Title	DJ STAMPS
Brand	POSTNL
Product/Service	POSTAL SERVICES
Category	A07. Celebrity Endorsement
PR Agency	KETCHUM Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Entrant Company	KETCHUM Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS

Name	Company	Position
Anja Verheij-köllmann	Ketchum	Account Director
Joost Reijinierse	Ketchum	Account Manager
Kim Zoon	Ketchum	Account Executive
Sacha Van Hoorn	Postnl	Marketing Manager
Jo-ann Isenia	Postnl	Media Relations/Pr
Mark Klaverstijn	Machine	Graphic Designer
Paul Du Bois-reymond	Machine	Creative Director

The Campaign

For a demographic that is young, hip and digital, what could be more old-fashioned than a post office? That’s assuming today’s millennial thinks about traditional postal services at all. In the very modern Netherlands, youth culture had little reason to embrace its oldest and largest service. PostNL had an image problem. But it also had a unique image solution. The postage stamp. For years it had been used to honor kings, queens and cultural heroes. We decided to make it the rallying point for a new generation of Dutch by honoring their heroes. Not only were Dutch DJs huge cultural icons for the millennial audience, the purveyors of electronic dance music had become one of the most recognizable Dutch exports to the world. Timed to coincide with the Amsterdam Dance Event, a global electronic dance festival attracting hundreds of thousands, PostNL launched its line of DJ Stamps. International Dutch DJ legends Hardwell, Armin van Buuren, Tiesto, Afrojack and Dash Berlin showed their faces to the world from vibrantly designed postage stamps, while a clever smartphone app allowed purchasers to play the DJ’s music just by scanning the stamp. It turned out today’s DJs enjoyed being treated like the Kings and Queens of old, and used their formidable peer-to-peer network as brand ambassadors. Millions of people saw PostNL in a new light, 1 out of 3 stamp purchasers engaged the app, and company pride soared as the venerable post office made an electrifying new connection.

The Brief

PostNL turned to PR and the power of earned media to create a contemporary new image and establish its relevancy among a new generation. It needed to attract customers and connect with younger digital age consumers who had lost touch with the value of traditional mail, and inspire them to rediscover the postal service. It also needed high profile national media visibility and a credible avenue to show customers that it was a versatile provider of innovative new products and services, and a fun, forward-thinking place to work. Above all, PostNL needed to earn a vital new place in mainstream social conversation.

Execution

Make the Connection • Created series of stamps honoring the 5 greatest Dutch DJs, voted in respected DJ poll: “DJ Mag Top 100 DJs Worldwide” • Forged relationships with each DJ, encouraging their participation and social media promotion. • Embedded stamps with invisible code allowing smartphones to scan and play the music of each DJ. Generate Buzz • Gave exclusive announcement to the Netherlands biggest newspaper, launching DJs and fans to activate their peer-to-peer social network prior to launch. Launch in Style • Partnering with Amsterdam Dance Event, the biggest electronic club music festival in the world, PostNL CEO Herna Verhagen unveiled DJ Stamps with celebrity DJs, commanding global media attention. • Spectacular LCD image of all five DJ Stamps illuminated the Ziggo Dome, host to some of ADE’s biggest events. • Stamp release event hosted by Dutch radio celebrity Giel Beelen, on his top-rated show.

Considering that 17 million people live in the Netherlands, the 160 million+ impressions we generated gave DJ Stamps an unprecedented connection with an untapped audience. We established awareness and enthusiastic brand associations for PostNL among millennials, and the dazzling celebrity-infused campaign delivered a valuable source of pride to the current PostNL staff. The mail service is now committed to embracing a variety of cultural and socially progressive national heroes. • 999 social posts reaching 151,006,398, not including Instagram and private Facebook posts. • 87 articles in online media, reaching 2,964,163 • 37 articles in offline print media, reaching 5,516,224 • 15 broadcasts on TV and radio, reaching 2,646,101 • Total earned media exposure of 163,578,624. Ninety-nine percent carried key brand messages and over 86% was positive in tone. Best of all, one in three DJ Stamps sold was scanned with the smartphone Cee app, confirming high-level user engagement.

The Strategy

Millennials don’t expect much from institutions and establishment. The postal service was no exception. In the world of image, its most iconic image was the postage stamp, typically honoring bygone heroes and establishment figures. What if PostNL defied expectations by honoring a new generation of heroes, giving them same treatment as past Kings and Queens? We found the perfect candidates in the heat of the dance clubs. Dutch DJs are celebrities of youth culture worldwide - a national source of pride -- for their music, and their self-styled success stories. They also come with a plugged in network of loyal Millennial followers. We’d launch our DJ Stamps at one of the world’s biggest dance festivals to media fanfare. And as an unexpected twist, we’d give our stamps a brand new utility: besides postage, our stamps would offer direct access to their hero DJ’s music, with a smart app.