Brand: Mobile Office Solutions
Client: Vodafone
Brief: To increase use and change perceptions of mobile data products
Target audience: Existing small-to medium-sized business customers
Budget: Undisclosed
Agency: Partners Andrews Aldridge
Challenge
Running a small- to medium-sized enterprise (SME) can be frantic at the best of times. Owners have to wear several hats and are constantly strapped for time. Mobile phones have become an indispensable communication tool for this audience, enabling them to keep in touch with clients and complete jobs on the go.
However, the market for phones and contracts is crowded. To appeal to this busy and time-poor group, Vodafone decided to concentrate on a different area of mobile telephony - the market for mobile data products such as mobile email, Blackberries and data cards.
However, research showed that while using mobile phones to make calls was second nature among the target market, mobile email was not perceived as an essential tool for their businesses.
Vodafone needed to explain the opportunities that mobile data devices could offer this group, and convert these into sales.
Strategy
The company decided that sales would best be achieved by running targeted work within a wider awareness-changing campaign. "Although we were ultimately trying to sell products, we needed to change perceptions in the marketplace first," says Mark Lewis, head of enterprise communications at Vodafone UK.
Several agencies were involved, with Partners Andrews Aldridge tasked with the direct marketing element.
Vodafone identified two barriers to adoption: a perception that mobile devices were unnecessary for business and a contrasting feeling that while mobile devices were useful, prospects were not confident in using them extensively in their working lives.
The database of Vodafone's current SME customers was analysed with this insight in mind. Prospects were split into two categories: sole traders, such as plumbers, and the white-collar sector, for example legal and IT.
Research indicated that these two groups would have different attitudes to using mobile data products. The smaller businesses were more likely to feel that mobile data products were irrelevant, while mid-sized ones, although aware of them, were not confident users.
Execution
The campaign ran across a range of media. Outdoor work was responsive, featuring an MMS shortcode. When a message was sent to the number, a short video would be sent back to the respondent's mobile phone.
The direct mail element of the campaign ran from February to September 2006, with 150,000 packs sent out and three test cells run during that period. Packs showed business people using their spare time in places such as train stations and in taxis to work.
The level of direct mail testing was unusual for Vodafone. "Targeting a wide range of people can lead to a huge variation in response," says Lewis. "We wanted to test responsiveness to the message and see if we could fine-tune according to people's attitudes to work. Company size alone is not a very good indicator of behaviour."
Different emails were sent to the two groups. The smaller businesses, perceived to have a greater attitudinal barrier to adoption, were directed to a viral game, while the other group was provided with product and services information.
The direct work ran within a larger ad awareness push. TV work, featuring a desk and a football table "playing" together, was created by Bartle Bogle Hegarty, with radio and TV work by JWT. A microsite was created by digital agency Dare to support all work, and some press and online advertising was used.
Results
The campaign achieved an ROI of 700 per cent and created more than £1m worth of extra business. Test cell results varied but the best performing area achieved a 3.5 per cent response. Of those who responded, conversion rates averaged at two per cent.
"In mobile, a one to 1.5 per cent response is average, so doubling that was great," says Lewis. "It's a low-interest category and a much harder sell than convincing someone to change tariff, especially in the business market where people are cost sensitive."