The Garden Drop
BT
Issue 49 | December 2018
Agency
Wunderman
Creative Team
Creative Executive Creative Director Abi Ellis Creative Directors Christopher McKee, Richard Morgan
Production Team
Green Bullet
Date
August 2018
Background
The only time most people consider switching their broadband provider is when something goes wrong with their service.
They find it hard to distinguish between broadband providers and simply view them as cold utilities. The task was to make BT stand out from the competition and encourage the switch.
Idea
To make BT stand out from the competition, the idea was to make an offer that was consciously timed to be as emotionally relevant as possible.
Fans of newly-promoted football teams were geo-targeted in the knowledge they would jump at the offer of free BT Sport for 18 months.
Fans of Cardiff City, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Fulham FC could only watch all their teams’ matches if they didn’t have BT Sport.
Based on the premise that it’s harder to throw away a football than a letter, BT branded footballs carrying the offer were booted down streets, over walls and into gardens.
No windows were broken.
In Cardiff, rather than the postman, the balls were delivered by Cardiff City player Junior Hoilett, showing off his skills as he went from street to street.
It was captured in a campaign film, which was shared online and across social media to reach fans across the whole country.
Results
The campaign was seen by 93% of the population of Cardiff, showing how a small activation can capture the imagination of a much larger group.
Commercially, there was a 78% uplift in response rate vs a non-targeted standard door drop and a 69% uplift in conversion rate vs a non-targeted standard door drop.
The average door-drop lives in the home for 38 days. BT’s footballs may well live in homes and gardens for years to come, maintaining awareness and brand affinity amongst an otherwise cold audience.
Our Thoughts
Well, someone at BT had balls. (Sorry.)
But seriously, there must have been more reasons not to buy this idea than there were to run with it. (Oops!) Starting with the costs of the footballs, the costs of the football star and the costs of delivery. But whoever that person is, (s)he understands that sales promotion isn’t about short-term incentives to tempt new customers but long-term brand building.
BT is most definitely not a treasured brand in the UK, but in Cardiff, Wolverhampton and Fulham, it will have become a lot better liked.