Leather Letter

Background

For 2011, the VW Eos was due to get a range of enhancements. Design, styling and finish were all to be updated. This would give existing drivers and prospects a reason to re-visit this luxurious convertible.

Idea

Knowing their audience had a feel for the finer things in life, Volkswagen needed a pack that would appeal to their senses rather than be too rational.

What potential Eos drivers received through the post was what is believed to be the world’s first fully-personalised leather letter (a reference to the car’s new Vienna leather seats). Recipients could engage not just with the message but with the look, feel and even smell of the car.

Nothing worth doing is ever easy and printing onto leather broke four different printing machines. However, the finished pack justified the hard work.

Results

As part of a wider campaign, the pack contributed to uplift in weekly sales of over 40%. Client and agency happy, if not the printer.

Our Thoughts

I’m a sucker for anyone who tries to do the basics with a bit of a twist. We’ve seen letters written on rice-paper, on chocolate and on steel. Now DDB Sydney have written a letter on leather. But in this context it’s not a gimmick but a very real way of reminding a reader of that sensation overload you get when you first slide into a brand new car. The feel of the seats, the smell of the leather. No other medium can do this. You can write a funny commercial with a kid dressed as Darth Vadar being spooked by a VW but that doesn’t actually get people down to their nearest dealer for a closer look, as this did.