Alsergrunder Stamp Exchange: "Stamp" Ambient Advert by TBWA Vienna

Name	Position	Company
Gerda Reichl-Schebesta	Creativ Director	TBWA\Wien
Helmut Winkler	Concept	TBWA\Wien
Helmut Winkler	Copywriter	TBWA\Wien
Jan Christ	Art Director	TBWA\Wien
Jan Christ	Illustrator	TBWA\Wien
Franz Spanninger	Producer	TBWA\Wien
Gabriele Niederfьhr	Typographer	TBWA\Wien
Marius Gyparis	Client Service	TBWA\Wien
Maik Wollrab	Illustrator	TBWA\Wien

Once a year the client organises a collectors meeting for philatelists, the so-called "Alsergrunder Collectors Exhibition". And every year the invitation worked the same way: a letter with an invitation card inside. Well, no surprise that the number of visitors hadn't really grown in recent years. That's why the client wanted to change something and assigned the agency to create a new invitation. The only condition: The invitation should be sent to the philatelists by mail as every year and at the same price!

The solution was to catch the interest of the philatelists with the help of something they are really interested in: stamps! Therefore the invitation for the 4th Alsergrunder collector's exhibition was placed on the envelope where the stamp is normally found. The invitation read as followed: "Extraordinary postage stamps can be viewed at the 4th Alsergrunder collectors exhibition on the 1st of March 2008 at Seegasse 11, 1090 Vienna." The envelope itself remained empty.

The collectors meeting was patronised very well, the guest list of the organiser showed, that over 80% of the invited philatelists accepted the invitation and visited the collectors meeting. Furthermore relatives and friends of the invited guests came to the meeting, too. The explanation for this: even non-philatelists where teased because of this uncommon invitation and wanted to take a look at the extraordinary stamps on location.