Propelling Moonpig.com from rising star to memorable brand in four years

When online greetings card start-up, Moonpig.com, approached us to help scale the business during a make-or-break phase of its growth, founder Nick Jenkins didn’t believe that TV advertising would be within affordable reach. Our integrated media strategy caught the public imagination, propelling the brand from obscurity to market dominance and eventually, a highly lucrative sale.

The origins

In 2000, Moonpig founder, Nick Jenkins, created a brand new proposition, offering a unique online service to personalise, print and deliver greetings cards. By 2006, the business was breaking even but struggling to find a way to scale online. Having tested various media since its launch, with the exception of TV and radio, the ambitious brand needed a clear strategy to fuel the make-or-break next stage of its growth.

From zero brand awareness to household name in just four years.

The market context

Moonpig needed a memorable way to educate consumers on the unfamiliar proposition of customised printed cards, which was quite distinct from digital-only e-cards. The campaign would also need to highlight the fun factor of personalisation, the simple online user experience, and value for money, in order to shift consumer spending online from high street card shops. And with a product yielding slender margins, marketing had to deliver a low Cost Per Acquisition.

Moonpig turned to MNC in 2006, believing that TV advertising would be beyond affordable reach, but we seized the opportunity to demonstrate the impact and scalability of the channel as part of an integrated media strategy.

Created a UK market worth >£1bn.

The journey

We were given a clear remit to expand the brand’s appeal beyond the core female 25-54 audience, to encompass the mass market. We developed an “always-on” strategy to capitalise on key occasions throughout the calendar, including Valentine’s Day, Christmas, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, as well as keeping the brand front of mind to support the year-round birthday market.

Having proved the effectiveness of direct response TV advertising on a modest test budget, we set an ongoing course to support new customer acquisition with an integrated mix of TV, radio, outdoor and digital media. We continuously scaled media investment while adhering to strict, short-term ROI targets and building brand awareness.

As Moonpig’s product portfolio expanded over time to include other personalised products such as gifts and flowers, we adapted our strategy accordingly, which drove an increase in average basket value.

The journey continued

In 2009, rival brand Funky Pigeon (bought in 2010 by WH Smith) flew into the competitive landscape, but our continued collaboration enabled Moonpig to maintain its dominance of the online greetings card market, thanks to brand recognition reaching critical mass, and grow its share of the total market including the high street.

In the space of just four years, we helped propel Moonpig from an unknown challenger brand into a household name and category leader. In 2011, the brand merged with Photobox.

Recognised in the 2010 Sunday Times Fast Track 100 and 2011 Sunday Times Profit Track 100.

The proof

  • Moonpig went from zero brand awareness at launch to become a household name and new category leader in just four years.
  • Created a UK market worth >£1bn.
  • Recognised in the 2010 Sunday Times Fast Track 100 and 2011 Sunday Times Profit Track 100.
  • In 2011, Moonpig sold to Photobox for £120m.