Batelco: THE GREETING CARD

Credits & Description:

Category: Best Use of Experiential Marketing in a Promotional Campaign

Advertiser: BATELCO

Product/Service: BROADBAND

Agency: FP7/BAH

Date of First Appearance: Jan 6 2011

Entrant Company: FP7/BAH, Manama, BAHRAIN

Creative Director/Art Director/Copywriter: Fadi Yaish (FP7 / BAH)

Art Director: Lara Hamman (FP7 / BAH)

Copywriter: Steve De Lange (FP7 / BAH)

Illustrator: Muhammad Mustafa (FP7 / BAH)

Media placement: 7 Custom Made Greeting Cards + Envelopes - Distributed To 62000 Customer - 6 Jan 2011

Media placement: 62000 Greeting Card Signing - Batelco.com - 6 Jan 2011



Describe the objective of the promotion.

Batelco, Bahrain's leading telecommunications company, wanted to announce to all their broadband subscribers across five packages that their package had been automatically

upgraded.

Our insight was that on different occasions, people collectively write personal messages on

cards to express their sentiments and affection.

We created seven congratulatory cards, specifically designed to look exactly like clichéd store-bought cards - complete with a fictional greeting card company logo... just as if someone

from Batelco had gone out of their way to buy the greeting card from a gift shop.



Describe how the promotion developed from concept to implementation.

The challenge was now to personalise 62,000 cards with real, heartfelt messages of congratulations.

But we had to make it believable. To ensure that people knew that their cards had not been churned out of a copier, they had to witness the event. So we invited them to watch the

signing streamed live on Batelco's website. And over the course of one weekend, we got Batelco employees to personally fill every card with congratulatory messages, seal every

envelope and write every address - all by hand.



Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service.

Mass printed direct mailers often feel cold and impersonal, and did not fit in with the celebratory nature of our announcement. The announcement had to be in keeping with the scope of the upgrades.

The cards were individually mailed to each of Batelco's subscribers over the New Year, making the package upgrades and the Greeting Card even more relevant to the occasion.



Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results.

No other company had ever written that many personalised cards to such a large group of people. Subscribers felt valued, special and appreciated when they received their personalised card in the mail. In return, Batelco received over 55,000 calls from people showing their appreciation. Batelco began with an ordinary announcement, and ended up with 62,000 friends.