TV Ads

“With Google TV Ads, we were able to take advantage of next-day reporting and the system’s flexibility to make smarter and more efficient buys for Hanley Center. Given the phenomenal results we’ve achieved, even on a more modest budget, Google TV Ads will continue to be an important part of our recommended marketing mix.”

Reaching Out

During its 21 years of operation, Hanley Center, a residential treatment program for chemical dependency located in West Palm Beach, Florida, has helped thousands of individuals affected by alcoholism and drug addiction through high quality treatment, family support and community prevention programs.

As a non-profit organization, part of Hanley’s challenge was to get its message to more of the people who needed to hear it, without exhausting its modest marketing budget. Television advertising had seemed like an ideal advertising format for that message and in 2007 Hanley developed its first campaign.

“Last year we developed a high-quality television commercial,” explains Cindy McAlpin, Hanley Center’s marketing director. “But because of our ad budget, we were only able to air it locally, in the five counties surrounding our center. As a result, the impact was limited.”

Kevin Zundl, co-founder of Psynchronous Communications, Inc., a Boston-based full-service marketing communications agency, has been working with Hanley Center for several years. Psynchronous helped them integrate Google AdWords in 2005 and, more recently, Google Audio Ads into Hanley’s marketing strategy. In December of 2007, Kevin recommended trying Google TV Ads™, a flexible, all-digital system for buying more accountable and measurable TV advertising.

“National advertising was looking further and further beyond our reach,” Cindy says. “When Kevin told us about Google TV Ads, it was so affordable that it sounded too good to be true.”

Using Google TV Ads, Psynchronous and Hanley were able to easily target key demographics through relevant networks, dayparts, and programs, and then choose the maximum CPM (cost per thousand impressions) they were willing to pay.

Healthy Results

Hanley Center started by airing its ads on about a dozen networks, with a higher concentration of airtime on the Lifetime and Lifetime Movie networks. “We targeted our TV campaigns nationally and used radio to heavy up our exposure in key markets,” Kevin says.

“And then Google introduced a feature where we could pick not just particular networks, but specific programming,” she explains. “We started targeting shows like ‘Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew’ and ‘Intervention.’ Being able to target specific programming really helps what we’re trying to do.”

Once their ads started running, Psynchronous and Hanley Center could see when and where their ads ran and how many impressions were delivered, a process made simple and convenient by Google TV Ads’ report center.

“Through the report center, we can look at the TV spots that played and the number of impressions we’re getting,” Kevin says. “The data is available to us literally the day after the ad runs. It allows us to make critical decisions far more quickly than through a traditional media buy.”

The data has been very encouraging.

“Our focus is on direct response, and on days we are running Google Audio and Google TV Ads, Hanley Center receives a lot more brochure requests,” Kevin explains. “In January we saw a 34% lift and in February we saw a 40% lift.”

Most importantly these brochure requests are making an immediate impact on Hanley Center’s most important goal – getting individuals into the center for treatment. “As for actual admittance into the center,” says Cindy, “we just had our strongest February ever!”

Changing on a Dime

One of the features of Google TV Ads that Kevin values most is the ease with which he can review data and adjust his clients’ campaigns. “Google TV Ads allows us to be very nimble and responsive,” he explains. “We’re not committed to a year or month in these spots, so we can try something out to see if it’s working—and change our placement if we want—in essentially one day’s notice. We can react on a dime—the process is incredibly quick.”

“As we optimize our campaigns based on the data from Google’s reports,” he adds, “we continue to see better and better results.”

Moving the Center Forward

Psynchronous was able to quickly pair campaign data from Google’s Report Center with performance metrics from their own conversion-tracking software to identify new potential markets Hanley Center had not previously considered. They were then able to respond to that data about new, responsive geographic areas by boosting Google Audio Ads campaigns in those areas.

“I am seeing a definite increase in responses from areas outside of our traditional demographic of Florida and the Northeast,” Cindy explains. “For example, we were able to discover a new potential market in Chicago.”

Despite their local presence, Hanley is now committed to focusing its advertising on the national level. “Google TV Ads allowed us to step into the national advertising arena,” says Cindy. “It was something we had wanted to do but didn’t think we’d ever be able to afford. We’re a smaller organization, with a smaller budget, and I really feel like our money is being maximized.”

Kevin echoes Cindy’s endorsement: “With Google TV Ads, we were able to take advantage of next-day reporting and the system’s flexibility to make smarter and more efficient buys for Hanley Center. Given the phenomenal results we’ve achieved, even on a more modest budget, Google TV Ads will continue to be an important part of our recommended marketing mix.”