Wet Paper
Aigües de Barcelona
Issue 6 | July 2008
Agency
CP Proximity
Creative Team
Eva Santos - Creative Director;Gerard Thomas - Art Director;Gloria Joven - Art Director
Production Team
Gemma Rivas - Production Manager
Other Credits
Juan Manuel Ramírez - Client Services Director;Montse del Hoyo - Account Supervisor
Date
November 2007
Background
Aigües de Barcelona provides water distribution in Barcelona. Customers see the company as old-fashioned and bad quality, with clients rejecting most communication efforts from the company on the basis that the marketing money could be better spent improving the service. In this context, Aigües de Barcelona re-launched its website, the selling point of which was a virtual office where transactions could be performed online. The challenge was to communicate the launch of the site in an attractive way, trying to position Aigües de Barcelona as a familiar brand but also keeping it cheap and simple so that the recipient would not feel resentful.
Idea
The solution was to surprise the target by modifying the company's 'usual boring letter', making it appear that water had damaged the paper to such a degree that the text was illegible. Because of this, only the important information remained: ‘From now on, make all your transactions online at www.aiguesdebarcelona.es'.
Results
The mailing was sent to 50,000 clients within Barcelona, and achieved an 18% conversion rate (users who signed up on the new website).
Target Audience
Existing Aigües de Barcelona customers
Size
50,000 mailings
Our Thoughts
Well it is certainly abruptive (it gets noticed). And it, quite literally, pours cold water on the idea of communicating via the mail whilst drawing attention to a web address. However, I'm just not sure that the wet paper is dramatising a problem experienced by the customer and therefore I wonder if the reader will see a benefit to going online. SH