2015 Bronze Best Use of Direct Mail

LIDA

National Trust

Night time Safari

The Team

Nicky Bullard - Executive Creative Director Andy O'Carroll - Coyywriter/Creative Group Head
Spencer White - Art Director/ Creative Group Head Tammy Owens - Account Director
Lydia Gadbury - Senior Account Manager Emma Hargreaves - Strategy Director Amy Fry - Designer

Campaign Overview

Only one in 10 UK children regularly play outdoors. The National Trust wanted to get kids out of their bedrooms, away from their computers and into the countryside. This mailing was part of a bigger campaign, 50 Things to do before you’re 11¾, that worked to reintroduce families to mild peril adventures. Using a ‘magic’ poster, Night Safari drove overnight response and exponential increases in app downloads, social mentions and online engagement that in turn led to more time spent playing outside.

Strategy

Getting the family up and out of the house can be fraught with negotiation; so the best activity ideas are often the ones kids suggest themselves. By bringing one of the 50 Things to life, the campaign was able to capture kids’ and parents’ imaginations, break down misconceptions about The National Trust being stuffy and dull and encourage adventure lovers to go online, sign up for the full list of 50, get their shoes on and rekindle their love for nature and the outdoors. A highly targeted and motivating message spoke to a very specific group of National Trust members: parents of children between five and 11¾. The mailing was designed to be a talking point for families and provide these parents with something that they would want to pass on to inspire their kids.

Creativity

The National Trust chose an activity that kids would find awesome and that parents would be inspired by too – a night walk. It dramatised this in a lasting way that only direct mail could deliver: a poster for a child’s bedroom wall. But not just any poster: a magic one that, if the child peaked in the middle of the night, came alive, just as nature does. The team painstakingly created a daytime scene with a hidden night-time scene, containing all the amazing animals that could be seen at midnight printed in phosphorescent ink. To make sure this night-time image would really jump out and surprise, the team tracked down the very same ink the Highways Agency use to get things noticed at night. Designed to be a talking point at bedtime, the kids were guaranteed to wake up ready for adventures the next morning.

Results

Driving people to the full digital campaign, app downloads increased 11 times while site traffic increased and dwell time shot up from two minutes to seven. The campaign saw a huge increase in discussion, with social mentions doubling; as one mum tweeted, “Loving the glow in the dark poster …it’s been quite a talking point at bedtime”. The most important result was happy, healthier children, with pleased parents gaining more from their National Trust membership. The 90,000 children who signed up to the integrated 50 Things campaign spent a combined total of 23 extra years playing outside. The long-term effect on retention is too early to see, but increased engagement with the National Trust should have a healthy financial benefit too.