GOLD

Client: Scotiabank

Campaign: Relationship Builder – 2002 Spring Bundled Solutions Campaign

Agency: Arc Marketing, Toronto

Creative Director: Amy Morrison

Copywriters: Maggie Screaton and Karin Elz

Art Directors: Amy Morrison and Corey Ginou

Scotiabank, one of Canada’s leading customer-centric financial institutions, implemented an innovative database marketing program called ‘Relationship Builder.’ It was an ongoing campaign that moved away from seasonal, single-focus promotions (employed by most Canadian banks) toward continuous multiple-product campaigns.

The ‘Relationship Builder’ campaign targeted 610,000 existing English and French Scotiabank customers aged 25 to 64 years (segmented into three life stages) with customized direct mail packages sent during the spring lending season (March). Customers were selected based on ‘Customer Contact Offer Optimization,’ a data model that evaluates over 10,000 offer combinations and predicts and ranks the likelihood of response to each product by each customer. Over 135 unique offer combinations were mailed, focusing on both secured and unsecured borrowing options, with a secondary message of investing and day-to-day banking.

Each package consisted of a non-traditional square outer envelope with real-life visuals and a relevant teaser, personalized letter, two to four inserts with product information and a strong call to action. (A self-mailer test was also developed to determine the format for future campaigns.)

Telephone sales representatives, armed with detailed profiles of each customer/offer, handled all inbound inquiries, as well as follow-up outbound calls to provide additional information and encourage a buying decision. And priority customers were assigned to in-branch sales representatives through an intranet-based contact management platform. Customers were also encouraged to visit their branch or visit the Web site for more information. Key messages – primarily, informing customers of the selection of relevant solutions – were integrated with Scotiabank’s mass media and in-branch spring lending advertising.

The campaign response rate was 20% over original projection.

SILVER

Scotiabank for ‘The Vault: Email Acquisition’ program, developed by Arc Marketing, Toronto

MERIT

Scotiabank for its ‘Money Master High Interest Savings Account’ test campaign, created by Arc Marketing, Toronto