About the client company
Sodexo Prestige is the UK’s leading specialist event caterer and provider of corporate hospitality packages. They provide catering and event logistics services at prestigious events such as the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, golf’s Open Championship and Royal Ascot.
Strategy – Broader business issues the company is facing
The economic climate has meant that providers of corporate hospitality have seen a huge decline in sales. This has been an area that many client organisations have cut back on, leaving the market in tough times. This means that Sodexo has to work harder and smarter to find new markets for its products. Coupled with the hiatus around Tiger Woods, the world’s leading golfer and sales tool for such an event; Sodexo were going to have to work hard to meet their tough business targets.
Objectives of the campaign
The approach taken with this campaign was different to any other that Sodexo had undertaken in the past. Sodexo had previously tried email acquisition campaigns, renting data from other data owners but achieved disappointing results. This meant there was reluctance on the part of Sodexo to replicate past failures.
As such, Cyance needed to use a much more intelligent data-centric route, and ensure that it was a multi-channel programme, instead of a simplistic “Blast and hope” email programme.
The main objectives of the campaign were to:
- Drive website traffic to build awareness.
- Increase the Sodexo prospect database for ongoing relationships.
- Prove positive ROI.
- Develop a new hospitality market – executive golf fanatics in North East England and Scotland
The target audience
Previous purchase history data from Sodexo showed that the role/industry/region of a customer can vary enormously.
However, the project targeted key decision makers and segmented according to:
- MDs/Business Owners and Finance Directors.
- Management roles within business of certain size/turnover. (Finance or non-finance led)
- Businesses located within certain postcodes (local, Scottish, and NW England).
These were chosen as areas that are typically harder to attract (SE England & London being the main area historically). NW England was settled upon due to its airport links with Edinburgh. This decision was made through the initial data analysis of previous Open golf hospitality clients.
Media, channels or techniques used
Initially a series of emails were sent to the six data cells, all with tailored tone and copy,relevant to that cell. Each email send used 4 subject lines (a/b/c/d split test), to ensure the best performing was seen by the majority of recipients.
Data such as company name, local airport and first/surname were used throughout the email to deliver a more personalised communication. This was also carried through to the direct mail.
The prospect journey had been mapped to deliver different relevant follow-up email messages, based on the click-activity data (opens, clicks) of the recipient. The campaign ran through Feb-Apr 2010, and a final email was sent, timed to arrive the day after the conclusion of The Masters 2010 golf tournament in April.
In parallel, this click-activity was sent in real time to the outbound telemarketing team who then targeted the recipients who had opened and clicked on the emails, allowing them to follow up. This allowed them to target their opening conversations based on the pages the recipient had been reading. A clear briefing to telesales ensured that this was done using the right tone of voice and not in a “big brother” way.
The final direct mail budget did not allow for marketing material to be sent to everyone, so we selected respondents that had shown the highest level of engagement, without making a purchase, and mapped out a mirror group that reflected the same attributes as group 1, but had lower engagement levels.
Businesses located very close to St Andrews would be encouraged to support their “Local event”, other Edinburgh and Scottish located businesses would be encouraged to attend a traditional “Scottish” event whereas those located in the North West of England would be sent a message emphasising that St Andrews is still “Within easy reach” of them, as drive-time analysis had been performed, targeting those within 45 minutes of Manchester and Leeds Bradford airports; both of which fly to the nearest airport to St. Andrews, Edinburgh.
The messaging also varied between the two different job title selections. MD’s and FD’s etc (Cell A) would be encouraged to see the financial benefits to their businesses of entertaining clients at such events, whereas those being sent to the non-budgetary holding titles (Cell B) would carry a more personal message.
Timescales of the campaign
The timescales were tight for this project. From initial sign-off (26th Jan 2010) to first email wave (Feb 19th) was just three weeks.
The email waves continued through March and April 2010. With the direct mail dropping in mid April.
Results
The campaign to-date (as of 5th June 2010) has delivered a x24 ROI
- Online traffic increased by up to 250 per cent following a mail shot (see graph 1. Unique web users).
- Over 500 leads resulted from the campaign, many with national companies who are now also looking to book Open Golf hospitality at Sandwich next year.
- There was a direct and immediate relationship between eshot activity and sales
Client testimonials
“Attracting customers from Scotland and the North of England has always been a difficult task. With the data-drive approach to this campaign we have seen not only engagement from cold prospects, but it has translated into bookings, giving us an ROI that was beyond all of our expectations.”
Anna Fenten, Marketing Director, Sodexo Prestige
“It goes to show that intelligent data usage can still work for online acquisition campaigns in B2B. This campaign really showcases the value of intelligent data selection, and how using data at every stage of the sales journey can reap significant returns. As such, we believe this approach should be heralded.”
Andrew Nicholson, head of online, Sodexo Prestige
