Royal Mail enlists DigitasLBI's Anil Pillai and Oystercatchers' Suki Thompson for second phase of AR-enabled MailMen campaign
The next phase of Royal Mail’s campaign to promote the role of direct mail has seen it amass a new pool of talent and harness augmented reality to cement the message.
The initial wave of activity rolled out in January with the backing of five industry leaders including MediaCom boss Karen Blackett and Poke founder Nik Roope. It was Royal Mail’s first effort to promote its direct marketing services facility MarketReach and encourage brands and agencies to consider both mail and email to communicate with consumers.
“The launch of MailMen re-enforced the value of mail to advertisers with the help of some of the industry’s most notable figures,” said Jonathan Harman, managing director of Royal Mail MarketReach. “The second tranche of senior industry leaders lending their voices and support to our campaign demonstrates the profound impact mail continues to have in today's marketing world.”
It has enlisted seven leaders in the marketing industry for the follow-up including client-side bosses from AXA Insurance, Easyjet, and Homebase alongside the chief executive of DigitasLBi Anil Pillai and Oystercatchers founder Suki Thompson.
The inclusion of Jess Butcher, co-founder of augmented reality platform Blippar has also seen Royal Mail harness the technology for the campaign.
Targeting the top 3,000 clients, advertisers, and media planning and buying agencies, the activity will play out on digital, press, OOH, mobile, and email to promote the division’s latest research programme, This Time It’s Personal, which sought to reveal further insight into the emotional role direct mail plays.
For the direct mail element, Royal Mail will send information to 14,000 client-side marketers and agencies with insights from the research which will be brought to life with augmented reality through the interactive character ‘Mo’.
“Brands and consumers now have a huge variety of ways they can choose to communicate. With so many options for advertisers to consider, it is critical we understand the value of effective mail and how it can engage with consumers,” added Harman. “This Time It’s Personal is the culmination of our research this year to examine the potential, and communicate the power, of mail as an integral element of multi-channel campaigns.”
The campaign was created by Publicis Chemistry.