Flashy design and smart copy are meaningless without results. It simply has to work. We make it work and produce results that drive business. We deliver.
The Winter Park & Fraser Valley Chamber was established in 1975 and is a non-profit Colorado corporation with about 400 members. The Chamber provides a variety of services to the community, producing diverse special events such as music festivals, foot races, golf tournaments and mountain bike races, which attract visitors to the area.
The Goals:
Winter Park & The Fraser Valley Chamber of Commerce has been a client of AOR’s for four years. AOR’s goal in the partnership with the chamber is to drive business to the chamber members, from lodging to restaurants and retail. The goal for the 2009 Ski Free Campaign was to generate revenue and bookings during a typically down tourism time/pre-Christmas. Driving business during shoulder seasons in the mountains was a challenge for the area.
The Strategy:
With a great offer in place (get a free lift ticket for every night of paid lodging), a relatively small budget, and a short window of time to execute the campaign, our strategy was to use a unique combination of media to really scream the Ski Free message. Thus, our core media vehicle was the new digital outdoor signage in downtown Denver. This gave us immediacy, tons of frequency, plus the added bonuses of color and animation. We also geo-targeted local media websites and snow/ski-related sites, and utilized email and direct mail to their databases. Finally, to ensure total campaign integration, we re-branded the Chamber's website to coordinate with the Ski Free campaign. We also used the creative messaging to "scream" the offer--using bright yellow and black as the campaign's colors and a short, punchy headline with the offer built right into it.
The Results:
The campaign was highly successful in generating early-season bookings for lodging partners in Winter Park & The Fraser Valley. The initial goal was to book 1,000 room nights and the Ski Free campaign exceeded that goal by 25%, generating 1,240 room nights.
Takeaways:
In order to generate results like the ones we saw with the Ski Free Campaign, you have to craft the perfect combination of strategy mixed with the right array of traditional advertising and cutting edge new media solutions. At AOR we pride ourselves on being problem solvers who are able to creatively craft your message to hit the right people at the right time loud and clear.
Communication Construction & Engineering, LLC is a forward service provider, constructing voice/data communication network infrastructures. Since 2001 CCE has been building quality network infrastructures for a wide range of clients such as 9 News, Comcast, Denver International Airport and Keebler Foods. CCE is dedicated to providing quality service at a cost effective price.
The Challenge:
CCE came to AOR with the hopes of building their business in a down economy. They needed a way to drive more traffic to their website in order to generate new business leads. The challenge for AOR was to raise awareness for CCE among their target market to drive sales during a slump in the economy.
The Strategy:
AOR decided the best way to reach CCE’s goals was to utilize search engine marketing and optimization capabilities. AOR did a thorough analysis of CCE and chose to utilize an inexpensive and effective Pay-Per-Click campaign using Google Adwords. After researching their business, keywords and website, AOR developed 3 separate Adword groups to target different verticals. After specifying these Adword groups CCE got into the top 2 search results for those keywords, positioning them directly in front of their target market.
The Results:
CCE started seeing results from the campaign almost immediately. Incoming calls noticeably increased as did website traffic. Over time we analyzed which keywords were performing best and adjusted our bidding strategy and keyword phrases to increase effectiveness. The results have been highly successful, the President of CCE said, “The Google Adwords pay-per-click campaign has given CCE a 24/7 marketing presence targeted directly at CCE’s prospects. Results were seen immediately with phone calls and new business. Best of all, CCE can attribute a six-figure contract due to the success of this PPC campaign.”
Takeaways:
- Pay for performance.
- Keyword advertising in search engines bring targeted traffic to your website.
- Positioning your company directly in front of an audience who is using search to find what you’re offering.
Objectives:
- Generate excitement and drive people to interact with the SolutionsPath site and learn about training and education resources in the Playbooks.
- Enable our audience to access educational tools on their own time so they could enhance their selling skills and generate more business.
Strategy: The campaign was launched with a series of html emails to Avnet employees, value added resellers and partners followed by 3-D mailers to key executives.
To get our audience involved quickly, we developed a game where players had to go to the SolutionsPath site, login and then go to at least 4 of the 7 tabs in one of the Playbooks. At each tab, they found and collected “genius” points that were hidden on the page. When they collected at least 500 points, they could answer a brief survey and collect a $50 Amazon or Visa Gift Card.
Over the course of the campaign, each html email or direct mail piece highlighted a different playbook and /or encouraged readers to visit a different section on the site.
Results:
The campaign was highly successful. More than 535 people registered for the game, exceeding our goal of 250 by 214%. Even better, roughly one-third of these registrants became active gamers on a regular basis over the course of the campaign, ensuring that 150 resellers got in-depth education on multiple new product areas.
The conversion rate from those who clicked the register link to fully registered participants was 85%, indicating the landing page and registration process were well thought out and engaging.
Finally, the “Release Your Inner Genius” game earned a total of nearly 4,000 points over the course of the game, meaning we successfully led resellers to discover and learn about the content on nearly 400 unique page views.
Goals:
- To get VARs (Value Added Resellers) excited about an incentive campaign whose prize is a trip to Washington D.C.
- To help VARs to learn about selling a new Nokia security product, while also promoting their current line
- To drive sales of specific products: Nokia IP2450, IP690, and IP290 appliances
Strategy:
Create a fun, interactive world of spies, secret codes and hidden compartments, involving direct mail, email, 3-d mailers, Personalized URLs and micro-sites, within a 6-month campaign called “Nokia I-Spy.”
