Viking

The Client

Viking Direct, an Office Depot company, was established in 1960 and now employs over 1,300 people in the UK. It offers over 15,000 office products from stationery and furniture through to warehouse and janitorial supplies, via catalogues and the Viking Direct website. The company targets SMEs, secretaries, PAs and office buyers.

The Campaign

Following extensive research and evaluation, a series of campaigns have been devised to target various core sectors.

Secretaries and PAs have been targeted through surveys placed in leading secretarial magazines. The first survey was entitled ‘Most Popular Office Product’ and provided numerous follow-up opportunities for sector and national press. The second centred on ‘office gossip’ including tips on workplace etiquette.

Wyatt communicated with SMEs through a series of space and time saving advice pieces including multifunction machines and business start-up kits. Homeworking mothers in particular were the focus of a campaign in North London to reward the most inspirational and entrepreneurial mother in the region.

With environmental issues high on the agenda, Wyatt also highlighted the many green products offered by Viking in the ‘eco-friendly desk comparison’ campaign aimed at larger businesses, offering advice to increase sustainability, cut costs, and fulfil CSR remits.

The Results

Coverage has been obtained in leading national women’s magazines including Best and Woman’s Own, secretarial titles, men’s magazines including Loaded and Boys Toys, and home interest publications such as Your Home and Move or Improve, as well as major secretarial titles and B2B magazines. In particular, competitions placed attracted over 15,000 entries many of which were suitable for data capture. Boys Toys alone received 6,600 entries from a core target market. Regionally, coverage has been secured in high-circulating dailies including the Express and Star and Yorkshire Post. For the period November 2006 – November 2007, the EPRV figure across all campaigns stood in excess of £180,000.

The success of the Homeworking Mothers campaign has resulted in a national roll-out across six regions, while the eco-friendly desk comparison has grown into a year-long environmental campaign targeting all consumer sectors.

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