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Laithwaites Case Study

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Client Name Laithwaites The Organisation Laithwaites is the UK's largest mail order and online wine merchant. Established in 1973, it has several million customers. It uses partnerships, direct mail and press to successfully recruit large numbers of new customers every year. The Challenge How do you add new growth into a successful business built on print media? One answer is to add television to the media mix. So in 2005 Lathwaites formed a partnership with the UK TV channels, aiming to replicate the success they had enjoyed with ventures like the Sunday Times Wine Club.

Unfortunately, despite two years' investment, success did not materialise and customers from TV were costing Laithwaites around 100 times more than from print.

We worked with creative agency, Reynolds Busby Lee to audit the TV experience and recommend whether the channel should still be used and, if so, how success might be achieved.

 The Insight

We identified three key issues:

  • The creative format and expression of the offer
  • The media targeting
  • The call handling process

We then tested various options to identify the most effective.

 Our Solution Creative
The previous commercial was edited to express the offer more clearly, recognising that TV does not allow the viewer to contemplate the offer as they would in press.

Media
We broadened the media targeting out from a few niche channels to reflect more closely the profile of wine buyers attracted by print media.

Call handling
We replaced the internal call centre team who were used to dealing with customers with an external team who had a greater focus on initial sales.

We ran three key tests:

  • Firstly a 15 minute infomercial
  • Then a 2 minute long DRTV commercial, and
  • Finally a 90 second conventional DRTV commercial
 The Results
  • Within six months television had become the second largest channel by volume for new customers for Laithwaites
  • It is also the second most cost efficient, both at recruitment and for subsequent profitability
  • Television is now a core element of Laithwaites marketing mix
What we did Added new growth to a business built on print media