Proximity iD flies with Air NZ

Letters explaining how an overhaul of Air New Zealand's airpoints scheme would personally affect each of the scheme's almost one million members won the supreme "back end" prize at the Direct Marketing Awards.

Proximity iD, the data services division of interactive agency AIM Proximity, won the Supreme Nexus for its letter campaign to airpoints members explaining the introduction of the new airpoints dollars scheme.

Proximity iD divided the 950,000 airpoints members into 840 "segments", each requiring different details about changes to the scheme and their new individual airpoints dollars balance.

Proximity iD managing director Geoff Cooper said the challenge was "not to bore people" with screeds of information but, at the same time, provide them with all relevant details around the complex changes to the scheme.

The campaign also tried to limit the number of letters sent to each household to one.

Cooper said an unusual aspect of the campaign was that unlike most direct marketing initiatives, success was judged by the low level of negative feedback to the letters, rather than a flood of responses.

Marketing Association chief executive Keith Norris said the complex campaign ensured all airpoints members received sufficient information to understand what the changes meant for them.

"It's all very well to have all the information - and Air NZ does store quite a bit of information about us - the clever bit is how you use it to deliver relevant messages to the right people," said Norris.

He said the association had received a record number of entries for this year's Nexus awards, which focus on the backroom operations behind successful direct marketing campaigns.