2019, the year that brought us Old Town Road on loop, woman-yelling-at-cat meme, and blockbuster sequels galore. And let’s not get started on politics. 

However when it came to digital marketing, things were fortunately a touch more interesting. Behemoth brands like P&G shifted budgets from advertising to experiences, circumventing the Facebook and Google duopoly, and connecting directly with consumers. Privacy took center-stage with browsers blocking cookie tracking, marketers eschewing unreliable third-party data sets, and the first GDPR fines being handed out. And to cap it off, the zero-party data economy was realized, with marketers collecting the permissions, preference insights, and purchase intentions required to drive truly personalized marketing. 

So here’s our wrap-up of a busy 12 months, featuring the most innovative and effective campaigns from 2019 that built more meaningful relationships with consumers, collected preference data at scale and engaged with then on every digital channel. 

Discovery teamed up with Jeep to integrate progressive data capture

To align with the launch of Serengeti, a series from Discovery highlighting the majestic animals of the African Serengeti, Discovery teamed up with the 2019 Jeep Grand Cherokee to launch an engaging sweepstakes, giving fans the chance to win $20K towards their own Serengeti adventure.

Promoted through a dedicated landing page hosted on its website, Discovery leveraged progressive data capture, featuring dropdown questions provided by Jeep where participants could select their product of interest. Once the user answered these, the questions were removed on all next visits, so the data entered the first time was kept clean and participants did not have to repeat their answers when they next entered.

To continue with their entry, fans were required to complete the second stage of the form by submitting a small amount of PII data, including their name, address, phone number, gender, date of birth, and cable provider.

UEFA used direct video upload mechanics to capture valuable PII data 

The EURO 2020 draw is one of the hottest dates in the European soccer calendar, deciding who will face-off against each other at the summer’s prestigious championships. 

UEFA launched a competition to give one lucky fan the opportunity to display their soccer skills live on-stage at the draw in front of an audience of millions continent-wide. 

For the chance to win, soccer freestylers were required to upload a video of their best skills using the Cheetah Experiences direct video upload capabilities. Along with their entry, contestants were asked to submit a small amount of PII data. Each participant then received a Cheetah Experiences-powered email notification to confirm their entry.

Upon moderation, all entries were published to a gallery for website visitors to browse and enjoy.

NHL activated social voting in Fan Choice Awards

Following the success from last year’s Fan Choice Awards, the NHL launched the second year of its voting contest, which celebrated the best of hockey social media. This year’s awards campaign hosted 20 unique categories, where fans could vote for their favorite social content within each poll.

To finalize their vote, participants were directed to an optional form to complete should they wish to receive the latest marketing communications and exclusive offers from the NHL.

Results:

• 16k email address opt-ins within the first week of launch
• 850k authenticated votes captured within first week of launch

Bowtech reduced marketing spend using a zero-party data strategy

Using Cheetah Experiences’ library of multi-channel campaign experiences to drive zero-party data, Bowtech has scrapped the budgets traditionally put towards market research by going direct to market themselves. As a result, Bowtech developed a far better understanding of the interests, motivations, and desires of its customers, which now informs the marketing content it creates, the products it manufactures, and the marketing offers it makes.

This strategy enabled them to outperform competitors by 20% in sales, while reducing $1.2M of marketing spend.

“We’ve found that if we put the energy into better experiences, dollar for dollar, we get better data, we get better market research, and it informs our creative and product lifestyle which is amazing! We’re absolutely seeing the return.” – Tim Glomb, Bowtech

Results:

• £1.2M reduction in annual marketing spend
• 500k zero-party data records collected
• 150 data points collected per customer

Marriott Bonvoy employed user preferences to drive personalization

To drive online engagement and promote exclusive resorts in Waikiki, Marriott Bonvoy hosted a stunning personality quiz on its website. Participants were taken through a series of engaging vacation-related questions to discover what their preferences and interests were, and upon completion of the quiz were presented with a Waikiki resort recommendation tailored to their quiz results.

The zero-party data collected through this campaign allows Marriott Bonvoy to profile its customers and segment its audience for personalized retargeting.

Results:

• Over 50% of users who entered also opted in to receive personalized communications

How will you navigate data-gathering efforts in 2020?
Get up to speed on the latest strategies with A Marketer's Guide to Zero-Party Data.

Read the Guide