Many national brands face a huge challenge when it comes to reaching today’s on-the-go consumers. And this is further complicated when a company’s products or services are available only in specific areas. One national telecommunications company faced this dilemma when it wanted to roll out a new service targeted at Mobile Millennials that would be available only in specific zip codes across 20 DMAs.
This market leader met this challenge with a brilliant place-based digital video advertising campaign that relied on SeeSaw’s precision marketing tools to connect with target consumers only in zip codes where the service was available. The successful program connected with the target audience who reported that the ads were appealing, recalled the main message from the ad, and wanted to learn more about the service, all achieved at a cost-effective average CPM of $7.80.
Establishing Brand Ubiquity
The overarching objective of the eight-week campaign was to create a perception of brand ubiquity by delivering memorable messages to the target audience multiple times throughout their weekly routine. Mobile Millennials – young, affluent college students, urban professionals, and on-the-go families – follow a life pattern that takes them from morning workouts to school or work and then to shopping and entertainment. Placed-based digital video advertising allowed this telecommunications provider to intercept the group in several locations as they went about these activities.
To maximize the campaign’s effectiveness, the company utilized SeeSaw’s unique precision targeting capabilities to pinpoint the delivery of ads in more than 1,000 zip codes across 20 DMAs nationwide. The digital video advertising campaign ran in a total of 2,071 venues in places like health clubs, bars, restaurants, retail entertainment stores and professional offices for a total of 17.3 million impressions.
Designing effective ads that delivered a direct, compelling message was a critical objective of the campaign. The company created five flash-based ads using simple, animated text with a bold graphic style. The colors reflected the company’s well-recognized corporate identity, and the copy deftly explained the service features and promoted the network’s reliability and speed. The ads rotated within two 15-second spots that appeared throughout the day in the various locations.
The Right Places for the Right Results
To measure the effectiveness of the campaign, Edison Media Research conducted 274 interviews across a sampling of the venues. The results were impressive. The campaign clearly lifted the company’s brand awareness among its target audience, achieving 22 percent aided brand recall of the company along with high recall of the key messages. A full 75 percent of those who saw the advertisements found them appealing, 70 percent were able to recall a main message from the ad, and 59 percent were interested in learning more about the service.
The survey also validated consumer attitudes toward digital video screens. Of those surveyed, 73 percent said they had seen the digital video screens on the day they were interviewed. Some 69 percent found the screen in the venue entertaining, 63 percent said a video screen is a good way to learn about new products and services, and 58 percent said the video screen made their time spent at the location more enjoyable (Source: Edison Media Research, 2008).
The following quotes represent the positive attitudes shared by many respondents:
• “Great practical knowledge, like to see in other offices.”
• “Nice alternative to TV.”
• “Entertaining, holds my attention.”
• “Nice to watch when I am taking a break.”
• “It catches your attention.”
Given the effectiveness of the place-based advertising, its no wonder the company’s media agency identified the SeeSaw-based campaign as one of the most successful components of the media campaign.
