The Post Office Case

In 2003, the Department for Work and Pensions announced that pensions (retirement incomes) and social security payments would be paid no longer through the Post Office and instead be paid directly into personal bank accounts. This made huge savings for the government but meant that the Post Office lost around 40 per cent of its business. To recover its position, which was dependent on government contracts for its survival, the Post Office aimed to build on its strength of being able to handle large quantities of diverse paperwork. Post Office counters started to offer foreign currency exchange, loans, insurance, non-government savings schemes such as equity bonds, telephone services and even offer deliveries of flowers. Some of the business was conducted online, but much of it was conducted face-to-face, over the counter. Because of the large number of people who need to call into their local post office for the purpose of posting letters and parcels or applying for licences, the opportunities to sell more products were many. From a communications viewpoint, however, the new products created a problem. Since they included such a wide range, the Post Office had a problem in communicating its brand. Was it a bank, an insurance office, a government department, or a convenience store? Tying together all these different activities was difficult, but not impossible; the Post Office adopted the for the little things that make the big things happen slogan. The advertising campaign which used cartoon ants as its basis, suggested that little things can achieve big things; the ants are shown carrying out everyday tasks and meeting the kinds of problems people deal with regularly (teenagers talking for hours on the phone, booking holidays, buying car insurance) and showing how the Post Office can help. The Post Office carried the same theme through its Tv advertising, press advertising and website, as well as billboards and in-store posters. The ants became iconic in that people associate the ants with the brand, and relate to the humorous situations they find themselves in.

How can the core customer value of the Post Office offerings be identified?