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Watson Phillips Norman beats tried and tested control packs for 2 charity clients
The classic client challenge: Beat our control pack! In recent campaigns for PDSA and The Salvation Army, WPN has beaten well honed control packs.
PDSA has been using the same control pack for Best Friends, their flagship committed giving product for 10 years. Several attempts had been made to find a better performing pack. Rigorous testing of the proposition, format, offer and lists had all been tried.
Despite fears about mentioning recession in the copy, this pack unashamedly led on the hard times caused by the recession and the fact that PDSA services are being stretched to the limit as more people are turning to PDSA to treat their pets. The urgency of the appeal clearly came through and the results were significantly stronger.
The Salvation Army has been trying to beat their Christmas control pack for 8 years. There is enormous public trust in The Salvation Army and the pack leveraged the idea that small amounts of money in the hands of The Salvation Army go a long way. WPN also took a very different approach by focussing on the experience of a writer visiting a Salvation Army drop-in centre in Westminster. The outer is a manilla DL envelope with the intriguing headline “This is possibly the most unusual charity letter you’ll get this Christmas...” Inside there is a simple letter outlining his observations of how The Salvation Army quietly get on with their work and help homeless people start to get their lives back on track. He contrasted the plight of homeless people surviving in one of the richest areas of London. The back to basics approach of the pack was very much in tune with the work of The Salvation Army. The pack does not look expensive and has a real authentic feel .The pack beat the control on both response and ROI.
Managing Partner, John Watson comments: “In the current market we really have to give consumers a real reason to respond. In both these packs, we have leveraged a brand truth combined with a compelling offer. Many charities have given up direct mail for acquisition, these results show that it can still be very successful .”
