We realised one thing our targets did read was their daily newspaper. So we created a personalised version of that day's Daily Telegraph. Exactly the same as the original, apart from the lead story, which instead was all about the recipient. This took a year to set in place. It involved working seven all-nighters. The Telegraph would come, literally hot off the press, about midnight. We would substitute their lead story with our concocted one, reprint the front page, wrap it round the rest of the original paper and then courier it off to our targets to arrive first thing.

At the time of writing, four care home groups, representing a total of nearly 700 homes, had initiated contact with P&G Professional. As we had only mailed sixteen groups, this equals a response rate of 25%. Equally significant, unaided awareness of P&G Professional as a company leapt from 15% to 70% within the care home sector.