2018 Silver Best use of mail

Agency: MRM//McCann

Client: P&O Ferries

Campaign name: P&O What Next - Spontaneity DM

Campaign overview

Making people feel good about the ferry

The brief

With an audience seduced by more exotic climes – and a UK ferry market in long term decline – many P&O customers are sailing less or not at all.

It was time to make ferry travel feel aspirational and special again.

Strategy

This was a brave campaign that reached out to a whole new audience: the ‘Active Explorers’.

These are people who pride themselves on going off the beaten track. They could probably afford 5-star, exotic holidays, but they’re not after luxury.

These are adventurers. They’re not ruled by guidebooks. They’re ruled by whims.

But they might not realise just how much freedom taking the car would give them.

Especially when they can throw everything in the back and do whatever they like, whenever they want.

The ‘Active Explorers’ don’t like to be told where to go. They want authenticity; they want to create their own experiences.

So, the target audience received a simple letter with no destination imagery. It was quick to produce, cost effective and had fantastic cut-through.

Creativity

The campaign told a story.

Written in second person (you), the work put the customer right at the heart of the adventure.

It was all about those wonderful and unexpected things that can happen when you go with the flow: the happy accidents.

It brings to life the idea that you can unplan your adventure and let everything come together.

And the freedom and choices start the moment you step on board the P&O Ferry.

So how did it come to life?

The copy itself was set free, roaming even to the back of the letter. The tone was full of charm and intrigue and it worked in harmony with the design.

Overall, the campaign created something dramatic and exciting, all with a simple, inexpensive letter.

All that was left was to ask customers to book their trip.

Results

The campaign produced impressive business results.

It offered an ROI of £44 and a response rate of 10% – results P&O described as “excellent” as there was no real offer.

The letters generated curiosity, triggering customers to visit the P&O ferries website to explore their travel blog and use their online adventure planner.

The week the letter dropped, visits to the website went up by 17.1% and in the following week there was a 21.7% lift.

This helped to get an important competitor advantage at a key time of year. During the time of the mail pack P&O dominated website traffic versus competitors.

This curiosity and consideration translated into UK sales and revenue. The week the letter dropped, P&O saw an 9.6% uplift in sales and 15.5% uplift in revenue (from same week in previous year).

Team

MRM//McCann - Nicky Bullard, Chief Creative Officer - Claire Frankling, Business Director - Tim Molan, Account Director - Amanda Palha, Account Manager - Clare Simpson, Planning Director - Tom Bellamy, Associate Creative Director - Michael Poole, Associate Creative Director

P&O - Iain Thomas, Data Strategy Manager - Jennifer Higgins, Direct Marketing & Sales Controller