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Brother International Europe: 141%European Association of Communications Agencies

Silver, 2012

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Brother International Europe: 141%

Client: Brother

Brand: Brother International Europe

Agency: Grey London

Category: Product/Service Launch

Country: United Kingdom

Before its campaign to introduce the A3 printer, Brother International ranked among the top five printing manufacture brands

throughout Europe, but most people were unaware of the company's existence. With low brand awareness and a divide

between the company and the consumer, Brother needed a strategy that would not only increase its market share, but also

increase its brand awareness.

Using television advertisements as their main platform for reaching the consumer, Brother was able to increase the number of

retailers they sold to, as well as experience an overall increase in brand recognition and awareness.

Objectives

1. Business Objectives

Hit 2011 launch target of 202,000 unit sales across Europe. This would equate to33 million in turnover. Specifically with

these three markets:

l Germany: 53,000 units (8 million turnover)

l France: 26,000 units (4.7 million turnover)

l United Kingdom: 30,000 units (5.1 million turnover)

2. Marketing Objectives

Increase penetration within retailers by 10% at European level. This meant going from 5107 to 5618 retailers. Specifically

with these markets:

l Germany: (10% increase) from 1550 to 1705 retailers

l France: (6% increase) from 2400 to 2544 retailers

Target audience

1. Retailers to stock and recommend the machines

Title: Brother International Europe: 141%

Source: European Association of Communications Agencies

Issue: Silver, 2012

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2. Small business owners to buy the machines

Communication strategy

Fundamental Problems:

There were two fundamental traits that were found across all offices:

1. Most people cannot tell you what brand their printer is

2. It was of no interest to anyone until something went wrong

Our Mission:

In addition to talking about the benefits of the new Brother printer, the perception of printers overall was to be challenged and

ultimately, position the Brother printer as not 'just a grey box in the corner' but as a brand and product that helps you realise

your business potential.

The Core Message:

Brother is a facilitator and an ally that enables small businesses to thrive and realise their potential.

Creative strategy

Emotional Attachment:

In the campaign, Brother had to find some way to make the A3 more than just a printer with different paper sizes and buttons.

Brother had to work on creating an emotional attachment between the brand, the product and the audience who were

ambitious and driven.

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Looking at the difference between the A3 and the older A4, it's 141%. Brother was able to integrate this into the strategy by

sending the message to our consumers that it is always giving more than 100% in relentless pursuit of success.

Media strategy

The use of television advertisements was heavily used to bring the message to the consumers.

The television campaign used the A3 printer as a facilitator to bring various business ideas into light. Instead of focusing on

the consumer, Brother focused on the journey of the small-businessman and their dreams of success.

Since the campaign was to be shown in 24 different European countries, this approach seemed the most practical for reaching

such a large audience

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Budget

5 million to10 million

Markets

Austria |Belgium | Croatia| Denmark | Finland | France | Germany | Iceland | Italy| Netherlands | Norway | Poland | Portugal |

Romania | Russia | Slovakia | Slovenia| Spain | Switzerland | United Kingdom

Evidence of results

The 141% campaign was able to meet and exceed expectations.

Before the launch of the 141% campaign, unit sales were roughly 150,000. The objective was a 41% increase to about

200,000 but the end result was even 4% above that expected quota.

Similar results occurred in individual countries with regards to sales, with Germany being the most successful exceeding the

objective by 12%. These results are quite impressive looking at the state of the economy during the campaign.

With regards to the marketing objectives, these too were either met or exceeded. Overall in the EU the percentage increase of

the number of retailers was 33%, 21% over the expected value.

After running the campaign, there were also tests of brand and advertising awareness in both France and Germany that

showed both were up significantly due to the campaign.

Copyright European Association of Communications Agencies 2012 European Association of Communications Agencies

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