White Letter
Banco Espírito Santo
Issue 4 | July 2008
Agency
Proximity Portugal
Creative Team
Nuno Duarte - Creative Director;Ana Dias - Copywriter;Marta Silva - Art Director
Production Team
Orlando Baptista - Production Director
Other Credits
Pedro Barros - Account Director;Filipa Figuinha - Account Executive
Date
April 2007
Background
Credit users know that they are subject to very high interest rates and that, by making credit purchases, they can easily throw next month’s budget into disarray. Many people, therefore, avoid credit card use, only reverting to it in unforeseeable situations or when needing to make special purchases. BES wanted to encourage these people to sign up to their new concept credit card: the BES White Card. With fixed payments and 0% interest, the White Card offers people the freedom to pay on credit without the fear of losing control, knowing that they always pay the same at the end of each month.
Idea
To communicate this idea of ‘freedom’, BES gave prospects a white letter. ‘To give a white letter’ is an untranslatable Portuguese idiomatic expression equivalent to giving someone the ‘green light’, in the sense that it endows someone with the liberty to do whatever they want in a particular situation. A mailing with a pre-approved BES White Card was sent to a BES client data base in a totally white, i.e. blank, letter. The mailing included a leaflet which explained the product and encouraged its immediate use.
Results
Not yet available.
Target Audience
A BES database of people who didn't yet own a credit card and who were resistent to using one.
Size
About 1,500,000 mailings
Our Thoughts
In Portuguese, when you give someone ‘a white letter’, you are giving them a green light. So this mailer, very white, gives recipients the go-ahead to start spending with their new credit card in the comforting knowledge there will be no surprises. Proof you don’t have to shout about your APR to get noticed.