CAPITA SIMS identified that an opportunity existed to convert a number of schools to their Management Information System. This was due to competitor product developments that had met with a less than favourable response and the fact that they are uncertain about the best direction to take with regard to their MIS when it comes to licence renewal.

While aware of the fears and uncertainty of our target audience and the shortcomings of the competitor product we did not look to directly attack on this front. Rather we decided to leverage the considerable strengths of the SIMS offer. Its reputation, track record, features etc. That way the audience could reach their own conclusion.

Because of the targeted nature of this project (only 15 schools) the tactics and creative solution were not constrained so much by logistics and budget.

Given the fact that we wanted to communicate a number of aspects of the SIMS offer and that we did not want to purely provide a load of literature they would not read. We decided on a more multimedia approach. While we wanted to infer the importance of the choice they faced we did not want to the tone of voice to be that of us and them. To this end we developed much of the response off the back of what ‘people like them’ were saying and experiencing.

Initially we explored sourcing an MP4 player to act as the vehicle for the content we had planned. However when presented to CAPITA they were so keen on the approach that they freed budget to enable us to source iPod Touch’s.

We produced a short animated sequence to set the scene and act as the platform for presenting a number of short video interviews, a podcast which included ‘interviews’ with every stakeholder from teachers, to governors to parents and finally some downloadable literature that enabled them to dig into the detail if they wished.

Of the 15 schools targeted, 3 took SIMS licences, against the investment in the direct mail this represented a great return on investment for them.