,
Direct and relationship marketing means communicating directly with specifically targeted individuals, whether face to face, as with field or experiential marketing, or with personally addressed correspondence, in the form of direct mail or email.
Direct marketing to disabled people is possible through a range of channels, including mailouts accompanying information on benefits or through disability organisations.
In this section you can find a range of case studies and examples, including:
The Direct Payment information campaign ran from May 2003 to March 2005 with the aim of:
The Direct Payment information campaign included television, direct mail, press, radio and outdoor advertising.
Encouraging customers to provide account details was a huge advertising task. DWP had to communicate with a large and diverse audience, across all age ranges. As disabled customers made up a significant proportion of the campaign's target audience, the campaign had to include images of disability, while remaining appropriate to a non-disabled audience. In the original brief for the advertising, DWP requested that images of disability be included and considered for all creative work.
DWP worked closely with the advertising agency, commenting on initial proposals and offering advice on the types of disability that may be suitable for use in the campaign.
Initial proposals representing unseen disabilities were a challenge, particularly in the context of still photography. Similarly, in photography we had difficulties avoiding stereotypical images, such as wheelchairs and white sticks.
After a lot of work, a number of executions featuring positive images were developed, including television scripts and photos for information leaflets.
Two concepts were proposed featuring disabled characters in lead roles. One featured a person with Down's Syndrome who visited a cash machine on his way to a night out with friends to a Karaoke bar. The other option followed a blind man, Dan, going for a ride on a tandem bike with his carer.
A variety of groups, including disabled people and disability organisations, viewed and commented on both concepts. The `Karaoke' concept didn't come out of the research as well as the `Tandem' one because there was the potential for the advert to be seen as patronising.
The use of a disabled person as a lead character in the 'Tandem' advert didn't detract from the main message. It successfully communicated the convenience of using a cash machine to withdraw benefits. As a character, Dan attracted admiration for not letting his disability prevent him from doing what he wanted in life. His disability was shown in a positive way and did not present him as dependent or vulnerable. The fact that Dan was visually impaired also helped to reassure some pensioners that if Dan was able to do it, then maybe Direct Payment wasn't something to worry about.
(powerpoint presentation opens in new window)
The Department of Health recognised that it was important to make its anti-smoking campaign as accessible to disabled people as it was to the rest of the population.
The campaign used a variety of media channels in order to get the message across to the widest possible audience and this was backed up by extensive research.
Publicity included a number of TV commercials (with subtitles for people with a hearing impairment); a wide range of printed material including leaflets, outdoor posters, small posters and postcards targeted at different sectors of the population; material on CD-ROM so that local groups could produce their own publicity using the national branding; a website; two telephone helplines; Braille, audio and large print versions of the main booklet; and three specially written and designed booklets for people with learning disabilities.
There was also an item on the Central Office of Information audio magazine `Sound Advice', targeted at people who prefer information on audiotape.
The alternative format versions were well-publicised in the press, to day centres and elsewhere, resulting in high demand and therefore reprints in two media within a few months.
HM Revenue was keen to ensure that its campaigns for self-assessment, the Working Families Tax Credit (WFTC) and Disabled Person's Tax Credit (DPTC) were accessible to disabled people and to minority language users.
They subtitled all their TV commercials on Teletext (in English and Welsh) and produced and distributed leaflets and posters in minority languages for use at post offices and other outlets. The Revenue website, which won an RNIB Accessibility. Award in 1999, actively encourages people to file their self-assessment return online.
Posters and factsheets about DPTC and the DPTC Fast-Track were also produced in alternative formats - the factsheets being displayed in around 4,500 doctors' surgeries.
Other initiatives included articles on DPTC and Fast-Track in the regional press with an accompanying advert for Fast-Track; and an article in the Revenue's `Employer's Bulletin' directing employers to the employer's helpline to order an information pack including posters, factsheets and leaflet (also available in alternative formats).
Direct payments allow disabled people to receive cash payments instead of services provided by the local authority. They can then buy the support they are assessed as needing.
It was clear that very few people with learning disabilities were taking up this option. To publicise the availability of direct payments to people with learning disabilities, the Department of Health commissioned a booklet in easyread with pictures, an audiotape version and a CD-ROM. All three media were provided in a convenient plastic wallet.
The booklet text and audio scripts were written by an organisation for people with learning disabilities that had already done some research into how direct payments were being used. The booklet featured the experiences of three people with learning disabilities. All the voices on the audiotape and the CD-ROM were those of people with learning disabilities. This made the material much more user-friendly to its audience.
The pack was promoted among organisations for people with learning disabilities and local authorities and all of the 5,000 copies initially produced were distributed in the first three months and a further 5,000 reprinted. Seven months later, a further 10,000 copies were reprinted.
The pack was produced to high production values and attracted much interest, including coverage in the Mencap magazine `Viewpoint'.
The pack proved popular with its target audience but another organisation of people with learning difficulties expressed concern that it hadn't been consulted over producing the pack despite the fact that a similar organisation had been involved. If the pack had made clear that it had been produced in consultation with a particular group, this could have been avoided.
Also, the pack was produced to such a high standard that future projects with more modest budgets would find it difficult to match the quality and could risk disappointing the audience.
For practical tips, visit the top tips section of this guidance.
For other information resources, go to the resources section of this guidance.
Page last reviewed: 11 August 2008