A sponge is the perfect visual metaphor to represent the way in which a human brain absorbs the information that comes its way – this idea convinced the agency team and clients right from the beginning. The difficulty in execution was to find the right kind of sponge material to achieve the best brain-effect. Then the sponges needed to be hand-carved to form a brain. As this is complex, the number of addressees was reduced to thirty.

The execution became perfect by adding a label with the claim on it: “Handelsblatt. Substance matters.”Completed with an accompanying letter, the mailing was sent out.

The mailing succeeded in both of its stated aims, namely, to generate interest and position the Handelsblatt brand proposition amongst its target audience.