WORK · A-DEC · CASE STUDY

THE CHALLENGE

Did you know that Salzburg, Austria, is famous for being the European destination with the highest density of first-class restaurants per capita? This and many other fun facts were part of our campaign to entice A-dec dealers to sell their way to Salzburg. A-dec, a leading manufacturer of dental equipment, held a six month long dealer sales contest with the chance to win a trip to Salzburg. The challenge was to get the A-dec dealer audience excited about the trip amidst an abundance of competitors' promotions and then keep them motivated for the duration of the promotion. We had to convince A-dec dealers and their sales staff that a trip to Salzburg was more enticing than a trip to Hawaii, a cash incentive or any other competing offer.

THE APPROACH

This contest was the first time A-dec had created a promotional program to support its dealer network. Several of A-dec's competitors had run promotions for years so we knew we had to make a big impression. Recognizing that A-dec's dealers know their products are top of the line, we decided to focus the creative on selling the fabulous city of Salzburg as the reward for selling the best. We recognized that Salzburg is not always on everyone's "top 10 places to see before you die" list so we had to educate our audience about this amazing opportunity with creative that expressed the unique spirit of Austria.

THE WORK

To create a big splash, we kicked off the promotion with a direct mail announcement to dealers, asking: "Can you see yourself here?" They literally could. Because inside the package was an original View-Master with a reel of Austrian scenery. We also included a booklet that detailed the rules of the promotion around beautiful Austrian imagery and fun facts about the country. To follow, we created a succession of three more mailings that kept participants engaged and kept their sales on track. The mailings were paced to drop every four to six weeks and included a stack of Austrian flashcards with useful phrases like, "Mein Bierkrug ist gross." (My beer stein is big.), an instructional CD on how to yodel (with a custom soundtrack titled "See you in Salzburg") and a travel map of Austria with additional information about the country.

THE RESULTS

The promotion was a huge success. The sales group enthusiastically rallied their sales teams toward their goals...including grown men dressing up as milk maids (see image 3 above). Sales figures exceeded expectations with the top five dealer's offices, the top 50 territory reps and top 10 equipment reps winning trips to Salzburg.