Pluto

Client: Epsilon
Product: Epsilon creative and strategic services
Title: Nostalgia in a Box
Media: Print
Country: Uk and Ireland
Date Of Campaign: May 2018

Background: “I don’t like nostalgia unless it’s mine.” -Lou ReedWe had a clear objective: to show our clients and contacts how Epsilon turns customer data into powerful campaigns; to provoke emotion and interaction. For this self promotional piece our idea was to create a direct mail pack designed around the idea of nostalgia, with a World Cup theme (ahead of the football tournament in summer 2018). We wanted the DM gift to have a very distinct retro look; making the recipient hark back to adidas trainers of a certain vintage, with an air of mystery and class. Our other important objective was to make each person opening their DM pack feel something. Could we evoke a memory, based on the drama and sheer passion that grabs so many people during a World Cup? Some tournaments will have been more special than others (sure) but we felt certain we could reach many on our recipient list; making them smile and grabbing their attention with something thoughtful – and personalised to them.

Idea: On the eve of the tournament, we sent out a personalised pack, which was chosen based on the recipients age and nationality. For example if they were Irish and between 30 and 50, we concluded Italia ’90 would evoke very strong memories. So we sent them a framed, miniature jersey, with the design of the relevant kit from the tournament; and a passage of carefully crafted copy, talking about iconic moments – in football and history. The eight or nine lines of text, part prose/part poetry, would appeal to memories and national pride, with some reference to the tournament and salient insights from that time. You wouldn’t have to be a mad footy fan, just to have been around at that time and Irish (in this particular example). And we sent our black boxes to people from major footballing nations (France, Germany, England, Spain), as well as nations with lesser footballing heritage such as New Zealand, Lithuania, and Canada (challenging both our research and copywriting skills).For a retro, yet contemporary look, we commissioned custom-made, satin black boxes that had the same dimensions as packaging for football boots. They were wrapped with a bellyband featuring the Lou Reed quote “I don’t like nostalgia unless it’s mine” in spot uv varnish. The result was a beautiful triple texture of black. For typeface, we extended the lines from certain letters to recreate the retro parallels synonymous with retro sports branding. The mini jerseys themselves were mounted in a custom, matte black, shadow box, closed grain wooden frames. They were then printed on 5mm PVC backed on constellation-snow paper. Each shirt and box came with an A5 leaflet to give a little context. The leaflet text asked the reader if they were ‘Ready to reminisce’ and explained how behind every statistic is a story. We cited some key statistics from World Cup tournaments. Then we went to say how the numbers don’t reveal the true stories that came out of those moments; the tears, the triumphs, music and the drama that reverberated in bars, restaurants and living rooms at the time. And live on years after in memory. The final element was an invitation to win their own, actual, full-sized replica shirt by visiting a web landing page: which carried over all the themes of the campaignand tied it further into the Epsilon story.

Results: Sent to over 60 contacts, we had a hugely positive response. We were aiming for an emotional reaction from the outset, and one senior contact (for our client, Google) was close to tears after receiving a shirt which acknowledged their nationality and their beloved Cameroon team from 1990. We had a number of other very enthusiastic and effusive responses from people, again touched by the way we selected their shirt for them and how it reflected back some of those memories (plus the ‘wow factor’ of opening their mysterious gift). For a business response, we generated a number of new conversations on the back of individuals receiving their DMs and being impressed with the attention to detail and design, resulting in significant new leads and work. In the end, we were thrilled with the emotional reaction people had; especially as the campaign supported the brand of personalised marketing we espouse.