Google AdWords

Challenge

Hilton saw the value in addressing the plight of the stranded airport traveler – a captive audience with urgent, typically weather-induced hotel needs. To achieve this and deliver intrinsic value to consumers, iProspect was challenged to create a powerful solution using existing technologies in an innovative way to accurately serve incident and location specific ads based on real-time flight cancellations.

Solution

Offering available lodging to travelers stranded at the airport depended on the accurate ability to deliver ads exactly when and where the traveler would see them. Rather than simply increasing bids during high-traffic times, Hilton wanted to serve ads based on real-world flight cancellations. Since the technology to make this idea a reality did not exist, iProspect and Hilton created a custom, in-house Google AdWords script that used a third-party data feed of flight cancellations. The initial campaign ran in the top 30 airports with a history of high cancellation rates. When the data feed indicated higher-than-average canceled flights, the automated bidding script triggered an increase for regional, incident-specific keywords until midnight that day. Ads included geo-targeted messaging such as “Hilton Near Chicago Airport” and a “Book Tonight” site link.

Results

• +500% - Philadelphia
• +220% - Washington DC
• +100% - Charlotte
• +88% - New York City

In an impressively short timeframe, Hilton saw substantial revenue growth directly attributable to the campaign. Because they were able to respond quickly and with scale, they were able to efficiently and effectively reach exactly the right audience with a much-needed (and appreciated) solution. This campaign generated increased reservations, but also did something meaningful for Hilton as a brand - improved relationships and brand perception with new and existing customers.