Direct mail case study: HP Singapore gets involved in parent-child bedtime story time

In a bid to boost awareness of its mobile printing services, HP Singapore sought to remind its audience of the joy that physical prints bring. This comes at a time where digital and smartphone penetration is on the rise, giving consumers less reasons to print.

Looking closer at young parents in Singapore, HP found that on an average, parents endure some of the harshest working hours globally. Hence, spending quality time with their children can prove to be a challenge.

One treasured moment in the parent-child relationship HP decided to be part of was the bedtime story time. With this in mind, HP produced The Adventures of Harriet Purrkins in an attempt to reinvent story time and promote the joy of letter writing.

This was done through a letter subscription service that told the adventures of a resourceful young tortoiseshell cat who sets out to find her family’s long-lost treasure.

A microsite was created for people to subscribe to receive The Adventures of Harriet Purrkins. It also aimed to educate consumers on HP mobile printing. Parent influencers helped announce the subscription and called on their followers to subscribe on the microsite.

Once all subscriptions were fully redeemed, involved influencers also held a contest to give away 50 extra subscriptions.

The weekly printed letters included a new chapter of the story, access to an exclusive The Adventures of Harriet Purrkins’ printable arts and crafts activity, and exclusive discounts and promotions for HP printers and ink.

Each week’s printable activity needed a password to download to print, hence, this was distributed in the letters.

Objective

The objective of the campaign was to raise awareness of HP’s mobile printing services and drive a preference towards HP in this arena. It also aimed to encourage parents to spend more quality time with their children while reminding its audience of the joy that physical prints bring.

Target audience

Young parents located in Singapore.

Result

The direct mailer campaign garnered double the number of target subscribers and a 29% conversion rate. A total of 53 hours was also spent on the subscription website with 80% of visitors falling within the campaign’s target audience age group.

The writer is Yen Yen Mak, country marketing manager, printing systems at HP Inc. Singapore

The Direct Mail Case Study is brought to you by Marketing Magazine in association with DMrocket.