Lonely No More

Background

Most IT departments are under a lot of pressure. However, two new Microsoft solutions, System Centre and Forefront, were designed to greatly reduce the amount of time IT people spend on maintenance every day. These solutions would also allow upkeep of systems to happen from one central point, i.e. right from the comfort of the IT person’s desk.

Idea

With these solutions in place, it was possible for IT professionals not to need to interact so much with their colleagues. They could become lonely. So the agency sent them something to keep them company – a live fish. Advice was sought from aquariums in four countries, and couriers were hired and trained. In branded uniforms, they delivered the fish plus a fishbowl, food and a tent-card with daily maintenance tasks. While the fish was being installed, managers had a chance to read a letter from Microsoft explaining everything.

Results

The Microsoft sales department was flooded with calls, and out of the 800 deliveries in the Gulf, there were sales enquiries from 137 – a response rate of over 17%.

Our Thoughts

The last ‘live animal’ mailing I can remember was for DHL and got 100% response. They delivered homing pigeons to delivery managers asking for a meeting. The note read: ‘If you want a meeting, just release the pigeon and it’ll fly home to give us the good news. If you don’t want a meeting, well…pigeon pie is nice.’ The Microsoft piece is slightly less brutal. Still, it sets the mind racing. How about hand delivering a tortoise to all those people who have renewed their subscriptions to Directory but have yet to send the cheque???!