Partner Article

APS Group pedals ahead with London Cycle Scheme

Serco has appointed APS Group to handle its digital and print communications following a competitive tendering process.

The partnership will see APS Group - an integrated marketing services provider with 25 sites worldwide - handle, print management, transactional print, artwork, promotional items and branded collateral for Serco.

Just a few months into the contract APS delivered its first major creative and print project for Serco – supporting Transport for London’s rebrand of the London Cycle Hire scheme following a sponsorship change, which saw Santander take over from Barclays earlier this year. APS handled the design and print of a welcome pack for new and existing cycle hire users.

The new Santander Cycles welcome pack, which was aligned to both Santander and TfL’s brand guidelines, informed cyclists of the changes to the cycle hire scheme and delivered encrypted NFC-enabled keys to registered users.

APS worked closely with Serco, TfL and Santander’s brand agency M&C Saatchi to develop a solution, which took M & C Saatchi’s distinctive creative concepts to design an attractive, yet practical one piece mail pack. APS advised on the full end-to-end process from design, production, delivery, fulfilment and post. The project was especially challenging because, as a new supplier to Serco, APS had to work to tight time scales – just 4 weeks from concept to initial delivery.

Crucially, APS Group, which lives by its mission to ‘Make more possible’ for clients, also delivered the project 50% below budget.

The final welcome packs have been delivered to 70,000 existing cycle scheme users, with the remaining 60,000 packs to be delivered to new subscribers to the scheme over the next few weeks.

APS Group, which has expertise in marketing communications, secure card personalisation and transactional print, as well as traditional print management, works with some of the world’s largest brands including Ford, adidas, Philips, and Superdrug owner AS Watson.

APS will now continue to produce welcome packs for the Cycle Scheme for the remainder of Serco’s contract with TFL.

Tim Aggett, Business Development Manager at APS Group, said: “Winning a competitive tender for a partnership with a FTSE 250 client like Serco is testament to the high quality, end-to-end marketing solutions APS delivers for clients.

“We look forward to developing a real partnership with Serco over the next few years.

“Providing integrated, end-to-end marketing solutions means APS does not only creatively design conceptual solutions for clients, but we are also able to execute a marketing campaign across any channel be it mobile, tablet, digital or in this case print.

“The quick turnaround required for Serco, TfL and Santander Cycles meant we had limited time to design and refine a mail pack which required multiple production processes and complex fulfilment logistics.

“We had to develop a pack which would secure the keys and allow each of them to be encrypted at the fulfilment site, without placing too much burden on the customer service team.

“Thorough prototyping ensured the materials used wouldn’t compromise the artwork and that the pack was resistant to the rigours of the postal system.

“Thanks to the expertise of our design and operational team, we were able to make more possible for Serco by creating, printing and delivering all 130,000 welcome packs to the Santander Cycles fulfilment team on time and 50% below the original budget.”

Santander announced a seven year deal to sponsor Transport for London’s cycle scheme in February 2015. The scheme allows users to hire any of the 11,500 bikes on a day-to-day basis in order to travel around the city in a quick and environmentally-friendly way.

In 2014 more than 10 million journeys were made with the bikes and customer satisfaction is at an all-time high with more than 80 per cent of members intending to renew their membership this year.

Ben Sawyer, Category Manager, Serco Procurement said: “APS’ work on the Santander Cycles campaign has completely justified our decision to award them the work for our print management and business communications.”

Chris de Souza, Contact Centre & Senior Customer Service Manager at Santander Cycles said: “I have to say I am absolutely amazed with how well APS Group has performed. They became a Serco preferred supplier just as we started a major project as part the cycle hire scheme sponsor change.

“There was a huge risk to reputation with this project but we needn’t have worried. It is clear that APS Group knows what it is doing and it does it very well. The team engaged with our current media and advertising suppliers and were readily at hand to offer genuine advice which has delivered a first-class result.

“The client is happy, we’re happy and long may it continue.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Laura Berry .