'Cut Out the Big Guy' and 'Half a Bill'

Background

In the first quarter of 2006, the hot media topic was the high cost of phone and internet in New Zealand. This was driven by the monopoly of telecommunications giant, Telecom. Woosh was the first player to disrupt the market by offering a viable alternative to Telecom. But the difficulty was breaking into a market where everyone had used the same provider for as long as they'd had a phone. Luckily, Woosh was cheaper. In fact, for the same price as a home phone line, wiring maintenance and voicemail from Telecom, Woosh customers could get all that AND Broadband Internet. So they repositioned the pricing to be ‘get a phone line and your broadband comes free’. The first mail campaign was designed to tackle Telecom head-on in both price and attitude and convert more of their customers. The follow up door drop activity aimed to target disgruntled householders in key Woosh network zones, letting them know they could pay half as much for their phone with a phone and broadband package from Woosh.

Idea

To crack this market and make the most of any anti-monopoly sentiment, Woosh sent out a cheeky envelope that appeared to have the Telecom logo cut out of it. On the outside was a scribbled message ‘Cut out the big guy. Get free broadband.’ Inside, on Woosh-green stationery, was the offer from Woosh. For the door drop campaign, they decided to make the most of the anti-Telecom sentiment – always heightened at the moment that people received their Telecom bill. On a tight budget, all they could afford was a letter in an envelope. Except this letter was physically ripped in half by a mailhouse team before being dropped in 50,000 letter boxes around Auckland, capturing the aggressive negative sentiment around Telecom’s high prices, and representing the portion people would save by switching to Woosh.

Results

Not only did the March mail piece stir up the market and invoke a legal cease and desist order from the 'big guy', the message also really cut through to consumers. Hundreds of them 'cut out the big guy' and called the 0800 number and many became new customers - giving an ROI of 460%. The results of the ‘Half a Bill’ door drop during the first campaign period were the best ever for Woosh - with a record number of new accounts opened each day. At the time, this success was attributed to the overall campaign aimed at raising Woosh’s profile and position as a strong independent competitor. However, when the door drop campaign was rolled out again in October, more specific results were able to be measured. In network zones where the mailer dropped, there was a significant increase in new Woosh customers (up to 62%), compared to an average 9.3% nationwide.

Target Audience

Cold prospects in Woosh coverage zones

Size

20,000 mailings ('Big Guy'), 50,000 door drops ('Half a Bill')

Our Thoughts

Aussies and Kiwis always support the underdog – we’re small countries, after all. In the UK, this sort of aggressive take on the market leader – using his own envelopes against him - would be frowned upon whereas in New Zealand, taking on the big guys is applauded.