2011 Silver Financial services

Client Post Office

What is wonderful about this work? The Great Currency Deal showcased the currency on sale with illustrations of key cultural symbols. Against fiercer than ever competition, the Post Office increased their high value transactions and achieved a significant and measurable impact on income for each weekly currency deal.

What details of the strategy make this a winning entry? The Post Office is defending a market-leading position in the travel money sector against competitors such as Thomas Cook, M&S, Tesco and high street banks. We also found that four out of ten travellers buy their travel money at the airport, abroad or on their credit card, often paying higher exchange rates. In the current climate, consumers are looking to reduce their costs, and stretch every penny that bit further. We ran a series of currency deals across the key summer months to demonstrate that the Post Office can help them do this. The Great Currency Deal featured a different currency each week from top holiday destinations outside the US and Eurozone. We also ran a special deal in-branch on Euro and Dollar transactions over £1,000, designed to increase our average transaction value. Media was targeted towards four customer segments, and channels included DR press, online, radio, outdoor, email and in-branch.

How did creativity bring the strategy to life? Rather than classic retail sale flashes, our approach was to convey the currency on sale using illustrations of key cultural symbols. For example, Australia saw illustrations of a crocodile, a surfer, the Sydney Opera House and a boomerang substituted for four of the letters in ‘CURRENCY DEALS’. For Euros and Dollars we embellished the word ‘DEALS’ with Euro and Dollar signs, the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty. The creative idea translated easily across other channels, making it a fully integrated campaign. Animated banners featured rotating letters and symbols in the style of a fruit machine. In-branch TV and ATMs featured animation that showcased the range of currencies on offer. We also sent 307,501 emails to our prospect database and placed outdoor and radio executions.

Results The most up-to-date market share release since launch shows that after just 30 days, the Post Office had a share of 24%. To date, transactions greater than £1,000 are up 48% since 2010. Overall the AVT has increased 8% per transaction (+£25). Banners showed a 40% uplift (0.11% vs. 0.08%) against previous. Similarly, email open (6.6% percentage points) and click rates (+22% percentage points. During the 15 weeks, the average increase in volume of transactions was 33%.

Team Mark Fiddes, Alistair Ross, Steve Waring, Andy Brown, Sharon Jiggins, Sarah McLean, Kate MacKinnon, James Calvert, Russell Mallows, Alison Frances.

Other contributors Dare – ATL, OMD – Media, Open – In-branch media, Chris Wray – Illustrator.