2013 Silver Best use of Mobile

Client Specsavers

How did the campaign make a difference? Hyper-localised mobile media and technology used a discreet, personal channel to trigger consideration of eye tests, so that consumers could act instantly. There were 15,000 redemptions in four weeks, leading to a total of £819,000 in sales in six weeks. This drove an incredible ROI of 12:1.

What details of the strategy make this a winning entry? Specsavers faced a number of challenges: 1) consumers usually neglect sight tests and check their eyesight infrequently (every three years); 2) the optical care market relies heavily on price promotions and traditional retail local marketing; and 3) Specsavers operates on a complicated franchise model – the objective was to reach just 15 store clusters without being seen elsewhere (where the offer wasn't live). So this strategy stood out from the cluttered market and reached consumers personally and contextually. 41% of smartphone users look for local information on their phones at least once a week, and 13% look daily. So the strategy used mapping technology to identify five-minute-walk catchment areas around each store, and created geo-fences so only mobiles within these areas were reached. Then it targeted times when people had the time to take an eye test spontaneously (lunchtimes, after work and weekends) during opening hours. There was an exclusive mobile-only free test offer, compelling enough to cut through the slew of 2 for 1 and BOGOF offers that dominate the sector.

How did creativity bring the strategy to life? Delivering mobile vouchers instead of traditional leaflets not only reduced physical leafleting wastage, but also encouraged people to take action and book an appointment spontaneously. There are no established behaviours among mobile users for mobile vouchers; coupon technology can also be difficult to manage, with no universal system that works across all handsets, operating systems and retail POS. To creatively work around this, the campaign tapped into user behaviours, tailored to the platform used by consumers, considering Android, iOS5 and iOS6 users, as well as Apple's Passbook. All offers carried a specific SKU, so Specsavers was able to attribute each sale to a mobile.

Results For every £1 Specsavers spent on mobile media, it received £12 in return. The activity generated over £819,000 of sales. 58% of consumers that redeemed their voucher bought an additional product after the free eye test. What's more, 42% were shown to be new to those stores and 99.98% of traffic was driven by mobile display alone, meaning no help from natural or paid search, or voucher sites.