Absa home loans direct mail case study

Hit the right audience at the right time with your mailer and your message will definitely be heard. South African bank, Absa, turned a series of electricity blackouts in a Johannesburg suburb to its advantage by targeting those householders affected with a piece of timely and relevant direct mail.

‘Read this if you don’t want to be left in the dark again’ urged the black envelope. But how can a bank help homeowners with their electricity supply? It seems a tenuous link indeed. The very bright, white letter from the home loans unit explained how customers could take out a loan to buy a home generator, so that next time there was a power cut, their electricity supply wouldn’t be affected.

There were no bells or whistles on this mailer created by Greymatter, no glow in the dark inks to make it stand out. It didn’t need them – it arrived days after the latest blackout, which meant people were very receptive to the personal message. A fact that was reflected in the healthy response and ROI, which was a hefty 272% over target.