Throughout the ages, town criers, sandwich boards and photocopied flyers have helped businesses get the word out to a targeted local community. In the digital age, national advertisers often strive to place their ’first dollar in’ to stimulate local demand. In the age of addressable media, digital out-of-home advertising delivers local targeting for national brands.
In March 2008, Rite Aid wanted to capture market share in the Los Angeles area. The national advertiser wanted to attract new pharmacy customers into specific stores and increase awareness of its pharmacy services. The retailer required a customer acquisition program that would add prescription purchases to the bottom line. At the same time, it wanted to increase its opportunities to expose customers to promotions, as well as cross-sell other products at the front of the store, thanks to the increased traffic.
In particular, Rite Aid sought an elusive audience that was different from the typical coupon clipper. The target was an audience of key influencers and decision-makers with an income of $75,000 or more. The drugstore chain identified digital out-of-home as the best way to reach this audience in a cost-effective manner.
Intercepting Affluents with Ripple
As part of its strategy to capture market share, Rite Aid created a campaign that would capture the attention of Affluents with SeeSaw affiliate Ripple, who operates an interactive network of screens located in specialty retail locations. The Ripple service reaches millions of unique consumers each month, entertaining and informing them to keep them engaged during ’dwell time’, when they’re waiting to be served or check out in places like Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, quick service restaurants and Borders bookstores.
A unique promotion was developed to reach customers of The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, a coffee shop chain with locations throughout the Los Angeles market. Its customers are affluent and on-the-go, but are engaged by local information, financial and national news, entertainment programming, sports, weather and traffic information on Ripple screens while they wait to grab a cup of coffee.
The ads offered patrons a chance to transfer a prescription to any participating Rite Aid store and receive a $30 coupon for goods at the cafe. After transferring the prescription, a customer could go online or call a toll-free number to redeem the coupon. The promotion aired for four weeks at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf venues near Rite Aid stores in Los Angeles. Each screen ran 30-second spots with a customized geo-targeted message showing consumers the Rite Aid locations within a two-mile radius of the coffee shop.
The Results
Consumers were motivated to follow through because of the micro-targeted nature of the offer. During the four weeks the campaign ran, over 600 prescriptions were transferred to drugstores participating in the promotion.
The Rite Aid campaign is a prime example of trade area targeted media: a geographically focused, cost-effective media buy that targeted influencers in close proximity to a retail store. Creating national campaigns with local impact can be difficult for a national retailer. Using advanced media buying and planning solutions like SeeSawAds.com with digital out-of-home networks like Ripple connects advertisers like Rite Aid with the right audience in the right place — when they are paying attention.
