound
Eren Önsoy
Synergique
Music Artist
Mark-Jan Pieterse
PostNL
Manager Marketing/E-Commerce
Alexandra Jongkind
PostNL
Marketing Manager Consumer Market
Mirjam Paauw
PostNL
Communication Advisor
The Brief
Research shows especially millennials do not see added value in real
mail compared to digital mail. PostNL therefore wanted people to truly
reconnect with real mail:
- Inspiring and activating people to send more postcards.
- By doing so making people experience that real mail is far more
personal than digital mail can ever be.
Strategically Valentines Day was chosen, since this already is the most
personal mail event. How could it become even more personal in a way
digital mail could never be?
With virtually no budget, the idea had to be both newsworthy and
inspirational to activate consumers.
Campaign Success
Big Idea: sending Valentines cards with lipstick kisses instead of stamps!
Activating people to send more Valentines cards as well as engage them
more with the product.
PostNL firstly had to rewrite all its recognition software so all possible
lipstick kisses would be identified.
A romantic online explanatory video was shot. This video was included in
the press release four days before Valentine's Day. It instantly exploded
on social media and in PR.
In the final days before Valentines Day, the campaign was given extra
energy with some creative activation:
- Kiss busses were posted on busy squares activating people to write
cards.
- Video's on social media showing men putting lipstick on.
Some extra presents: A famous radio DJ spontaneously called his
female listeners to send him as many kissed cards as possible. In Dutch
schools children were assigned to create kissed Valentine cards.
Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results
The press release immediately caused an online tsunami, being trending
topic for several days. All Dutch newspapers, major TV news shows and
online news sites reported extensively. It was widely picked up
internationally: among others BBC World News and German TV made
reports from the PostNL distribution centre.
All this attention lead to a huge response:
- Almost four times as much Valentines mail was sent.
- Even an increase of 100% in paid Valentines mail (with stamp). Probably
men!
The extra turnover surpassed the variable cost of the promotion, giving
PostNL immediately a positive ROI. Even when they had made their
product free of charge for a day!
In tracking, the brand values of PostNL showed the highest increase
ever. Which proves a bright idea with virtually no budget can activate
more people than many multimillion ATL campagnes.
Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service
PostNL, the Dutch postal company, wanted people to reconnect with real
mail, which meant:
- Inspiring and activating people to send more postcards.
- By doing so making people experience that real mail is far more
personal than digital mail can ever be.
There was no budget for an ATL campaign so people had to be activated
through a newsworthy and inspiring promotional idea.
Strategy was to focus on Valentines Day, the most personal mail event.
How to make it even more personal in a way digital mail could never
match? The answer: WITH A KISS!
The day before Valentines Day all Dutch people could send their
Valentine cards with a lipstick kiss instead of a stamp! Special software
recognised the lipstick kisses.