Land Rover tapped into the tactile nature of direct mail to create talkability and buzz.
Land Rover wanted to engage farmers in a new way that would grab their attention.
Land Rover needed to talk to the most down-to-earth people imaginable - farmers (specifically members of the National Farmers Union, who qualified for a special 5% discount). The challenge was to place the vehicle clearly in their world in a mailer that showed them, no matter what the job, Defender would get it done.
The no-frills nature of the vehicle was replicated in the utilitarian nature of the pack, made from 100% recycled, unrefined paper.
The pack unfolded with a series of warning stamps, the sort you see on delicate parcels but in this case the meanings were reversed. 'Do not handle with care'. 'Not fragile'. 'Do please turn upside down'.' Do not be careful'.
With a response rate of 6.8%, it is set to be their most successful Defender pack to date. From 16,000 mailings, 1,089 people requested a test drive and 787 requested a purchase voucher.
Mail is wonderfully tactile. The paper stock is heavy-duty and communicates a whole bunch of things about the Defender without a single word being exchanged. Rugged, straightforward, unshowy. Here, the pack may look perplexingly ordinary but the actual experience of the mailing is a demonstration of top quality craft skills from the team who put this together.
It's not always what you say that gets your meaning across but how you say it.