OMD UK
Royal Mail
Smilers

With the internet causing a huge drop in personal post, Royal Mail had a challenge on its hands to generate revenue. In 2001, it hit on the idea of introducing a customised stamp service that allowed the public to create Smilers - stamps that incorporated a photo of their choice.

However, seven years after the launch of Smilers, awareness of the product was still only 14%.

Smilers initially launched in 2001 but was unsupported by marketing until 2007. In 2008, the challenge was to raise awareness and drive sales to meet the business objectives with a budget of only £250,000.

An analysis of TGI data reinforced Royal Mail's belief that women were its target audience and by examining IPA TouchPoints statistics, they identified which media these women were most likely to use.

Although not heavy consumers of TV, they watched GMTV and ITV during the day in significant numbers - a minute-long feature on ITV's LK Today resulted in a fivefold increase in sales the next day.

Royal Mail launched a two-week daytime TV ad campaign at the end of November, knowing that most Christmas cards would be posted in early December.

The 20-second TV spot was supported by paid-for search listings to capture the interest the TV ads would generate.
OMD assigned more budget to GMTV and the terrestrial channels to drive mass awareness and target Royal Mail's audience efficiently, and used multichannel to increase frequency.

The TV campaign drove coverage quickly, reaching 47% of the UK's 12.2 million housewives in two weeks. And 16% saw the ad four times or more, raising total awareness from 14% to 44%.

The ad was watched more than 170,000 times online, featuring on YouTube’s most watched page.

Smilers branded searches increased 80% year-on-year, with more than 10,500 consumers visiting from PPC.

Shortlist

• MediaCom
  Natwest
  Teens Adapt