PrimeLocation & AdSmart

By using AdSmart PrimeLocation were able to target the UK’s wealthiest executive classes and maximise campaign impact.

Background

Operated by the Zoopla Property Group, PrimeLocation.com is a leading UK property portal attracting over 5 million visitors per month.
PrimeLocation primarily addresses the upper and middle property markets with listings from over 16,000 estate agent branches including high-end estate agents such as Knight Frank, Savills, Hamptons International and Strutt & Parker.

By using AdSmart PrimeLocation were able to target the UK’s wealthiest executive classes and maximise campaign impact. In creating an aspirational advert featuring luxurious properties, PrimeLocation combined the power of TV advertising with increased targeting precision to ensure maximum resonance amongst core prospects.

Objectives

Reach a highly targeted audience identified as being the core Prime Location customer.

Maximise campaign efficiency by only reaching those customers who are more likely to visit Prime Location.

Increase site and brand consideration for PrimeLocation amongst the target.

Position PrimeLocation as the number one web portal for upmarket property searches

Targeting

Using Experian’s Mosaic classification groups, PrimeLocation targeted ‘Alpha Territory’ households – the most exclusive consumer group in the UK. Niche targeting of this nature removes the uncertainty associated with traditional demographic audiences and increases the efficiency at reaching core prospects.

Experian’s UK Mosaic consumer classification is defined by over 400 different data elements from a number of authoritative sources including:

ONS’ annual Expenditure and Family Survey

University of Essex’s British Household Panel Survey (BHPS).

Research Now’s online panel of 350,000 consumers.

YouGov’s specialist survey of 66,000 consumers and their financial behaviour.

GfK NOP’s Financial Research survey of 60,000 consumers and their personal finance characteristics.

Kantar’s Target Group Index survey of 25,000 adults consumption of products, brands and media. Experian Hitwise’s online competitor intelligence of 8 million internet users.

Alpha Territory
Representing less than 4% of UK households, Alpha Territory homes contain the most wealthy and influential individuals in the UK. They have risen to positions of power in the private and public sectors, whether as owners of their own businesses, as bankers in the city, as senior managers in industry or as top lawyers, surgeons or civil servants.

Research based on the Alpha Territory group shows that these viewers are more likely to be in the market for new property over the next year compared to standard ABC1 audience and highlights the added value this audience brings to estate agents and property related businesses.

Campaign Delivery
A truly aspirational advert, the creative spoke directly to “battling belligerent boardroom warriors”, and communicated the rewarding nature of owning high-end properties.

The campaign ran across October and November and delivered over 1.5 million household impressions.

Top Line Results

The AdSmart campaign successfully drove KPI’s by boosting campaign cut-through, increasing brand prominence & positivity and maximised creative impacts.

Research solution
In order to evaluate the success of the campaign Sky appointed the research agency BDRC Continental to conduct web survey interviews amongst different sets of Sky customers.

Based on household characteristics and campaign exposure, respondents were classified into three groups.

A test group of Alpha Territory viewers who were served the AdSmart creative.

A demographically matched Alpha Territory control group who were not served the AdSmart creative.

A less targeted group comprised of ABC1 households 1’200 online interviews were conducted amongst the three Sky customer groups over a one week period.

Samples were matched across a range of measures to ensure an unbiased comparability between groups.

Results
Despite having previously run traditional linear activity , the AdSmart campaign succeeded in boosting campaign cut through with prompted advertising recall increasing for those exposed to the AdSmart advertising.

More importantly, the AdSmart activity positively impacted on several key brand measures. The campaign brought the website more front of mind, drove positive sentiment towards the PrimeLocation brand and increased brand affinity (i.e. persuaded viewers that PrimeLocation is for ‘someone like them’).

The AdSmart campaign was successful in increasing site usage likelihood as viewers claimed they would be more likely to use PrimeLocation in the future. Importantly AdSmart viewers who recalled the advert also had higher site preference.

Audience Testing
The research study also set out to explore if Alpha Territory viewers responded differently to the advertising compared to the more traditional audience of ABC1 adults (PrimeLocation’s normal TV buying audience).

As we know, Alpha Territory individuals are more likely to be in the market for new property and so by targeting this audience PrimeLocation were more likely to reach potential new users.

Results showed that the advertising message resonated more strongly with this group and as a result had a greater impact on brand measures.

Reactions to advertisement
The creative generated higher levels of interest, sparked higher levels of curiosity and was more likely to grab attention amongst an Alpha Territory group compared to an ABC1 audience.

Brand perceptions
We also saw significant differences between Alpha Territory and ABC1s when it came to positive brand perceptions. This indicates the advertising was successful in shifting perceptions but also points to the added benefit that niche targeting brings to a brand like PrimeLocation.

Those in Alpha Territory homes were significantly more likely to aspire to own the properties offered by PrimeLocation and feel that the website is for someone like them; clear evidence that Alpha Territory homes are the right target audience.

Campaign Success
Following the success of the campaign , PrimeLocation have included AdSmart as a central pillar of their 2014 media activity.

Client Quote

“These results are strong and provide hard evidence of what we strongly suspected, namely that using AdSmart would be a great targeted strategy for a high-end brand like PrimeLocation”

Charlotte Harper, Marketing Director, Zoopla

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