We all have a pre-set idea of communication channels that work for different socio-economic groups. But what about a target audience, as busy as urban life could make them, flooded with texts, posters and fliers every day, how do we hook them for few seconds to send a message that stays?
This year while designing communication channels for Integrated Land Service Offices of our HRLS programme we thought of something exciting, yet simple.
We needed something low cost that makes our message stand out. Most of these people do not know how to read text messages and the rest do not care. We were tapping into something that required a good amount of trust to mobilise demand from the field: we’re providing services that solve people’s land issues, from information to registry consultations, everything one gets done with a handsome bribe can now be done for a priced quality service.
After multiple rounds of field visits, brainstorming and colorful sticky notes, we’re thinking of going back to the basics: One to one communication through letters.
We don’t want to keep bugging them all round the year. We traced the time when the people look for land related services and found a pattern that applies to most of them. We’re not going for a mass approach but time based, event based and situation based routes that make us reach our clients when they are most likely to look for us. What could be more customized then a piece of letter addressed to my name in yellow envelopes with handwritten fonts.
Envelopes are more humane
The tech world is spending billions of dollars every year in R&Ds to find out best UI designs that make every product/service experience as humane as possible. When was the last time you felt connected to an email? You can touch, feel and smell letters and no wonder they have so much emotions tagged with us. Moreover they have a surprise element to them that make them all more effective as a communication channel.
Customised messages are trusted more
Instead of appearing like another ad on the walls waiting for anyone or everyone to take a look at, letters addressed against individual names have a personal touch to it. Research shows people tend to rely on product ads more when they see it exclusively addresses them.
It’s a no brainer that letters have a special place in our brain; they’re pale, yellow, full of anticipation and excitement. We’re hoping to catch some good eyes with our approach. We’ll get back to you with more as we start prototyping these at the field. Till then keep an eye on the blog. Let us know if you have found similar simple ideas that has worked for you or others.
