Insights-fuelled advertising company, Sparcmedia, has unveiled the results of its programmatic advertising campaign with The Core Agency, on behalf of Cook Islands Tourism (CIT), aimed to increase awareness and change brand perception of the Islands among Australians and New Zealanders.
Brand awareness for the Cook Islands had increased by one per cent, brand recall increased by five per cent, and the desire to visit increased by three per cent.
Sparcmedia ran a month long programmatic advertising campaign in April 2017 and included video, search and display ads across web and social targeting Australians and New Zealanders across all ages and regions. In addition, custom audience segments were built in a data management platform (DMP) to reach psychographic-based consumer segments interested in adventurous travel.
The campaign was backed by an online pre and post campaign survey conducted by parent company Pureprofile – an online profile marketing and insights technology business. The survey measured the key objectives of the campaign: the advertising impact on raising brand awareness; and whether the Cook Islands were now being recognised as an adventurous destination rather than a resort island.
Using a Pureprofile Brand Impact Study, Sparcmedia provided The Core Agency with metrics on how the advertising campaign affected consumer sentiment of the Cook Islands.
When comparing the pre and post campaign surveys, the results revealed that, among adult Australians, brand awareness for the Cook Islands had increased by one per cent, brand recall increased by five per cent, and the desire to visit increased by three per cent.
Pureprofile Founder & CEO Paul Chan said the results highlight the powerful sentiment-shifting effect programmatic advertising can have in a short period.
“Layering Pureprofile’s Brand Impact Study over Sparcmedia’s programmatic campaign with The Core Agency is a fantastic example of how sophisticated insights can provide real ROI results on advertising spend. Through these results, we can confidently conclude this was a successful digital campaign that improved the awareness and perception of the Cook Islands over a four-week period.”
The study also revealed that in addition to the Cook Islands being seen as an exploring destination, the perception of it as adventurous increased by five per cent amongst New Zealanders and, as a result, expanded CITs usual customer segment. This insight allowed Sparcmedia to optimise the media strategy accordingly and save wasted advertising dollars.
Mr Chan added: “These initial results indicate the huge shift a longer campaign could have on customer perceptions, spending intentions and ROI. Programmatic advertising with the identification of specific audience segments allows for more targeted advertising and messaging. This in turn generates more relevant campaign insights which can drive even more targeted messaging, media buy and creative.”
The results also revealed that online advertising – including social media – had a brand recall of 20 per cent among Australians and 28 per cent amongst New Zealanders.
Pureprofile acquired Sparcmedia in 2015 as part of its move to list on the ASX. The acquisition accelerated Pureprofile’s knowledge and product offering in the programmatic advertising and insights space by combining its 15 years of consumer research and profiling technology with Sparcmedia’s programmatic trading and performance marketing capabilities.
Mr Chan continued: “The campaign surrounding Cook Islands Tourism is a great example of why Pureprofile acquired Sparcmedia – to increase the effectiveness of marketing and advertising campaigns by providing deeper insights into consumer behavior. Combining a programmatic campaign with a Brand Impact Study empowers brands with a complete overview of a campaign; from who engages to how brand sentiment is affected.”
Karla Eggelton, Director of Sales and Marketing at Cook Islands Tourism said; “We were excited to trial out a programmatic advertising campaign with Sparcmedia in our mission to increase awareness and change brand perception of the Cook Islands. It’s fantastic to see how programmatic advertising has been successful in changing consumer sentiment in such a short period of time. The addition of Pureprofile’s brand impact study has been an accurate way for us to measure our ROI.”
– ENDS –
