2012 Gold Best direct response print advertising including inserts

Client Warner Leisure Hotels

How did the campaign make a difference? A clear understanding of potential new guests enabled motivating messaging, efficient targeting and the creation of a perfect journey from engagement to booking saw a staggering improvement. With a defined role for press and inserts within an integrated mix and 48% less spent, this campaign achieved 133% more revenue year on year.

What details of the strategy make this a winning entry? Database analytics and qualitative work showed that the best new guests for Warners are people aged in the seven years between planning to retire and actually retiring (when they’re most likely to experiment with new travel opportunities) who are members of local clubs or societies. The difference in revenue between an average guest and one of these best is £1,300 over five years. Demographic and behavioural definition allowed understanding of their media usage, motivations and locations. Conversion analytics showed that different journeys created different revenue outcomes, leading to the design of an ideal journey: an emotional broadcast engagement, then a rational exploration of the product, followed by a reassuring human interaction. This audience likes belonging to communities and so unsurprisingly live in communities, to be found in tight clumps. Their media consumption reflects this: some vehicles they love, others they avoid entirely. These insights allowed the media reach to be over 20% more efficient. Creative media planning saw inserts placed only with specific wholesalers (eg in Portsmouth but not in Chichester), and door drops layered on top of TV and inserts only in the best performing communities. Press advertising was placed in travel classifieds to reach those actively reviewing their options in the wider market.

How did creativity bring the strategy to life? The journey starts with commercials on a day in the life of current guests, allowing viewers to identify with the guests and see the product. From TV they were driven to call immediately or explore further via web or print (the rational exploration part). The final part of the journey is driving new guests to phone and book, even encouraging web visitors to call rather than book online. The call centre is staffed with a team who’ve been to all the hotels, and can take up to 30 minutes to ensure a new guest starts with the right hotel and experience on their first visit.

Results Warners is a very successful brand, with continuous revenue growth for the last five years. But new guest numbers and repeat bookings had fallen each year. This targeted campaign was a radical departure: 3% less spend on press and inserts than in the same period last year, but 246% more revenue.

Team Mike Colling, Anna Zolkiewicz, Jackie Irish, Nicky Legg, John Willacy, Katie Dalton, Sacheverell Wall

Other contributors Lakestar Media – Search, planning, buying, SOUK – Creative