PRIA GOLDEN TARGET FINALIST AWARD SUBMISSION. Category: Business-to-Business Marketing, New and/ or Established Product or Service

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1 PRIA GOLDEN TARGET FINALIST AWARD SUBMISSION Category: Business-to-Business Marketing, New and/ or Established Product or Service Campaign: Opening Doors 1

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY SITUATION ANALYSIS GOALS AND OBJECTIVES RESEARCH TARGET PUBLICS COMMUNICATION STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION BUDGET RESULTS EVALUATION APPENDIX

3 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In 2007, specialist lender Pepper Homeloans launched a campaign to revitalise its brand in the Australian mortgage broker market. Pepper s sole distribution channel is mortgage brokers. As part of the strategy, Pepper celebrated the launch of its new Sydney headquarters with a $5,000 giveaway promotion targeting brokers. Aligning with Pepper s brand tagline Opening Doors, the campaign goals reflected proprietary research revealing that 90% of mortgage brokers derive satisfaction from helping nonconforming clients get back on their feet and opening the door to a new financial future. The promotion, using industry media and other integrated channels, encouraged brokers to register their details on Pepper s website. Three finalists were selected in a draw and flown to Sydney for the launch of the new office. At the event, each of the finalists received a key, one of which opened the door that stood between them and $5,000. Clear measurement matrices ensured all campaign activities and outcomes could be tracked and assessed. The Opening Doors campaign contributed to 129% year-on-year growth and record mortgage settlements for Pepper Homeloans and heightened awareness of the lender s brand among brokers and relevant trade media representatives. 2. SITUATION ANALYSIS The dilemma Extensive Pepper Homeloans research indicated that mortgage brokers favoured four or five loan providers in Australia. As Pepper sat outside this consideration set, it faced a considerable challenge to draw business away from rival financial institutions. The problems were three-fold. First, broker promotions in the Australian mortgage market had historically relied on expensive junkets that had little or no sustainable strategic alignment with Pepper s branding goals. Second, Pepper s internal engagement activities had not focused on brand positioning, which meant employees did not properly understand how brand could help drive other corporate objectives. And third, Pepper lacked budget clout compared with larger rivals, so it required greater creativity and better execution in its marketing promotions. The opportunity Through the Opening Doors promotion, Pepper had the chance to demonstrate its point of difference and connect with the mortgage broking profession with a sophisticated and unique campaign. 3

4 The promotion was designed to take advantage of external brand-positioning messages and a fresh corporate identity to win over Pepper s stakeholders. This was complemented by brandpositioning messages from Pepper executives to educate all employees about the lender s corporate objectives, culture and values. The rationale Pepper Homeloans wanted a branding campaign that transformed the relationship with mortgage brokers. Traditional broker junkets would be replaced with a comprehensively researched and highly integrated campaign proposition. Not only would such a platform be more cost-effective given Pepper s limited budget, but it would deliver more sustainable brand benefits. Engaging mortgage brokers, staff and relevant media representatives would help develop ongoing advocates of the Pepper brand. 3. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES Pepper Homeloans Opening Doors campaign ran from 15 August to 1 October The goals Generate positive media coverage and broker understanding of Pepper s offering. Promote new brand values to position Pepper as a lender that gives back to the industry and align external brand perceptions with internal employee brand messages. Support the growth of mortgage applications and settlements. The objectives Boost media coverage and engage industry commentators and journalists: - Positive media coverage in 30% of publications during campaign period Increase Pepper s exposure to mortgage brokers through strong Direct Marketing strategy: - E-Direct (e-dm) s/ SMS response target of 40%. - DM mail out response target 4%. Leverage new visual identity externally and internally: - Positive brand attributes broker affiliation goal - top 3 ranking against competitive set - Increase employee Brand values recall from 11% pre campaign to goal of 60% post campaign. Promote the competition cocktail event and opening of Pepper s new head office in North Sydney: - Event response target 80 key mortgage broker attendees and key trade media. 4

