Britain’s utility 4x4 market is hotting up. Aggressively styled, marketed and priced pick-up trucks are being imported in ever greater numbers from the Far East, looking just the thing if you need a working 4x4. But is all as it seems? Pick-ups offer only part-time 4 wheel drive (it’s cheap, but less capable). And anecdotal evidence from Defender owners who used to own one suggests that many are not as sturdy as they look. We needed to convince utility 4x4 prospects that, if they needed a truly capable, rugged vehicle, the Land Rover Defender is the only choice.

The mailing’s pretty new, so the responses are still coming in. However, at the time of writing, the response rate stands at an excellent 4.4%. Sales mature over a period of several months, but, based on the performance of past mailings, we would expect at least 175 sales to result from this mailing.

We highlighted what makes Defender genuinely different from its rivals: its permanent (as opposed to part-time) 4x4 system. Prospects were sent a mailpack made up of stout cards, held resolutely in four corners by heavy-duty bulldog clips - because 'Permanent 4 wheel drive guarantees more grip'. Factual no-nonsense copy and pictures of Defenders hard at work put the vehicle's rugged credentials beyond doubt.