The Royal Mint
No Small Change
With Change Comes Opportunity
The commemorative coin business faced a declining audience of coin collectors who were ageing quickly and who were not being replaced with new customers to the brand. The business also had a limited product range that was only based on major national and historic events that were not developed in line with niche markets. This had resulted in poor sales volume and value year-on-year.
Because the focus on collectors and collecting was limiting the business, we identified an opportunity to target new groups and existing lifestyle customer segments by developing a niche marketing strategy, aimed at promoting commemorative gifts for personal events and special occasions.
This change in strategy allowed us to position the brand using highly relevant emotional values that ensured consumers and collectors perceived coins as priceless as the memories.
Commemorate The Occasion
Using our UnLimited approach, we developed a strong strategy and creative idea that reached out to three identified (and very different) audience segments: Thoughtful Gifters, Passionate Enthusiasts and Avid Collectors.
The highly engaging campaign we created around 2012 London Olympics helped the brand to reach out to a larger and younger audience of people who have previously never considered purchasing a commemorative coin as a gift.
Targeting the 'Thoughtful Gifters' segment, the creative was built around the proposition “Commemorate the occasion with something as priceless as the memory”.
The Result?
In the financial year 2011-2012, the Royal Mint's Commemorative Coin business posted record sales of £216m, up 78% on 2010-11.
The success of the Commemorative Coin business was noted in the Mint's annual report:
“The success...was driven by growing its customer base and the subsequent demand for official coins produced to celebrate the landmark occasions of the Royal Wedding, The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.”