Pulse Will You Be in?
TV Licensing
Issue 50 | February 2019
Agency
Proximity London
Creative Team
Executive Creative Director John Treacy Creative Director Rob Kavanagh Creative Director/Art Director Tristan Sellen Creative Partner/ Copywriter Francesco Perillo Copywriter Greg Cohen
Other Credits
Chairman Lou Barber Group Account Director Michelle Hampton Account Director Rich Gush Head of Customer Engagement Adrian Hoole Senior Planner Sabeena Lone Data Planning Director Matt Ingram Client Marketing Campaign Manager Lindsey Hawkins Portfolio Head of Sales & Marketing Catriona Ferguson
Date
Ongoing
Background
In the UK, if you watch or record live TV, or download and watch BBC programmes on iPlayer, you need a TV Licence. It’s the law.
So, every month letters are mailed out to approximately 1.4 million unlicensed householders, explaining why the recipient needs the licence and what the consequences are of breaking the law. And every month, many recipients still ignore them.
The challenge was to find a new way to cut through, get noticed and get opened.
Idea
Though TV Licensing officers visited as many as 10,000 homes a day, or one address every 5 seconds, most people felt the chances of a visit were remote.
An additional problem was that due to privacy considerations around neighbours in shared hallways seeing other people's mail, nothing presumptive of wrongdoing could be written on the outside of the envelopes.
The solution was simple. Instead of making a threat, a question was asked by using a double window through which was asked: 'Will you be in on ?'
Though a visit on a particular date could never be guaranteed, simply by asking if the householder would be in, the possibility would be implied – and that was good enough.
The date selected was chosen to be close enough to feel imminent, far enough away so there was still time to take action.
The 'Visit Approved' stamp added to the sense of authority while the letter was signed by an Enforcement Manager local to the recipient, meaning the risk of a visit felt closer.
Results
Asking one simple question certainly delivered answers. The letter generated a 230% uplift in response rate against control, leading to significant incremental revenue.
An added bonus of the pack was a reduction in the number of enforcement visits field officers have had to make.
Our Thoughts
In the UK, the BBC has no advertising at all on its channels, which means someone has to pay for all the programmes they make.
The viewer, through the TV Licence.
It’s disliked because it feels like a tax and that is what makes collecting the fee particularly difficult. In the past, the licensing authority has tried to persuade householders to cough up the fee with charm and wit and Proximity has been behind some engagingly well-intentioned work. Now, however, it’s no more Mr. Nice-Guy.
This elegantly simple mailing is TV Licensing showing its teeth. Intriguingly for a piece designed to be impersonal, the implicit communication is very personal indeed, suggesting “we know who you are and where you live.”