Case Study
Electric Playhouse
Client: Electric Playhouse
Strategy | Digital Advertising | Print | Advertising | Video | Out of Home
Project Overview
Electric Playhouse is a new all-ages dining, gaming and recreation space in Albuquerque. They create immersive, interactive experiences using the latest in projection mapping technology. Attendees are encouraged to question what’s possible and let curiosity lead them as they interact with the space. The environment’s ability to adapt to the people in it creates a truly one-of-a-kind experience.
The
Challenge
Build awareness and anticipation ahead of a grand opening event in early February 2020. Above all they wanted to meet attendance expectations at their grand opening. Beyond that they were looking for measurable results focused on increasing social media followers and website visits.
With a small budget and everything riding on the grand opening event, the ad campaign had to perform.
Challenge
Build awareness and anticipation ahead of a grand opening event in early February 2020. Above all they wanted to meet attendance expectations at their grand opening. Beyond that they were looking for measurable results focused on increasing social media followers and website visits.
With a small budget and everything riding on the grand opening event, the ad campaign had to perform.
The Analysis
Through extensive research and data analysis, Esparza developed key persona groups that best represented the types of visitors who would be interested in Electric Playhouse’s offerings.
These target audiences were refined using:
- Demographic data (including location, age, income, parental status, and gender)
- Psychographic data (including interests, affinity, behavior, and habits).
This in-depth targeting allowed us to build a core-audience of “true fans” who could be hyper-targeted with relevant messaging in the lead up to the grand opening.
The Insight
The creative campaign was built around a key insight: How you feel at Electric Playhouse is more compelling than what you do there.
What Electric Playhouse is truly selling is a sense of escape. Building the creative around this experience allowed us to distill their message, stop explaining the technology and start building an emotional connection with our target audience.
The visual style and persona of the creative needed to match the unique, high-energy environment of Electric Playhouse. The creative tone is vibrant, fun and playful. The messaging is approachable, exciting and at times nostalgic. We wanted to remind the target audience what it was like to be a kid again and that adults need play too.
The Strategy
With the creative in place, we hyper-targeted our core audience of true fans across multiple touchpoints on- and offline. We relied on them to talk up the new Albuquerque attraction with their friends and family, expanding awareness beyond our core group without additional spend.
Esparza proposed a digital-first approach supplemented by traditional media for a holistic awareness campaign. Each channel was selected for specific purposes related to the overall objective.
Paid Search
- A Google paid search campaign was implemented to capture two types of traffic:
- Branded. We used paid search to capture people who were searching Electric Playhouse and direct them to information specific to the grand opening event.
- Unbranded. We also implemented a paid search strategy to build awareness among people farther up the funnel who were searching for things to do in Albuquerque, fun things to do with kids, new restaurants, etc.
Display
- Display ads were used to build awareness about the experience and direct traffic back to the Electric Playhouse website.
In-Stream, Out of Stream
and OTT Video
Video was arguably the most effective way to communicate the Electric Playhouse experience. Esparza conceptualized and directed three 30-second and 15-second spots about the experience. These targeted videos ran on pre-roll, apps, connected TV, YouTube and Google’s Display Network
Social Media
Highly targeted, cost-effective social ads were placed to build awareness and increase followers. Our process involved continuously experimenting with multiple ads types, including video, carousel, instant experience and event ads. We then monitored performance, optimized the ad sets that were working and shifted spend to those that were most effective for our audience.
Social Media
Highly targeted, cost-effective social ads were placed to build awareness and increase followers. Our process involved continuously experimenting with multiple ads types, including video, carousel, instant experience and event ads. We then monitored performance, optimized the ad sets that were working and shifted spend to those that were most effective for our audience.
Out-of-Home
Strategically selected billboards and bus shelter ads were used to generate awareness and curiosity.
Radio: bonus media given by the OOH vendor was used to increase awareness.
Media breakdown
based on budget
Results
On February 1, Electric Playhouse had a successful grand opening that exceeded attendance expectations.
More than 80K people visited the Electric Playhouse website in the two months leading up to the grand opening. The client also saw tremendous growth on their social media channels.
