The Brief

ndia Book Distributors wanted to reach out to its existing customers and build greater loyalty involving them in a Corporate Social Responsibility programme. The strategy, then, was to think of an activity that any buyer of books would relate to and empathise with. The client tied up with the Kamala Mehta School for the visually challenged and decided to get some of its customers to volunteer to read to its students.

Creative Execution

The agency selected four classic children's books and created new covers for them wherein the name of the author was replaced by that of the recipient -- that is, a customer drawn from the client's database of premium members. These books were mailed out with the message that when one reads out loud to students, one solely brings the work alive to them -- thus turning a reader into an author.

Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.

It was relevant because the execution was based on an activity that we already knew the customer engaged in and had a love for -- that is, the reading of books.

Results

We mailed out 400 such books. 190 customers responded and volunteered to spend a few hours a week at the school. This was way above the response rate for the client's earlier DM exercises. The customers who responded further volunteered and also in some cases spread the word among their friends and colleagues.