Personalization for the nation

Telekom Deutschland is the market leader in Germany for both fixed-line and mobile revenue, offering excellent network quality coupled with a broad product portfolio and service that’s second to none. Sustainability is always top of mind, but what’s the best way to serve it to those that count?

Challenge: Meeting the needs of a challenging target group

Telekom Deutschland wanted to launch an exciting and environmentally conscious new concept; “We Care”. One “We Care” initiative encourages Telekom Deutschland customers to trade-in their old smartphones with minimum fuss, for a fair price. Handsets are then fully reconditioned, receive new batteries and screens, and brought back to the market in completely biodegradable packaging.

This program positions Telekom Deutschland as a responsible brand invested in a more sustainable future. It also provides the opportunity to create targeted offers for a particularly fickle customer group in the telco industry – those aged 28 and younger. This group has proven to be particularly cost-conscious and challenging when it comes to building brand loyalty.

Armed with the knowledge that younger audiences tend to ignore more traditional forms of communication, Telekom Deutschland turned to Sinch for Marketing for ideas on a new way to boost engagement levels.

Typically, Telekom Deutschland relied on standard SMS or email to advise on new launches and promotions, occasionally creating videos or adverts. Driving customers to the website, or to the store to cash in on an offer, was the usual CTA. Finding a better, more omnichannel way to drive customer engagement was key.

Creating and delivering a personalized SMS linking to a personalized video about the “We Care” program and the custom offers available was the perfect fit.

Solution: Creating the perfect personalized video

Sinch for Marketing worked with Telekom Deutschland throughout the production process, alongside their existing lead agency, to ensure the creation of an exciting and engaging video suited to a variety of channels and scenarios.

Commenting on the process, Lutz Heinel, Creation Center, Telekom Deutschland said, “Sinch for Marketing is the only partner that can program such complexity – bringing together creativity and an understanding of the key elements that will generate individual interest and action.”

Thanks to the power of Sinch’s personalized messaging platform, we enabled Telekom Deutschland to connect 1:1 with their customers, communicating their first name, current device, and an individualized offer (among other variables). This allowed Telekom Deutschland to deliver each customer the offer that best suited them. In addition, A/B tests were run to see which performed better, standard SMS or SMS plus personalized video. The winner was clear.

Results: Sending open rates through the roof

The “We Care” personalized video SMS launched mid-January 2020, and ran through to the end of the month. The campaign resulted in a 45% open and watch rate, with Telekom Deutschland enjoying sales conversions double that of standard SMS.

Telekom Deutschland now plans to convert what started as a trial into an ongoing program in support of the “We Care” targeted offers. The flexibility of the Sinch for Marketing platform ensures that making tweaks to the original video as new offers get added or retired is a breeze.