VIOOH used targeting tactics from online retail to create an OOH campaign that drove airport sales for premium tequila, Don Julio.
The OOH supply-side platform was tasked with boosting brand awareness and sales for Don Julio in duty-free shops in Heathrow and Gatwick airports, as part of the tequila brand’s summer-long partnership with Ibiza superclub, Pacha. Targeting UK travellers heading to the White Isle, the campaign used programmatic digital out-of-home (prDOOH) running on airport screens to drive foot traffic and sales, and measure real-time impact effectively.
The challenge was ‘reaching and converting high-intent travellers in a busy airport environment saturated with retail opportunities, with plenty of competitor brands,’ said VIOOH’s global field marketing director, Diu Hoang. Don Julio needed a precise, data-driven approach to engage passengers at the right moment, to drive duty-free visits and increase tequila sales.
To achieve this, VIOOH worked with real-time proximity ad agency StoreBoost, outdoor agency Talon and media agency PHD to leverage flight activation data, footfall tracking, and sales insights. ‘Research showed that while midday flights to Ibiza were most frequent, they delivered the poorest results in regards to campaign success, leading to their removal from the schedule,’ said Hoang.
‘It was discovered that ads were most effective one hour before departure, driving higher foot traffic to duty-free,’ she added. PrDOOH enabled these adjustments to be made in real-time based on changing data, ensuring the campaign reached travellers at the right time.
‘It was important to highlight to [Don Julio] that the addition of programmatic into the DOOH media strategy enabled performance metrics, clearly showing the channel pushing customers down the funnel to conversion,’ said Hoang.
StoreBoost sensors were distributed within the duty-free shopping environment, providing data on footfall metrics, and triggering programmatic ads on the JCDecaux and Global DOOH airport networks when footfall in duty-free stores was measured as high or low. ‘This, combined with dynamic creative showing live countdowns to arrival in Ibiza and promoting the opening of Pacha,’ said Hoang, ‘ensured maximum contextual relevance to the target audience, essentially allowing a bricks-and-mortar store to benefit from tactics usually reserved for online retailers.’
Optimising ad placements across different airports, with varying footfall patterns, proved difficult. Real-time adjustments were crucial, said Hoang. [We had to] remove ineffective time slots and shift focus to high-performing ones to ensure the best return, she added.
VIOOH’s strategy paid off, as the campaign drove a 29.6% footfall uplift across both airports. In addition, Heathrow saw a 78.6% YoY sales boost, and Gatwick achieved a 408% YoY sales growth.
By leveraging data-driven insights through prDOOH, VIOOH was able to create a link between advertising hours and increased foot traffic, and sales in duty-free shops. This campaign was ‘testament to the innovative use of prDOOH and data to drive real-world, tangible results for advertisers, especially in the airport environment,’ said Hoang.
