2023 Bronze Customer Programme

Agency: VCCP Customer Engagement

Client: Fortnum & Mason

Entry Title: A membership programme less ordinary

Executive Summary

What would make a membership programme worthy of the promise of the Fortnum & Mason brand, ‘A Life Less Ordinary’?

Friends of Fortnum’s brought founding members to the inside, co-creating an extraordinary experience that would match their high expectations.

Strategy

The challenge was to launch an extraordinary membership that would match the prestige of an extraordinary British heritage brand.

700 members - biggest fans of the brand - were paid to be part of the research - which revealed they were prepared to pay, on average, £150 for a 12-month membership. The higher the price, the greater the perceived value.

Wider qual and quant research found that at the heart of people’s relationships was a genuine love for the brand. They were delighted about the prospect of being part of an exclusive Fortnum’s club.

The business case would be based on incremental customer value only, so the campaign had to work hard to discover what would inspire and incentivise people to shop more.

Creativity

The member proposition included:

• 2x ‘Parcels of Joy’ including exclusive product selections, food pairings and recipe booklet to inspire purchase.
• Afternoon Tea for Two.
• Free delivery to stimulate online sales frequency.
• Member-only in-store experiences to create exclusivity.

Friends of Fortnum’s was chosen as the club name. It came with a manifesto to share the vision internally at the business.

Parcels of joy were sent to members with a selection of extraordinary products, as well as a delightful booklet containing a personal introduction to the contents, food pairings, recipes and a reminder of member benefits.

Accompanying emails took a deliberately editorial approach, with rich and immersive stories to meet members’ desire to hear stories from inside the brand.

Results

The business case targeted a 1.5x increase in frequency. The Beta work demonstrated commercial potential to the Board, unlocking a larger scale trial in 2024.

A snapshot of the results:

• Members are now shopping 4x more often than control
• Average spend per member is £56 vs. control at £21
• The proportion of customers shopping in the summer period has increased 2.7x year-on-year
• Members are 8x more likely to buy multiple items per transaction vs. control

The Team

VCCP: Sarah Cobb, Business Director - Ellie Gauci, Group Planning Director - Emma Clark, Head of Strategy -Emma Leaney, Creative Director - Ed Hobson, Senior Account Manager - Elon Woodman-Worrell, Head of Membership - Jon Moss, Customer Engagement Director