Unlike most other awards shows, D&AD is not for profit. So how does it survive? Masterclasses. Run by the best, to teach the next gen of award winners. But we had a massive problem. The budget to promote D&AD Masterclasses was tiny. And our target audience are some of the most senior people within the marketing industry. They’re notoriously difficult to reach. In fact, many have gatekeepers, PAs who answer their phones and open their mail. So how do you get past these gatekeepers, engage and drive online enquiries about the Masterclasses?

We decided to target our audience with their own work. What could be more personal, engaging and relevant than that? To be sent something that you’ve put your blood, sweat and tears into. A mailing that means something special to you, and something different to everyone. A mailing that gives you goosebumps every time you see it. And something that reminds you exactly what it takes to be great.

Everyone who’s been in D&AD knows it’s tough. Everything has to be perfect. And it doesn't start and end with the creative solution. It’s a process that runs from the person who takes the brief and the creative team, to the ones who sell it and the craftspeople that produce it.

So, it can be frustrating if you've achieved this excellence, but those around you don’t have the skills to achieve it for themselves. After all, you know exactly what it takes. So, how do you make sure the rest of your agency does?

Masterclasses. This is a space where Pencil winners teach the next generation how it’s done. Training like this is vital, if you want success right across your agency. This was the message we needed to deliver to our target audience - in a dramatic, personal and above all creative way. They would expect nothing less.

To promote D&AD Masterclasses we committed sacrilege. We ripped apart the D&AD winner’s annual in the final year it would be printed. And we sent creative leaders who had been in the annual their own work with the message: ‘You know where great work ends up. But does the rest of your agency know where it begins?’

It was both personal and direct. It reminded people what creative excellence is all about. And it made people feel special, whilst also pointing out just how much it takes to produce great work and the part D&AD Masterclasses can play in this process.

The mail shot went out two weeks before the lockdown. And, of course, during lockdown training budgets were one of the first to be slashed. So, the only results we really have are the enquiries and requests for information in those two weeks, when the first wave of packs went out. But these were excellent. In fact, we had a 9.1% response rate and a projected ROI of 12.7 to 1. Now that it looks like we are coming out of lockdown in the UK, we’re relaunching the campaign.