Spectrum Reach Hits the Road with "Driven By Data" Cross-Country Campaign
You wouldn't embark on a four-month, cross-country road trip without a few hundred gallons of fuel. So, why would you plan a whole marketing campaign and not power it with the best data and insights available? That's the message Spectrum Reach set out to deliver to their advertisers last year. But what started out as an ordinary digital campaign soon evolved into a large-scale mobile activation on wheels. To literally drive home this message, the "Driven By Data Tour" was born.
Early in 2018, Spectrum Reach knew they needed to make a big statement about their proprietary household viewing data. As the advertising sales division of Charter Communications, Spectrum Reach takes first-party data that has been anonymized and aggregated from Spectrum's cable and internet households, combines it with third-party data and uses those insights to power their suite of advanced advertising products and solutions. By that summer a rallying cry was born: "We have the most powerful marketing data for your business. Period." While ad tech companies can make similar claims, Spectrum Reach wanted to make sure advertisers were aware of the impact a data-driven TV campaign could have on their ability to reach the right audience.
In addition to its primary focus on marketing data, one of the key objectives of the tour was to drive awareness for two of Spectrum Reach's data-driven advertising products, AudienceApp and AudienceTrak. Not only would the tour need a unique way to showcase -- and in some markets, debut -- these products, it would need to position Spectrum Reach as a differentiator in the marketing industry. One client in Kansas City during a tour stop said that he had no idea you could target with that level of precision on cable TV, "instead of the buckshot approach that you get with broadcast TV."
The official plan was to acquire a massive truck, custom wrap it with Driven By Data branding, equip it with the latest technology and then map out its route. Weighing in at over 25,000 lbs. and measuring out at 38 feet long, they nicknamed her "Big Data." Inside the truck's main box was a full audio/visual setup featuring touchscreen televisions and connectivity for presentations along with tables and chairs for entertaining clients and offering product demos (when parked, of course).
On August 13th, the Driven By Data National Tour officially kicked off with a client event in Greenville, SC. From there, it made stops in the Northeast, Midwest, Florida, Texas and California, with special appearances at Advertising Week in New York City and the Digital Dealer Conference in Las Vegas. By the time the truck reached its final stop of 2018 in El Paso, TX, the tour had completed 25 stops across nine different states, traveled a total of 11,389 miles and fueled up on 778 gallons of diesel.
Spectrum Reach estimates that the tour delivered 18 million digital impressions and over 264,000 impressions on social media. Essentially serving as a mobile billboard, the company estimates that the truck's out-of-home and on-the-road presence generated more than 1,150,000 brand impressions.
Accounting for the 25 tour stops across the country, nearly 3,000 Spectrum Reach clients and prospective clients were in attendance at the Driven By Data events, creating opportunities for their local sales teams to share their compelling data story. Kansas City Digital Sales Manager Chelsee Ferguson called it "one of the best client events we've hosted," stating that "the level of engagement and enthusiasm was at an all-time high."
So, what's next for Driven By Data? Building on the success of its first go-round. As part of its 2019 national tour, the truck has already made stops in Austin, TX, for Spectrum Reach's annual activation at SXSW, and at Orange County's Largest Mixer, a major networking event for local businesses and chambers of commerce in Costa Mesa, CA. After a quick break, the truck will head to Tampa, FL, on May 7 for Small Business Week -- of which Spectrum Reach is a sponsor -- and will continue its journey to over 25 top Spectrum Reach markets, ending with Los Angeles in the fall.
The sales and marketing divisions beam about the company's offerings, which are literally driven by data. Spectrum Reach Director of Sales Chuck Budt, a self-described "data geek," said, "Our company has unleashed the most extensive and powerful data set in the market which will help us to help our clients build even more effective marketing campaigns."
Former Chief Marketing Officer Fred Bucher agreed, noting that "by combining our proprietary first-party data with our partnerships with third-party data providers we empower advertisers to target audiences based on attributes beyond age and gender information television, giving them even better audience estimates and stability."
For a full list of stops, visit drivenbydatatour.com.
Click the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleagues.
The opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author and/or subject(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillage.com/MyersBizNet, Inc. management or associated writers.
