Approach
Used Google Analytics Premium to gather data
Passed data to DoubleClick Studio to build appropriate creatives
Automated bidding through DoubleClick Bid Manager to target users most likely to buy
Goals
Increase revenue from online sales
Use data to tailor advertising messages to customers
Find new customers who match target segments
Results
72% increase in revenue
29% increase in return on investment
60% viewability rate – 25% higher than industry standard
Serving around 2 million customers annually, Thomas Cook set out to improve their online marketing and appeal to the types of customers who tend to purchase their holidays. Dentsu Manchester recommended a way forward, using data to make Thomas Cook’s marketing not only more personal but more efficient too.
The team identified three major customer types who purchase Thomas Cook holidays, dependant on whether their purchase motivation centred around price, ease or luxury.
“We’ve got really specific products that are great for specific customers, so we wanted to use the data and the capability that DoubleClick enables to deliver personalised one-to-one conversations with our customers.”
– Jamie Queen, Marketing and eCommerce Director, Thomas Cook
Google Analytics Premium collected data from the Thomas Cook website, making it possible to create target customer segments and to better understand the marketing message that would work best for each one. Data was passed into DoubleClick Studio to build the most appropriate creative for each user, so that images and text were adjusted according to who was seeing the ad. DoubleClick Bid Manager enabled the team to purchase media based upon the likelihood of the user to buy a holiday, bidding more to display an ad to higher value customers. Finally, DoubleClick Campaign Manager selected the right creative to display based upon the customer type.
The audience-led approach to the display activity allowed for bespoke and tailored messaging to reach Thomas Cook customers, delivering ads relevant at a customer level. In doing so, the display execution was highly engaging with each customer inspiring them individually to start their holiday research and booking experience with Thomas Cook.
Using their own data like this meant Thomas Cook could find new people with matching profiles and could advertise to them in a way that felt personal and unique. The outcome? The campaign maintained a 60% viewability rate – 25% higher than industry standard. Year on year, Thomas Cook has seen revenue increase by 72% and return on investment grow by 29%.
