1,000 highly qualified prospect companies were selected from IT lists with HP's Marketing Database. The creative strategy defined was the use of testimonials in a multi-step campaign showing how HP helped great companies such as DreamWorks and BMW WilliamsF1 make a difference. Each prospect received two outstanding and personalised direct mail pieces presenting the testimonials (1 per week) with a strong call to action to the HP Call Centre, where HP created and trained a dedicated cell. The third step was a follow-up from HP for all companies that didn’t respond to the campaign.

With an overall Investment of US$33,000, the campaign generated 189 leads (a 9.4% rate considering 2,000 hits), and 70 conversions of prospects into customers (78% conversion rate) totaling US$1,530,000 in sales. Considering the IT market average contribution margin of 10%, the campaign was responsible for an ROI of 460%. Unlike previous campaigns, HP made a strong move in the IT market thanks to the strategic use of direct marketing, driving sales of complex IT solutions.