2013 Silver Best use of Direct Mail

Client Homebase

How did the campaign make a difference? Home improvement projects are irregular and unpredictable. This campaign sought patterns in data to identify customer needs as close to spending opportunities as possible. The programme moved average response rates from 9% to 46%, delivered 2% of total sales (£30.4 million per year) and shifted ROI from 120% to 346%. Today, over 50% of DM investment is focused on the programme.

What details of the strategy make this a winning entry? DIY retailing was an unpredictable market. For over a decade, Homebase's marketing strategy had been to promote everything and discount every other weekend, focused on improving the 120% ROI rather than the 91% of non-responders. The Trigger Programme turned this on its head. Analysing shopping behaviours showed that speaking to top customers, at the right time, with the right message gave them almost unlimited headroom for spend. This inspired the plan to spot specific behaviours that indicated a future need, then act quickly to prompt further spend, growing what was dubbed 'Share of Project'. For instance, a customer buying a kitchen would need tiles, flooring, lighting and paint. After 18 months, there are now 10 triggers that track specific behaviours and leverage opportunities with timely, inspirational and relevant DM.

How did creativity bring the strategy to life? Over 750 hours analysing different product, purchase and non-purchase behaviours with the greatest opportunities found 10 trigger identifiers. Each communication was personalised around a product the customer had purchased. Dynamic templates made that purchase the feature image, highlighted local store details and included offers competitive in that area. Previously, it had taken eight weeks to go from datapoint collection to comms delivery. So responding quickly enough to be relevant proved to be one of the greatest challenges. Yet, without additional budget, new systems or additional resources, the data management and print processes got DM activity delivered within six days and email in two. New systems and channels enabled even quicker responses, in turn allowing trial of different behaviours, such as a discount on paintbrushes following the purchase of tester paint. This was driven by vast amounts of customer data interactions across websites and on- and offline transactions, plus social communities and partners such as Nectar.

Results The programme now delivers over 2% of total sales and an average ROI of 346% - 2.8 times that of the previous marketing strategy. Overall returns increased to £30.4 million at a time when spend fell by 20%. This was a massive win in a challenging economic climate.