The pen is mightier than the e-mail

Background

In today’s digital age, no one writes letters anymore. Not a delight for a brand that celebrates the art of writing. Montblanc’s objective was to counter this development with a well targeted direct campaign.

Idea

The Idea to demonstrate how a handwritten letter can make a difference.

They turned typical spam emails into beautifully handwritten letters and sent them to high profile contacts: radio show hosts, journalists, bloggers, etc. The message: There is nothing more genuine than a handwritten letter.

Results

The outcome: the written word turned into word of mouth and $33,000 worth of free media (on and offline). But more importantly, writing letters became a trending topic and Montblanc its ambassador.

Our Thoughts

The idea that you might actually want to read spam, if it is presented in a way that is fluid and beautiful, is very funny. But the most interesting aspect of this campaign is in the fact it’s more of a PR idea than an advertising idea. It needs journalists and bloggers to pick it up and spread the word and it seems to have been successful against those objectives. Al Ries, a regular contributor to Ad Age, has written a book on ‘The Fall of Advertising and The Rise of PR’ with his daughter Laura, which is well worth a browse. They say advertising is losing credibility and that’s certainly true if the advertising in question is witless and moronic. But for PR to work, you still need an advertising idea like this one from the Memac team that will engage both an editor and his/her readership.