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Canada Post is promoting its free online mail and bill payment service, e-post, through its Ontario-based “Simpler is Smarter” contest.
New e-post subscribers can win one of three 2008 Smart-for-Two vehicles or one of 20 $1,000 prizes, when they sign up for the service online at CanadaPost.ca. As consumers add bills to the service, the more entries they receive.
The contest aims to increase service users by more than one million, and promote the electronic bill payment service as good for the environment by minimizing paper bills, said Paul Oldale, manager of advertising, Canada Post.
The service currently has about 780,000 users signed up through the e-post site, and four million users using the service in conjunction with major banking websites.
Two 30-second radio, print and online ads, developed by DraftFCB, support the contest.
The first radio commercial starts with a man asking his buddy to have a seat. “That’s a seat?” the friend asks. “Yup. Made it out of my old hydro bills, seven years worth,” the man replies, before directing the friend to his dining room suite made of credit card bills. “I just got a paper cut from your couch,” the friend complains. “Want to get rid of the clutter of paper bills and help the planet at the same time?” the female announcer asks. She then tells listeners they can view, pay and store their bills in one secure online location with e-post.
The second spot starts with a female announcer asking: “What happens when you sign up with e-post?” A husband calls to his wife, telling her that he’s going to go pay their bills and that she shouldn’t wait up. After a few quick clicks of the keyboard, he’s done. The voiceover explains that e-post members don’t have to deal with the hassle of storing paper bills, and with e-mail notification, keeping track of payment due dates is easy.
Both spots end with a tag directing listeners to the e-post site where they can join the service and enter the contest.
Geo targeted big box and banner ads are running online at SavvyMom.ca, Slice.ca, Chatelaine.com, Yahoo, Canada.com and MSN. Banner ads are running in the weekly “green sections” of 24 and Metro.
Benefits of the e-post service, contest entry, service information and the Save Time, Save Trees tool, which illustrates how much time and how many trees can be saved by using e-post, can be found online at CanadaPost.ca.
Canada Post will deploy branded e-post teams to events in the lobbies of select office towers in downtown Toronto later this summer.
Billing inserts informing recipients of the service and its benefits will be placed in Bell, 407 ETR, HBC Credit Card, Canadian Tire, RBC Royal Bank Visa and Rogers “mailpieces”—bills, pay stubs, tax receipts. “We are working to provide services that allow Canadians—whether sending or receiving mail—simple choices that let them manage their communication needs the way they prefer. That often means enhancing our traditional physical delivery services with new electronic capabilities,” said John Smith, Canada Post’s senior vice-president and CIO, in a release.
The campaign is running in major markets in Southern Ontario. Oldale said Canada Post would look into expanding the campaign nationally next year.
PR efforts were handled by Porter Novelli Canada. The campaign launched last week and is running until the end of August. The contest closes at the end of September.
