Campari raises a glass to a 260% boost in conversions using omnichannel optimisation

BUSINESS OBJECTIVE 

Bringing harmony to a fragmented advertising strategy

As one of the world’s most iconic aperitivos, Campari has long been a summer favourite in Germany’s vibrant beverage market. As category competition intensified, the brand explored new marketing approaches to ensure it remained top of mind with consumers. It ran seasonal campaigns across multiple media channels, and the media buying team knew a further-coordinated strategy would lead to valuable insights and media efficiencies. 

Campari set out to connect its campaigns through a unified omnichannel approach, aiming to drive efficiency and strengthen brand engagement throughout the consumer journey. The brand and its agency, Mindshare, partnered with The Trade Desk to develop a strategy that unified its siloed multichannel campaigns into a single, connected omnichannel effort. 

SOLUTION 

Optimising spending and impressions for performance

The team ran the omnichannel campaign on the Kokai platform, drawing on our extensive selection of display, online video (OLV), connected TV (CTV), and digital out-of-home (DOOH) inventory. Campari and Mindshare steered impressions towards top-performing channel combinations and automatically optimised delivery by activating the omnichannel optimisation feature within Kokai. This campaign marked the brand and agency’s first use of the feature in Europe, reflecting their commitment to more data-driven, connected planning. 

To reach the most relevant audiences, Campari and Mindshare deployed a mix of targeting strategies. One approach involved utilising multi-retailer third-party retail data segments from multiple supermarkets to identify shoppers interested in products in relevant categories. Lookalike modelling was employed to identify consumers similar to its seed audience of loyal customers, people with an established relationship to the brand. Additionally, Identity Alliance was used to match audiences consistently across devices. 

The team also activated cross-channel retargeting to reengage consumers who had been exposed on one channel with complementary messaging on another. This enabled sequenced storytelling across touchpoints, rather than duplicative impressions in a single environment. 

Campari additionally deployed frequency caps across channels to minimise waste and optimise reach. 

To evaluate the campaign’s effectiveness, a universal pixel was used to measure website visits. Alongside reach and frequency analyses, they conducted supplementary website conversion analysis. Finally, a brand lift study measured the campaign’s impact on consideration. 

RESULTS 

Boosting performance through omnichannel optimisation 

The Campari campaign delivered exceptional results, including improved household conversions, a shorter time to conversion, and a reduced cost per acquisition (CPA). 

By using Kokai’s omnichannel optimisation feature, Campari and Mindshare shifted impressions towards the best-performing channel combinations, increasing efficiency and value across this campaign group. 

One standout result was a 260% increase in the household conversion rate when consumers were exposed to three channels, compared to display alone. Time to conversion was 70% faster when consumers were exposed to three channels, rather than only display. The campaign also resulted in a 32% lower CPA for impressions enhanced by the omnichannel optimisation feature versus non-optimised impressions. 

Frequency controls reduced wasted impressions and saved 11% of the total budget, which the team reinvested to achieve a 5.5% increase in unique household reach. 

Campari’s brand lift study revealed strong results across all channels, achieving above-benchmark performance in key brand metrics. DOOH had the most significant overall impact, with double-digit gains across all key performance indicators including: 

• Ad recall (31 points) 

• Brand image (35 points) 

• Consideration (32 points) 

CTV also drove notable uplifts, boosting: 

• Ad recall (23 points) 

• Brand image (33 points) 

• Consideration (27 points) 

These results underscore channel combination effectiveness for awareness and perception. Overall, the brand’s campaign demonstrated that running an optimised omnichannel strategy can deliver significantly better results compared to a siloed multichannel approach. The company plans to use omnichannel optimisation with future activations.