Morgan & Co.

Full Service Media Planning and Marketing Agency in New Orleans

VBR Case Study
CHALLENGE

Capture the rebounding transient visitors to create economic impact. Partnering with a local design firm, Morgan & Co. was tasked with all media buying responsibilities for VBR. As such, the vision was to efficiently capture a significant share of the rebounding transient market and create economic impact for the community. What made this possible was the ability to combine excitement, great times and great food, with a sense of purpose, learning, history and culture. The outcome was a significant shift from the typical general transient traveler profile, as measured by users to their website.

INSIGHT

Visitors are seeking destinations that mix learning with pleasure. Coupling both excitement and pleasure with the ability to feed a traveler’s historical curiosity provided for a unique mission that led to media’s focus on a group of “learners.” Such a mixture offered from a destination spoke to Baton Rouge’s core audience who, while educated and married, the majority (67%) traveled without children. This fits well with their learn throughout the day and “explore Baton Rouge” at night mantra.

STRATEGY

Leverage visitor travel trends to prioritize geographics for success. The initiative’s goal was to leverage Arrivalist type data, which ranked primary markets along major interstate (I-10, I-49, I-159) corridors, in addition to short-haul direct flight markets (Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, Memphis). With that specific geographic aperture, tied with the highly designed audience persona, we employed goal-oriented media channels to increase website users while simultaneously promoting creative that spoke to both aspects of the messaging.

SOLUTION/EXECUTION

Utilize accountability-based media buying structures to increase ROI. The cross-platform channel plan addressed the objectives of utilizing visual-based placements, heavy frequency, and geo-targeting. The media buy relied on tactics that migrated travel planners from awareness (upper funnel) to action and booking (lower funnel). The 2022 plan shifted heavily from standard CPM negotiated media buying to more accountability-based negotiations, including cost per click (CPC) and cost per session (CPA). Segmentation targeting allowed for extensive use of learner and explorer-based placements for creative units, such as videos and dynamic display that lured and captured interest

RESULTS

Overall, these results demonstrate a significant boost in interest and engagement with the Catapult brand in Baton Rouge, as evidenced by the increased website users, sessions, and direct traffic. The cost per session remains relatively low, indicating efficient acquisition of website traffic.