The challenge
HotelsCombined is one of Australia’s foremost travel comparison websites offering users up to 80% off accommodation across more than 800,000 hotels worldwide.
HotelsCombined relies heavily on advertising campaigns across both TV and video advertising, but wasn’t sure which platform delivered the best results against key business outcomes.
So the brand decided to run a test in order to determine how Broadcaster Video on Demand (BVOD) measured up against global social and video platforms.
The execution
To establish the impact of digital video advertising on brand awareness as well as booking and revenue data, HotelsCombined compared the performance of BVOD on 9Now, video posted to a social platform and a global video platform.
In order to do this, the brand took TV offline and geo-fenced audiences based on three significant metro areas – Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
The brand then bought media from one publisher in a single metro market for a period of 40 days, inclusive of seven days before and after the media buying period, to see what the impact would be against specific hard and soft metrics.
The results
After the 40-day test period, HotelsCombined examined the data from each publisher, metro market and platform combination to determine which platform was ultimately the most effective.
Metro market and platform combinations were carefully considered to ensure geofenced audiences were being serviced by the platform they engaged with most; Brisbane was paired with social media, Sydney with BVOD on 9Now, and Melbourne with global video.
The brand’s in-depth analysis found that BVOD was able to sustain growth where all other platforms declined. In fact, BVOD was the only platform that delivered uninterrupted growth generating a 40% lift in revenue and a 30% increase in bookings across the entire campaign period.
BVOD was also the most efficient platform from a media standpoint and the most effective in driving bookings and revenue to deliver key business outcomes.
While both the social platform and 9Now were able to help shift top-of-mind awareness, it was in prompted and unprompted awareness where BVOD stood out delivering 1.5 times the efficiency in driving brand awareness.
The campaign also led to a 28.5% increase in bookings in the single metro market in which it was tested and, in doing so, showed the brand how BVOD can deliver a tangible return on investment.
This has changed the way HotelsCombined buys media, with BVOD now included as part of its overall strategy.