Campaign: Damco Toy Trip
Client: Damco
PR Team: BOTTLE PR
Timing: January - June 2012

Project Brief

Damco, part of the A.P. Moller - Maersk Group, is one of the world's largest providers of freight forwarding and supply chain management. Recently, Damco has developed a unique and specialised logistics solution for the Toy Industry and in December 2011 BOTTLE won a competitive pitch to support one of Damco's key 2012 business targets: to position Damco as the preferred provider of logistics for mid-sized toy wholesalers, distributors and retailers within the Toy Industry.

Objectives

• Raise Damco's profile and engage with toy manufacturers in the UK and Germany.
• To up-sell the toy value proposition to Damco's existing retail customers.
• To generate leads and secure new customers / business.
• Foster relationships with trade media for long-term benefits.

Strategy

To stand out from other logistics providers and capture the imagination of the toy trade, toy manufacturers and toy media, BOTTLE identified that the campaign needed to be highly creative, pushing the boundaries on traditional logistic companies' PR campaigns.

BOTTLE created the Damco Toy Trip, inviting toy manufacturers, distributors and retailers to contribute a toy for a round-the-world trip of a lifetime. Budding Toy Tourists were 'checked-in' at the Damco Executive Airport Lounge at London Hilton Olympia on Wednesday 25 January 2012 and also at the Global Toy Conference in Nuremberg on Monday 6 February 2012.

The toys visited ten cities travelling through seven countries spanning three continents over a four month period from Nuremberg to Munich, New York, Los Angeles, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Genoa and Madrid, travelling in a range of Damco transportation before arriving back in London at the beginning of June.

The toys' progress was tracked at www.damcotoytrip.com and updates were sent direct from Damco to toy manufacturers, distributors and retailers. At the end of their trip the toys will be donated to the Evelina Children's Hospital, part of Guys and St Thomas' in London and SOS Kinderdorf in Nuremberg.

Implementation

Toy manufacturers and retailers in the UK and Germany were sent mock airline tickets, inviting them to check-in one of their toys on a round-the-world trip of a lifetime. Spaces were limited to 50 to emphasis the uniqueness of the opportunity.

BOTTLE created check-in-lounges at the UK and German Toy Fairs complete with departure board, air hostesses, relaxation area and refreshments.

BOTTLE also created a blog, which was hosted on a specially designed micro site so manufacturers could monitor their toys progress and journalists could keep up to date with the toys adventures. Individual toys blogged from the countries about their adventures.

An initial launch release was issued pre and post event and twice monthly throughout the campaign targeting the trade toy media in the UK and Germany and accompanied by creative imagery. Each release had a 'soft' focus on different elements of the Damco offering – reinforcing Damco's message of being a leading third party logistics provider.

To continue the engagement with potential customers, regular email updates were sent providing the Damco sales team with an opportunity to keep in contact.

Results

• All 50 seats on the trip were taken – this exceeded Damco's year one target of engaging with toy manufacturers in the UK and Germany.
• Big names included Mattel, LEGO and Disney and even a German Princess donated a toy. The Toy Tourists included Rapunzel, Matilda and Sonic the Hedgehog. *200 leads have been identified to date, which are being processed by the Damco sales team in UK and Germany.
• Four business contracts have been won as a direct results of the campaign.
• BOTTLE secured two charities – the Evelina Children's Hospital, part of Guys and St Thomas' in London and SOS Kinderdorf in Nuremberg who will be receiving all the toys.
• Relationships were reinforced with existing clients.
• BOTTLE has secured 20 items of coverage to date. The campaign has truly caught the imagination of the toy trade media.
• Maersk also featured the campaign on their Facebook page securing 387 Likes and through their Twitter feed which has 1,641 followers.
• Each Damco Toy Trip blog post received approx 50 hits each and each set of photos on the Damco Toy Trip blog received approx 50 views per set, top 10 most popular individual photos were viewed over 100 times each.