The Brief

Courts departmental stores were finding it hard to drive sales for its air-conditioning division. Walk-in sales are slow and repeat purchase cycles are long. We were tasked to reinvent the wheel so as to seek out more customers. The strategy was simple - air-conditioners are a pain to live with once they start turning faulty. Compressors start to leak and rattle, often unbeknownst to the owner. Instead the biggest victims are neighbours. Often strangers to one another, they avoid confrontations and end up suffering in silence. We seized the opportunity to offer a unique service.

Creative Execution

The idea to create a "complain channel" helped Courts generate leads for potential customers. People that already had faulty air-conditioning which may require replacing. Leads that otherwise would have been really hard to find. More importantly, it was a service that benefited both the snitches and Courts as a retailer. In exchange for peace and quiet, the annoyed neighbour could easily provide all the leads Courts needed. While the antagonist could enjoy free servicing and great deals for a new airconditioner.

Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.

The solution was to help those suffering in silence to speak up. We created Neighbour Cooler - a digital channel that allowed neighbours to snitch on annoyances anonymously. Based on the leads, Courts deployed a service crew to the scene. Under the cover of providing free air-con servicing in the vicinity, the crew was able to infiltrate the antagonist's home. Once in, it was far easier for Courts to promote its deals for new air-conditioning to replace the faulty one. All thanks to annoyed neighbours who found them potential customers.

Results

Within the first two weeks of launching this service, we had 35 official reports of annoyances. 25% conversion rate to new purchases. Till date, over 3000 unique footfall to the site. Although it is still early days to provide more results, signs have been promising.