The National Trust is launching a direct marketing campaign to exploit the TV exposure of Channel 4’s period drama ‘The Mill’, to raise £100,000 towards the appeal for its Quarry Bank heritage site.
The push, created by Lida, launches this week, following the final instalment of the C4 drama, which is inspired by the lives of real people.
It tells the stories of young 19th century apprentices at Quarry Bank, drawing on the history found within the archives and using artistic license to make the drama.
Lida’s letter and email plays on the fact that Quarry Bank has been the set for the period drama. Both formats differ from standard letters or emails sent out by the National Trust, as it is designed as a mock script, with important information highlighted, as if an actor has circled certain sections in their lines.
Stills from the drama appear alongside historical imagery from the National Trust archives, as well as current photos and a mock spine binding adds the TV script effect, designed to engage the reader, and the envelope uses footage from the Channel 4 drama, filmed on location, with the line ‘Lights. Camera. We need your action’.
The campaign is designed to support a wider national appeal which the National Trust launched in February this year aimed at raising £1.4m, as part of a £6m project to transform Quarry Bank. Dubbed the ‘More than a mill’ project, The Heritage Lottery Fund also awarded Quarry Bank £164,000 in interim funding, as it considers the application for a total contribution of £3m. Quarry Bank is the only complete example of an industrial mill still standing in the UK.
National Trust marketing executive Sarah Kennedy at said: “We don’t want the story of Quarry Bank to live only on our screens. Lida has done an excellent job at highlighting the then and now of one of Britain’s greatest industrial sites – a place full of stories of power, people and the birth of industry. We really hope that the images within the campaign strike a chord with our readers and encourage them to support our appeal and make a donation.”
The maishot and email will be sent to those that have already donated, with an update on what is happening at Quarry Bank Mill, and also to people who have received previous communications but have not yet donated.
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RT @DM_editor: @lidalondon taps into TV show for National Trust appeal http://t.co/9jtz2allrB #datamarketing #directmarketing #digitalmarke…