With supermarket chains joining the crowded furniture and homeware sector, furniture retailer Habitat was struggling to differentiate itself from its competitors and looking for a way of keeping customers engaged with its brand.

To re-engage its customers by building on latent brand advocacy. Habitat had just launched its spring/summer range and wanted the heroes of the campaign to be the colourful products so it could encourage customers to 'Play with Colour'.

WDMP created a mailer called 'Play with Colour', which invited people to do just that. The agency came up with a twist on Twister, the popular family game which has tied people up in knots for decades. But instead of coloured dots players had to place their arms and legs on different products from Habitat's new range. A smart move by the retailer to achieve standout, this powerful piece of branding also has a long shelf life and will sit in people's cupboards for months, if not years. To drive response and footfall to its stores, Habitat also offered a 20% discount.

The campaign achieved an above industry average response rate of 3% with an ROI of 114%. It generated a gross revenue of £750,000, doubling the sales value from the previous year. Re-engaged, high-value lapsed customers spent an average of £579 per transaction, nine times more than usual.

Even a relatively inexpensive mailer can act as a powerful brand advocate, as this Habitat-branded game of Twister shows. The retailer put something in a mailing that really adds value, makes people want to hang on to it and adds new zest to the brand. The chances are this will have a long, long shelf life, too, and sit in people's cupboards for months, if not years.