2011 Winners & Shortlists

Brief Explanation

We created seven congratulatory cards, specifically designed to look exactly like clichéd store-bought cards - complete with a fictional greeting card company logo... just as if someone from Batelco had gone out of their way to buy the greeting card from a gift shop.The challenge was to personalize 62,000 cards with real, heartfelt messages of congratulations. Over the course of one weekend, we got Batelco employees to personally fill every card with congratulatory messages, seal every envelope and write every address – all by hand.

The Brief

Batelco, Bahrain’s leading telecommunications company, wanted to announce to all their broadband subscribers across five packages, that their package had been automatically upgraded.

How the final design was conceived

Our insight was that on different occasions, people collectively write personal messages on cards to express their sentiments and affection. Mass printed direct mailers often feel cold and impersonal, and did not fit in with the celebratory nature of our announcement. The announcement had to be in keeping with the scope of the upgrades.

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

No other company had ever written that many personalised cards to such a large group of people. Subscribers felt valued, special and appreciated when they received their personalised card in the mail. In return, Batelco received over 55,000 calls from people showing their appreciation. Batelco began with an ordinary announcement, and ended up with 62,000 friends.