How Unilever achieved a 85% opt-in rate during COVID-19

With over half a million photos printed in a single month, April 2020 not only marked Stampix' 4th anniversary, but also a new record in our operating history. Besides the "Corona-effect" with more campaigns executed, a notable peak was caused by Unilever's online activation for its baby care brand, Zwitsal.

Activating with Stampix, Unilever Belgium set out on a mission to reward over 20,000 parents with an emotional gift during these challenging times. To enable a unique connection between children and their grandparents in isolation, parents could upload 10 photos of their family on a Zwitsal branded microsite. 

The photos were printed by Stampix, and delivered as a tangible surprise to the grandparents, an offline update, on how the kids are doing during the lockdown period. The photos included Zwitsal branding and referenced as a “gift” from the sender (the parents). 

As a purpose-driven brand, both the timing and the alignment with Zwitsal’s core values were important aspects of the activation. 

For example:

  • Zwitsal’s slogan “We understand how it feels” formed the cornerstone of the campaign. In their fight against the perfect picture of parenthood, Zwitsal acknowledges that nobody is perfect and imperfections and/or perfections should be enjoyed. As this messages is highly relevant during times of isolation, it was communicated consistently across all touchpoints (online and offline). 

  • “Emotionally Connected By Memories” forms one of Zwitsal’s key pillars to achieve purposeful communication. Having personal baby photos printed and sent to family members fulfilled this connection.

  • Positioned as a warm gift to their loyal customers, Zwitsal decided to omit explicit branding elements and commercial messaging. Only the packaging and reverse of each photo was branded, not the frontside.

The power of reciprocity

Live in April 2020, with 10 photos per customer, 50k baby photos were printed and delivered directly to family and grandparents in less than one week. The activation was initiated through Zwitsal’s Facebook Page and soon went viral as people started tagging each other in the comments. 

The campaign exceeded its targets and KPIs:

85% of customers opted-in to Zwitsal's newsletter

63% open rate was measured on the branded confirmation mails, allowing customers to click to Zwitsal website

Photo tag analysis confirmed +70% of photos of children & babies, hence a successful targeting

The COVID-19 measures no doubt had a significant contribution to the campaign’s success. As people spend more time online we observed a general peak in photo orders via the Stampix platform.

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