ONLINE ADS that required an action boosted response 425% over branding ads for a Seagram Don Julio Tequila campaign.
The campaign’s goals were to build brand awareness in support of a nationwide print effort, and compile an e-mail database of qualified leads.
Among people who clicked on the ads, 76% responded to the call for action. Interest dropped off after seeing three ads.
“We reached people who are tequila drinkers, who had strong purchasing intent,” said Parnell Woodard, who had been Seagram’s global director of interactive and direct marketing at the time of the campaign last fall. (Seagram was acquired by White Plains, NY-based Pernod Ricard in December.)
Woodard, who is now managing director of Emerge Partners Inc., attributes the success to good targeting and tracking. Various size online ads including banners, large rectangles and skyscrapers were served on Yahoo! Web sites frequented by Don Julio’s demographic — Hispanics, younger men and those with annual incomes around $50,000.
CentrPort Inc., a software company in Westport, CT that handled tracking and targeting, served site visitors an ad with a hard call to action to click through to the Don Julio microsite (donjulio.yahoo.com). CentrPort tagged viewers’ browsers to follow activity.
On the microsite, viewers were asked to enter a contest for two free tickets to a Latin music festival.
Those who registered subsequently saw a couple of Don Julio branding messages. Those who didn’t register got a different ad with another call to enter the contest.
“After somebody registered for the contest, they were eight times more likely to click on the next branding message they saw,” said Bill Badeau, CentrPort’s chief marketing officer.
Registrants gave their name, age and geographic location. More than 13% of the contest entrants provided their e-mail address. Plus, Pernod Ricard has thousands of records in a Don Julio database.
Seagram found there was a 180% jump in awareness in the call-to-action ads over the branding ads.
