RedBalloon
Redballoon’s Christmas campaign broke with tradition and broke through to win best Christmas campaign of the year
The Background:
RedBalloon was determined to capitalise on the runaway success of the previous year’s Christmas campaign, so they commissioned a study of the seasonal market. Their findings showed 76% of Christmas shoppers found gift inspiration online, so the challenge was to reach shoppers and convert them from “lookers” to “bookers”.
RedBalloon Tasked Ultimate Edge With:
Creating a new strategy to break through the clutter of the crowded Christmas market. With every brand shouting their benefits at every turn, it would take a memorable message to make an impact.
The Challenge:
RedBalloon challenged Ultimate Edge Communications to launch a Christmas campaign creative and media strategy – their largest campaign of the year in terms of revenue. UEC’s research focused on the gift-giving experience. We discovered that people remembered experience gifts much better than traditional gifts. So the task was to inspire the audience to “break with tradition” and spend a little more on a RedBalloon experience, instead of gifting a soon-forgotten object. The idea was to inspire customers to gift their loved ones a truly memorable experience and effectively become a Christmas hero.
Our Solution:
UEC took a three-step approach to the challenge.
1. We created ads designed to inspire shoppers seeking ideas.
2. Next, we reminded them to prepare for Christmas and visit RedBalloon.
3. We drove traffic to RedBalloon to make the perfect gift purchase, catching the elusive last-minute market.
Our ad struck a perfect balance of emotion and humour, bringing the drama and excitement of the gift-giving moment to life. The message was clear: experiences create the longest-lasting memories – not material things.
The Media Plan:
From YouTube TVCs and social posts to page takeovers and retargeted display ads, we made sure RedBalloon was everywhere customers turned during gift hunting season. We also reached more customers through EDMs, 15-second Video On Demand and a ‘12 Days of Christmas’ giveaway radio campaign with Kyle and Jackie O on KIIS 106.5 FM.
“
Much debate in the advertising industry surrounds whether the ‘message’ or ‘emotion’ is more important. RedBalloon proves that both are possible and – when done right – can be an extremely potent combination.
Phil Toppi
Cubery
The Results:
With a well-planned and executed media strategy, this campaign reached nearly 4.3 millions Australians and generated impressive sales volumes for RedBalloon.
• By Christmas Eve, the revenue was up 14.15% year-on-year.
• The campaign contributed a total of 3,313 conversions, valued at $710,267 and over-delivered by 26.4% in media value. However, the best surprise came midway through the campaign. Cubery, a tech-driven research agency, named the campaign as the most effective Christmas ad of the year, announced by Mumbrella.