5 Acquire new broker relationships via broker accreditations: New broker accreditation goal = YOY increase of 100%. Strengthen mortgage broker attendance at Pepper local sales events measured by Business card drop goal of 500 contacts. Improve website traffic by 50% YOY Encourage mortgage brokers to engage with the Pepper brand via registered competition entries online: - Competition site unique visitor and entries target 1,500 (of an estimated total potential broker population of 10,000). - Maximise value of budget and achieve cost per mortgage settlement of $ RESEARCH Pepper commissioned several research initiatives to guide its Opening Doors campaign. This included qualitative research into brokers market perspectives and an investigation into broker consideration sets when recommending loan solutions. SWOT analyses of competitors marketing campaigns were also carried out, along with efforts to assess the strength of the Pepper brand and how it was perceived against competitors. Research also sought to clarify mortgage broker triggers for placing a home loan with Pepper. Also staff brand engagement focus groups and surveys were conducted on a pre and post campaign basis. 5. TARGET PUBLICS The campaign targeted the following: Primary target publics: Pepper s primary distribution channel is mortgage brokers such as Mortgage Choice, PLAN and AFG. Hence, the focus was to be world famous to mortgage brokers rather than known to consumers and the general public. Secondary target publics: Trade journalists, editors and Pepper employees. 6. COMMUNICATION STRATEGY Pepper s communications strategy depended on three over-arching factors Professional marketing: emphasising well-planned and integrated communications tactics and metrics; expert execution, cost-effective design, research, reporting and analysis; and creative use of digital and online technology.

6 2. Employee buy-in An inside out campaign : ensuring the CEO and executive team were fully aligned with the goals and objectives of the campaign; and holding presentations to educate and motivate staff. 3. Focused and targeted: Be world famous in the Australian Mortgage broker market. All actions had to help: Engage Pepper employees. Focus on mortgage brokers and make them the hero. Connect with brokers through an integrated suite of channels. Target key trade publications to strengthen the Pepper brand with brokers and journalists. Reinforce the brand values of fresh, different and remarkable. A below-the-line marketing strategy used PR skills and online tools to drive home tailored campaign messages. An above-the-line print advertising strategy featured promo onserts on magazine covers. 7. IMPLEMENTATION The following features and actions were key elements of the campaign s implementation and ultimate success. (a) Mortgage broker competition and event Offering brokers the chance to win $5,000. Giving finalists a one-in-three chance to open a door to $5,000 at a gala Sydney event. (a.1) Competition micro-site Registering online entries for a campaign target of 1,500 brokers of an estimated total of 10,000 brokers nationally i.e. 15% of the entire broker population. Acquiring new broker contact details for Pepper. (b) Media relations Targeting relevant trade magazines such as Australian Broker, Mortgage Professional Australia, Mortgage and Finance Brief and Finance Broker Australia. Ensuring multiple opportunities for coverage through the promotion launch, announcement of finalists, Pepper s office-opening event and the announcement of winners. Providing newsworthy research findings to media outlets. 6

7 (b.1) Key timings TIMING ACTIVITY TACTICS 2 nd week of August 2007 Promotion Launch Media Release revealing Pepper Homeloans research stats + promotion breakout box/ belly wrap/ front cover onserts + FPC. Direct readers to Pepper s website to enter contact details. E-Direct Marketing piece automatically sent to entrants confirming their entry. 4 th week of Aug Promotion follow-up Update piece informing readers that entries are soon to close. Promotion update supported by FPC throughout. 30 September Competition Pepper draws and notifies three finalists. drawn 1st week Oct. Finalists announced Update piece announcing and congratulating three finalists. 19 th October Office opening Event staged at Pepper s head office. event Finalists given a key, one of which opens the door to $5,000. Finalists pampered at Stamford Hotel with spa treatments and taken on Bridge Climb. End Oct. Competition round-up Editorial piece and pictures conclude the competition. End Oct early Nov. Official winner announcement Classified advertisement runs in The Australian announcing the competition winner. (c) Employee engagement Measuring employee brand engagement through pre and post campaign online surveys Staging three in-house Opening Doors presentations. Motivating staff through internal staff competitions and prizes. Sending out five internal notices during the campaign period. (d) Above-the-line advertising Supporting media relations and other initiatives with full-page colour (FPC) advertisements during the campaign period. Developing Pepper promo onserts to dominate trade magazine covers. Using targeted advertising to direct brokers to Pepper s website to enter the competition. 7

8 (e) Multi-media/ Online / e-direct Marketing Developing an easy-to use interactive micro-site to outline campaign details and allow registration. Sending targeted broker SMS and e-dms. (f) Direct Mail - DM Creating 9,500 DM pieces as part of a cross marketing alliance with key broker media partner, giving brokers an opportunity to respond by entering the competition online. (g) Competition event and official office opening Networking and building relationships with the broker fraternity and trade media. Creating photo opportunities for industry press. (h) Sales activity Converting existing sales activity to focus on the Opening Doors campaign. Increasing broker accreditation sign-ups during the campaign period. Ensuring a presence at 30 local area marketing events across the country. 8. BUDGET Budget = $30,000 Print advertising (incremental spend) $9,500 DM print $2,000 e-dm $1,200 Public Relations $2,100 Competition & event $12,453 Internal communications $n/a leverage HR team and resources Merchandise $850 Printing and promo support $1,600 Sales activity Strategy, research, media relations management and execution $n/a leverage existing sales resources and budget $n/a leverage internal marketing team expertise. TOTAL : $29,703 8

