As Swisscom IT Services kicked off its acquisition offensive among major companies in Switzerland, the challenge it faced was actually reaching the executive level with its message. Indeed, the mail is often sorted in the back offices on the executive floor and, in certain negative cases, even discarded. However, for this campaign to be successful, it was essential to personally appeal to the relevant person directly.

In order to successfully reach the desired addressee via the direct route, Prime chose a surprising attention-getter by means of a personalised cover picture, using the current editions of the Swiss magazine “Bilanz” (“Bilan” in French-speaking Switzerland) as the messenger.

Consequently, 500 top decision-makers received their personalised edition of Switzerland’s most important business magazine handed directly to them. With their own name on the cover, each and every copy of the magazine drew the desired attention of the respective executive.

The campaign also utilised a cross-media technique, featuring a personal URL on the cover as well, which bridged the gap between offline and online media – from magazine cover to personalised micro-site. The site offered the decision-makers a selection of individually compiled packages with a range of products and services from which to choose.

The selection was then confirmed electronically, and the leads generated were forwarded to the respective key account managers within the sales organisation at Swisscom IT Services.

The personal attention-getter scheme was underpinned by the concurrent use of advertisements, technical articles including bookmarks, and billboard in direct line of view of the selected company.