Once the pilot scheme had run its course, research was carried out to evaluate its impact. Cameras monitored how parents selected information leaflets and follow-up interviews gauged their response.
Qualitative groups were also asked for feedback on the look, style and language of the information materials used in the pilot. The leaflets were then modified and researched again ahead of the national roll-out in 40 Asda stores in September 2005.
'We learned from the pilot that the leaflets' covers had to work harder to hook the audience, and that the inside had to be more subtle so as not to be intimidating. We sharpened the outside and made the content more digestible by breaking up the text and using bullet points,' says Smalley.
Parent Know How’s cost per booklet selected was 31p (on average 4 booklets were selected at a time) making it 574 times more cost effective than traditional media campaigns at reaching this target audience.
The results of the pilot scheme far exceeded expectations. Uptake was impressive: 583,780 booklets were picked up by 145,000 parents, 85% of whom kept the material. Financial savings were also significant: the cost per booklet was just 31p compared with much higher costs for a typical campaign of a similar size using conventional media, such as TV commercials and posters.
Since the campaign's national roll-out in September 2005, personnel moves at both Asda and the DfES mean no decision has yet been made about how to further evolve Parent Know How. Even so, Smalley is confident that supermarket distribution of government policy information will happen again, adding, ‘We are now considering how to develop the campaign next.’
