Challenge: At the beginning of 2017, Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium had no new attractions on the horizon to help compete with the region’s ever-increasing entertainment options. Because of this, we needed to find a way to promote its existing attractions at a time when the Zoo was not top-of-mind.
Solution: Our answer was dynamic creative. We used localized viewer forecast data to create dynamic display ads that suggested zoo attractions based on different weather conditions, like rain, snow and cold—conditions not usually conducive to zoo visitation. The weather data was personalized based on the location of the individual viewing the ad. We also message tested multiple headlines, attractions and calls to action to see which performed best, then auto-optimized the impressions to show those combinations more frequently.
Results: 2017’s click-through rates were over ten times higher than those of the past year’s. And through location tracking technology built into the media buy, we were able to track a 92% increase in Zoo visitation by those exposed to the display advertising versus a control group that was not exposed, compared to an industry average of 18%. We also discovered demographic data that would later help us better target our non-digital advertising.
Agency: Bailey Lauerman
Role: Associate Creative Director, Head of Digital
Role: Associate Creative Director, Head of Digital