Results:
30% of the sales force went to the site and entered their secret code--a much higher percentage than typically participate in any given incentive campaign. The growth in sales far exceeded goal: $2.9 million in net new sales for the 290, 690 and 2450 products. The ROI on the marketing cost was a whopping 5172%.
Goals:
GE Access (now Avnet) wanted to use a series of direct mailings to:
- Generate leads for various Oracle products.
- Announce new product features and benefits in a quick, fast-read format.
- Drive prospects to the Web site for more details.
Strategy:
Our communications strategy was to ensure each direct mail piece stood out and looked different from the deluge of high-tech product literature our target market of IT professionals, CIOs, CFOs and resellers gets every day. Then, we carefully hit only top-line benefits and invited readers to go online for more depth.
Finally, in addition to unusual, striking photography paired with intriguing headlines, we used die-cutting and folding in the print process of the “Samurai” piece to make it more interactive so readers would want to get involved with the piece.
Results:
The campaign was highly successful in generating both leads and sales. With only a $50,000 total budget, the campaign has generated more than $962,000 in trackable sales in just 2 months, nearly a 20:1 ROI.
Goal:
Increase credit card penetration and usage for IBM Employees Credit Union (now Premier Members Federal Credit Union).
Strategy:
For this Boulder-based credit union, we created a personalized letter with attached acceptance form to promote a pre-approved credit card offer to three separate credit-risk cells. Each cell received a different rate and a different pre-approved credit limit. Teaser copy and artwork on the outer envelope lured prospects inside where the letter closed the sale and the easy-to-complete acceptance form ensured a no-hassle response mechanism.
Results:
Thanks in part to the clear, simple, benefit-oriented mailing package, this mailing generated a 7% response rate — far exceeding the client’s goal of 3%.
Goal:
Increase retail equity-based loans for an independent bank in the Denver metro area.
Strategy:
Knowing that the target audience had already been exposed to HELOC offers many, many times by competitor institutions, we developed a large-format, 5" x 10" mailing package that utilized bright colors and humor. We knew that for this over-exposed audience, the piece needed to practically leap out of the mailbox - another example of creative execution being driven by strategic planning. Another plus was that this piece achieved high memorability at a low cost, using just two colors.
Results:
This campaign more than doubled the bank’s retail loan portfolio and brought in 132% of the total dollar goal. The client also informed us that the respondents’ qualifying rates were much higher than normal, evidence that our list selection had been on target.
Goal:
To increase the number of transactions at a particular brand of Automated Teller Machines in Phoenix, Arizona.
Strategy:
AOR devised a media strategy utilizing radio, busboards and outdoor advertising. By focusing the radio buy on key ATM-use times, such as Wednesday through Friday 4 pm to 9 pm, Saturday and Sunday 10 am to 9 pm, we were able to stretch the budget over seven weeks and hit ATM users at the times when we have the most chance of changing their behavior.
Results:
TA 15% increase in transaction volume was measured for the campaign period compared to the volume for the same months the previous year. In addition, a post-campaign increase has continued to be measured, indicating that consumer behavior was permanently changed.
Goals:
- To drive StorageTek product sales through registered GE Access resellers in Q3 and Q4.
- To incent increased non-tape products and services sales.
- To generate excitement surrounding the sales incentive prize of a trip to anywhere in the world, to be determined by the winner.
Strategy:
Create a campaign that really involves the resellers in the excitement and
adventure of deciding where in the world they would want to go, using a multi
faceted promotion, which could sustain interest over six month. To do this, we
developed a 3-mailing featuring an oversized wall-map of the world. The map
also contained trivia questions. To get answers, resellers had to go to a special
web landing page full of product info, the sales leader board, contest rules, etc.
This was followed up with html emails with additional global destination trivia, and oversized post cards featuring exotic travel locales such as St. Petersburg, Russia and Easter Island.
Results:
As we had hoped, the centerpiece of the campaign, the wall map, was a big hit and became the decoration of choice for offices and cubicles in our target market. The participation rate of resellers exceeded the goal.
Most importantly, overall sales for StorageTek products increased by 23% during the promotion period, while sales of non-tape products grew from 17% to 26% of total sales, and sales of services grew from just 11% to 32% of total sales.
Goals:
- Get Sprint sales people to set up an in-person meeting with CEOs of targeted companies to sell Sprint Business solutions.
- Expand awareness of the variety of productivity and communication tools Sprint offers.
Strategy:
These executives are inundated with sales messages, so we realized that we needed to do something different if we hoped to grab the attention of these Execs. We developed a 2-phase non-traditional DM piece that featured golf balls and an invitation to set up a meeting with a Sprint rep in the first phase. If the Exec agrees to a meeting with an NFS rep, he will receive a second, more expensive golf-related gift -- an executive putter set in a rich cherry-wood case.
Results:
Says the client, "The results have been impressive." From 50 pieces that were closely monitored in Colorado, only 5 non-responders were recorded. 11 appointments were set and 10 proposals were written. More than 600 new unit sales are a direct result of this campaign.
Most importantly, overall sales for StorageTek products increased by 23% during the promotion period, while sales of non-tape products grew from 17% to 26% of total sales, and sales of services grew from just 11% to 32% of total sales.