BizThinkTank

Background

Optus is Australia’s second largest telecoms company, heavily outspent by the number one, Telstra. They had three problems. One, low brand awareness. Two, small businesses were unaware of what Optus could do for them specifically. Three, fuel costs were soaring, the Australian dollar was falling and a global credit crisis was looming. Research revealed that small businesses simply did not have the sort of information larger businesses take for granted and that they were looking for simple, practical solutions to help them survive in tough times. The challenge was how to give it to them.

Idea

The agency persuaded its client to switch from a traditional retail acquisition strategy to longer-term relationship building and lead generation. Rather than pushing offers, the idea was to create high quality content. The new approach combined direct mail and email, web, press and radio, driving traffic to a website with content authored by leading Australian business commentator, Peter Switzer. At the heart of the site was a reality TV show called ‘Yes Coach’, which offered practical tips, while building brand awareness as well as capturing registrations, creating leads for future marketing.

Results

The site launched on 23 June 2008, and at time of writing there had been more than 100,000 visitors to the site with 79,000 unique browsers – 140% of target. Visiting the site did not require registration, but 4,600 people registered all the same. Registrations continue to grow even though ‘Yes Coach’ has finished. Average time on the site is more than three minutes, with over 20% of people spending between four and 30 minutes. Average page-views are 3.39, with 45% of visitors viewing between two and 10 pages, interacting with the webisodes, forums and live blogs. In the site’s exit survey, one in five people wanted to learn more about Optus products, demonstrating the power of branded content to generate leads and ultimately drive sales.

Our Thoughts

For years, acquisition has been the name of the game for direct marketers but digital media have been changing that. This TV show might look like a brand-building exercise but the longer a punter stays on the site, then the more opportunities there are for the relationship to become transactional. Traditional DM has always been based on ‘the offer’ but an offer doesn’t have to be money off or a free gift. It can be information or inspiration, as it is here. Jolly good show, M&C!