Mobile phone company Orange wanted to boost sales of its tailored business phone plans to small firms involved in construction, manufacturing and other manual trades. But the group business mobile plan is notoriously difficult to sell to cold prospects through direct marketing because it requires a big commitment on the part of the end user.

To get small firms to sign up to Orange's tailored phone plans by creating a buzz around the tough Samsung Solid handset and showing how the phone and the plan were built to survive their tough working environment.

Agency Chemistry Communications created a two-part campaign. The first involved an eye-catching direct mail pack with a huge muddy footprint across the envelope with the message 'Does your business day look a bit like this?' Inside was clean a white letterhead that explained how its tough phone could stand up to the reader's working day. At the same time, the audience was emailed a link to an online video showing the phone being put through its paces.

The mail and online campaign not only beat the set targets but achieved results that were around three times better than those run during the previous year for the same group of business plans. It also drove steady traffic to Orange's online shop which had a halo effect on its other plans and services.

By talking direct to this segment and showing that it understood their business needs the campaign helped raise awareness of Orange's business mobile plans as well as boosting phone sales. The combination of a dramatic mailing - which triggered open rates of about 90% - and an email that drove traffic to an online video shows how using direct mail as part of an integrated campaign can deliver considerable results.