Canada Post's Bounce Me campaign tells a compelling story
Taking advantage of innovative direct mail campaigns, Canada Post built a following by bouncing a ball to marketing professionals across the nation. Eschewing the standard white envelope, Direct Marketing News reported the Canadian postal service began leaving a blue, white and red ball on the doorsteps of recipients with a simple directive: "Bounce me."
The program highlights an initiative to increase direct mail volume, which requires address verification software, as well as the expanding proclivity of Canadians to use social media.
A recent article by eMarketer cited a 2012 survey from GlobalWebIndex, a London-based research group focused on global Internet trends, showing that Canadians spent nearly 25 percent of their time online, or one hour and a half each day on social networking sites. Comprising a further 15 percent of online time, blogging and microblogging are growing in popularity, and Canada Post is banking on that trend.
Taking advantage of social media
The Bounce Me campaign asked mail recipients to tell a story. The clear, plastic tube packaging that the balls are shipped in feature nothing but a link to the project's website, bounceme.ca. Once the customer entered the Web address into a browser, he or she received directions to creative a compelling narrative using the ball, upload a video of it and share the clip via social media.
The agency that had the most video shares won a $1,000 donation to their preferred charity. The results of the campaign are telling. Of the 877 recipients, 83 percent visited the website, suggesting the potential of direct mail when integrated with social media practices.
The Canada Post project resulted in 3,198 hits to the website, with lengthy visits at an average of three minutes and 50 seconds according to Direct Marketing News. The campaign also highlighted the effectiveness of direct mail in generating responses. Innovations in mailing software demonstrates the creative potential when direct mail and social media collaborate.