Best B2B lead generation campaign
Runner up: HSBC
Agency: Intelligent Marketing
Campaign: Jelly Beans Campaign
Businesses change their banking arrangements either because they are unhappy with their current bank, normally because of poor service, because other banks offer a better alternative or imply because it is easy to switch. HSBC needed to talk directly with managing directors and financial directors currently banking with a competitor and emphasise why they should bank with HSBC, and how easy it was to switch.
To maximise accuracy a minimum of ten different data sources were used to compile the target audience. A comprehensive profile of each business was compiled including sector, age, turnover and growth. Certain sectors which were against standard HSBC criteria were suppressed as were businesses which traded tobacco or armaments for example. Once the target businesses had been selected HSBC divided them into three: those with an approximate turnover of £0.5 million to £1 million; those with an approximate turnover of £1 million to £10 million; and those with an approximate turnover of £10 million to £25 million.
The bank planned to address the whole of the prospect pool, but rather than take on too much at once decided to concentrate on following up the higher value prospects first. All prospects were contacted within a maximum of 48 hours and the primary ones within 24 hours.
Managing directors and financial directors have little time and are used to dry, dull mailings from banks. HSBC therefore decided to illustrate that it was the bank that values the difference in business by targeting them with something unusual and unexpected.
Jelly beans were selected as colourful and graphic. They illustrated that everyone has different tastes and preferences in the same way that every business has different needs and aspirations. The complimentary jelly beans created a positive association with HSBC and also provided something to share with a team acknowledging the fact that switching banks is a decision made by more than one person. The aim was to show that HSBC takes the time to understand what makes each business different and therefore understands and meets their specific needs.
HSBC relied heavily on its internal staff to support the campaign so also needed to do some internal marketing before the launch. An email was sent to all senior management and Get a taste…’ packs to every Commercial Centre which included campaign instructions, posters, sample packs, mouse mats and of course – jelly beans! Announcements were made on the internal TV network HSBC TV and an article posted on Commercial Today, the company intranet. The campaign was launched in person to Customer Telephone Service teams which prompted the comment from one team manager in Leicester: “It’s great to be working on something that is so different to what we normally do… And the jelly beans will be a definite incentive for my team!”
Phase 1 – Beans, beans, beans – targeted 28,000 prospects. Each box included personalised mail, four response options (phone, fax, online, email) and pack of jelly beans. Also included was a key explaining that different beans represented different business decisions such as expansion and consolidation.
Phase 2 – Bean Story – was sent to 16,000 prospects. The tone was more familiar as the prospect had already been contacted. The pack contained a personalised letter, a hardback book and a large red inedible jelly bean. The single red bean fitted into each page of the hardback book and was used to illustrate the six key benefits of banking with HSBC; each page told a story. Paul Debney, relationship manager for the Muswell Hill branch of HSBC, was enthusiastic. “In all my time at the bank, I have never seen us do anything so bold. If this doesn’t get us noticed nothing will!”
Responses were encouraged in any of four ways:
1. Phone. A dedicated campaign line was set up which went straight to Customer Telephone Service and flashed up when it was a beans’ lead.
2. Fax. A faxback form was included in the mailer to make a response easy for prospect and underlining that switching was easy. Research had shown that fax responses tended to be few, but of high quality.
3. Online. A campaign microsite was created (www.hsbc.co.uk/unique) and each prospect was provided with a unique code in their DM.
4. Email. A dedicated email address was created.
All incoming responses were passed on to relevant commercial centre within 24 hours.
The results of the campaign were all available to the judges of the B2B Marketing Awards and the campaign was assessed accordingly. Client confidentiality, however, restricts publication in their entirety. What can be revealed is that the beans campaign achieved an unprecedented 25.4 per cent response rate overall and a predicted ROI of 42:1, vastly exceeding the target ROI of 3:1. As Mike Durkin from the network leadership team says, “This is the best commercial campaign we have ever done.”
