2014 Bronze Best Use of Technology

Client Mothercare

How did the campaign make a difference?Although 80% of first-time mums visit a Mothercare during pregnancy, the brand was viewed as being out of step with the 'digital age' and disconnected from today's generation of new mums. It has a large store base, but it was not connected to its customers' multi-channel journey.

Mothercare connected all customer channels to its database to enable it to put helping new mums at the heart of its strategy.

It used e-receipt technology to deliver a fully-functioning receipt into mums' inboxes – whilst gathering valuable customer data to create a My Mothercare loyalty club without the points liability of a reward scheme. E-receipts underpinned a successful CRM programme that has been pivotal in the retailer's turnaround.

In just six months Mothercare has transformed its business – and supported the parenting journey for 650,000 parents in its loyalty club.

Strategy First-time mums want the best for their baby, but how do they know where to start?

Mothercare knows that new mums-to-be only shop once they've done their research. They seek advice everywhere: other mums, friends and family, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, mumsnet – anywhere they can find information they trust.

We needed to put the trusted voice of Mothercare at the centre of their world, answering their questions at the very moment they ask them and helping them with their ambition to be the best mum they can be.

The strategy was centred on freeing Mothercare up from price wars with supermarkets and owning the linear journey of pregnancy across all channels –from buying a first maternity bra at Week 7 all the way up to the child's 6th birthday.

Creativity The My Mothercare loyalty club launched in February 2014, giving a single customer view of some 650,000 members and enabling the brand to provide support and advice by combining insights on what customers buy at each lifestage with social content on blogs, forums and the Mothercare TV YouTube channel.

This data unearthed a purchase pattern from early pregnancy through to toy demands as children grow. From this, 100 lifestyle trigger emails were created to cover the pre- and post-natal journey – including updates on the development of the unborn baby, anecdotes from other parents, useful information and buying guides.

Social media brought mums together through the '2am club' and Twitter parties with midwives and healthcare professionals, whilst in-store Personal Shoppers and Expectant Parent Events provided experts and product trials.

Results In just six months, Mothercare has been reborn to provide incredible customer experiences to parents – with a coherent customer journey that spans stores, social, email, online and back to stores again.

Starting from zero in February 2014, it has built a database of 650,000 active loyalty club members and used electronic receipts to gain high levels of customer visibility without taking on any points liability. Projected break-even date has been slashed from 36 to 12 months.

Stores are now Mothercare's biggest customer experience, with expectant parent event revenue up 192%.

Core brands Mothercare and Early Learning Centre have grown their databases of active customers by 1million each and increased their weekly orders attributed to direct marketing campaigns by 1,431% and 1,617% respectively.