9 9. RESULTS The Opening Doors campaign surpassed all initial objectives and delivered quantitative and qualitative results across the board. The outcomes Helping Pepper move from 5 th to pole position in non-conforming / specialist home loans market share through key broker partners. Gaining significant positive media coverage in mortgage broker trade media. Positioning Pepper as an industry thought leader through research findings. Engage employees with brand value messages. Achieved 90% employee recall of values well ahead of the 60% target and a vast improvement on the pre-campaign 11% recall. Contributing to a 284% increase of website traffic to Pepper s website. YOY target increase = 50%. Achieved 8,798 page views of the competition micro-site. Target was 3,000. Delivering 100,397 broker opportunity-to-see a brand message. Receiving 2,656 competition entries, with broker details being kept for future business development initiatives. Gained 37% coverage of Pepper brand messages, achieved 29% positive coverage. 8% neutral and 0% negative. 10. EVALUATION The Opening Doors campaign delivered outstanding results, contributing to 129% year-on-year growth for Pepper and record mortgage settlements. Objectives & targets To increase Pepper Homeloans media coverage and engage industry commentators and journalists. Results (evaluation) PR metrics - 37% of all key publications containing Pepper PR brand message during period. Target = 30%. - 29% of Pepper messages mentioned brand during period. Target = 20%. - 8% neutral messages with 0% negative during the period. - Total of 100,397 broker opportunity-to-see a brand message YOY 685%. [Pepper registered the No. 1 spot for PR share of voice 9

10 To get external and internal leverage through brand positioning. during the campaign period.] Overall brand metrics (broker brand affiliation target of top 3 ranking against brand attributes) Refer to Appendix A for details. Mortgage broker research conducted to ascertain Pepper s brand standing compared with competitors revealed: Pepper 1 st across positive brand attributes (i.e. nonconformer & mainstream set). Pepper 1 st across negative brand attributes (i.e. lowest negative score of non-conformer & mainstream set). Pepper 1 st across overall product and service quality (i.e. non-conformer & mainstream set). Pepper 1 st across overall product and service quality (i.e. non-conformer set only). Employee brand metrics (staff recall target of brand values = 60% recall) Pepper conducted an employee brand engagement survey. It revealed that: - 11% of employees understood Pepper s brand position pre-campaign; post campaign this increased to 91.5% % of employees liked the new brand position % of employees believed the new position would build positive perceptions. To leverage the competition cocktail event and launch of Pepper s new head office in North Sydney, NSW. The office opening celebration event and promotion finale was attended by 100+ brokers and industry participants. Key media in attendance. To support the lifting of mortgage settlements from the mortgage broker channel. Record months for August and September 2007 in mortgage settlements, well above same periods in Number of settled mortgages ($millions): $102m Aug 07* YOY 67% $90m Sept 07* YOY 52% Number of settled mortgages: 350 loans settled Aug 07* YOY 25% 10

11 To support the acquisition of new broker relationships during the campaign period. 280 loans settled Sept 07* YOY 13% Newly acquired brokers Aug-Sept 2007 (target 100% YOY increase) August: 212 new brokers = YOY 405% September: 245 new brokers = YOY 250% To support an increase website traffic. Website (achieve 50% YOY increase in web hits) 284% year-on-year increase in website hits on the Pepper Homeloans site. To encourage mortgage brokers to engage with the Pepper Homeloans brand. Micro-site (achieve 1,500 unique visitors and 3,000 page views) Received 2,656 competition entrants via microsite sign-ups i.e. 2,656 unique visitors. Achieved 8,798 page views. Target of 3,000 page views. To maximise value of a modest budget and support the reduction of costs per mortgage settlement during the campaign period. Budget effectiveness (target of $269 cost per settlement) Pre-campaign the cost per settlement (CPS) was $264; this improved to $205 during the campaign period. 11

12 11. APPENDIX Appendix A Support Collateral see attached hard copies and support collateral on CD-ROM. Appendix B Budget see below. Budget = $30,000 Print advertising (incremental spend) $9,500 DM print $2,000 e-dm $1,200 PR $2,100 Competition & event $12,453 Internal communications $n/a leveraged HR team and resources Merchandise $850 Printing and promo support $1,600 Sales activity Strategy, research, media relations management and execution $n/a leveraged existing sales resources and budget $n/a leverage internal marketing team expertise. TOTAL : $29,703 12