Media Plan of the Year 2010 

In the best of economic times, the U.S. Postal Service goes up against daunting competition in the form of FedEx and UPS, iconic brands that have traditionally outspent the USPS 2-to-1. In last year's tanking economy, the government agency upped the ante for agency Campbell Ewald by setting even more aggressive sales goals at a time when industry volume was slipping 5-9 percent. C-E was told to increase revenue and volume by that amount in the first 90 days of a campaign that kicked off mid-May 2009.

The Interpublic agency devised a plan to create awareness of the USPS's Flat Rate Box, a product that has resonated with customers in recent years and casts a halo effect over other Priority Mail offerings. C-E created the tag, "If it fits, it ships...for a low flat rate," and introduced a direct-response strategy to generate leads for the Flat Rate Box, something the postal service had not done previously.

To support those efforts, the postal service last year significantly increased its marketing budget to the level of its rivals, with measured media ad spending hiked to $87 million from $16 million, per Nielsen Co. data.

Initial results surpassed the USPS mandate to the Warren, Mich., agency. Within the first three months of the campaign's launch, USPS revenue increased 38 percent and volume rose 35 percent. By the end of the postal service's fiscal year in September 2009, it posted a 3 percent increase in Priority Mail revenue at a time when UPS and FedEx reported double-digit revenue losses, according to C-E. The campaign delivered more than twice the number of leads set as a goal by the USPS through February of this year and generated those leads while increasing cost savings.

The results are even more impressive given the economic meltdown that was 2009. For those efforts on behalf of the USPS,

C-E wins recognition for the Media Plan of the Year for an integrated campaign spending at least $25 million.

"We wanted to get the shipping kit in as many hands as possible, and our objective was to create awareness of the Flat Rate Box as well as generate leads," says Al Gilbert, the USPS advertising program manager overseeing media planning. "We beat our sales and volume goals by seven times and, through continued media optimization, we drove down our cost per lead by 46 percent over that same time period."

Previously, the USPS advertised multiple products. Last year's efforts, however, put a single focus on the Flat Rate Box, with an emphasis on targeting small-business owners. To do so, C-E created cross-platform video segments to be used in multiple media channels in an effort to make it easy for those owners to request shipping kits. Small business segments were developed with CNN Headline News, which concurrently ran on the Web and were featured in Fortune Small Business magazine. Similar programs were developed with Fox News Channel, Fox Business and Foxnews.com One of the ways C-E increased efficiencies was through the use of Google TV ads to take advantage of remnant pricing in desirable programming.

"Essentially, we turned a USPS shipping kit into a direct-response vehicle; the Flat Rate Box starred in its own DRTV commercial," says Kevin Pietsch, C-E director, media planning. "We had 60-second spots with a strong call to action that created the opportunity to call an 800-number or go to the Web site.

DRTV is usually more business-to-consumer. It's very unique to have business-to-business marketing on TV. We were targeting a more entrepreneurial customer, nontraditional businesses, small businesses, micro-businesses. We used a variety of dayparts in cable news, business and sports channels."

Other DR channels included DR print, Web banners, search, direct mail and e-mail. Display banners, used around business news content, provided one-click access to order the kit. The banners also leveraged TV buys, using cross-platform activity: broadband pre-roll spots aired prior to digital news segments with companion banner ads for easy access to the kit-request page. Added value sponsorships were developed around business content on cable nets like CNN and FNC and highly targeted sporting events. "We expanded our presence without having to pay for it," says Pietsch.

During the Q4 gift-giving season, the USPS added a consumer element, targeting women and families through nontraditional channels like cinema advertising tied to holiday movies.

A key component of the campaign was the constant optimization of costs. DRTV buys were optimized daily, for example, on a cost-per-lead basis, with a 21 percent improvement in October 2009 to February '10 compared to the initial five months after the start in May '09. During the same time, C-E also said it improved CPL levels 84 percent for print, 55 percent for display banners, 30 percent for search and 42 percent for direct mail.