CASE STUDIES
Over the past 20+ years, H2R has been able to assist some amazing companies. Some large. Some small. Some national. Some local. Our expertise means that we’ve had the opportunity to help many organizations over the years. There are a few clients that stand out in our minds that have truly used research to make changes for the betterment of their organizations.
Newport Beach & Company
In early 2015, H2R was contracted to conduct a Marketing & Media Effectiveness Study for the Newport Beach & Company’s Spring Shoulder Season Leisure Marketing Campaign. The research showed that the campaign generated excellent awareness, reach and incremental travel revenue—all well above the H2R Proprietary Industry Norm for destinations with similar budgets. Additionally, the efficiency of the campaign was excellent and returned $76 dollars in incremental spending for every dollar spent on marketing. Extrapolated across incremental visits, this equated to $21.5 million in visitor spending that would not have occurred without that marketing campaign.
Not only was research used to craft this excellent campaign but also to measure its success. And, in January of 2016, the campaign became a finalist for the Best Marketing Campaign in the California Poppy Awards. Referencing the finalist award, Doug McClain said,
““According to Visit California, the judges were ‘wowed’ by our campaign. Aside from the rocking creative, I think the ad effectiveness study had a big part in our nomination. Showing how our advertising tracked back to results is a big part of a winning award entry.””
Each year, Newport Beach & Company uses the previous year’s research and recommendations from H2R to create better and more efficient marketing campaigns. Armed with thorough research with proven results, Newport Beach knows the right mix of media that will bring incremental visitation and spending to the Newport Beach area.
Hershey Entertainment & Resorts
The Christmas season was approaching for Hersheypark theme park in Hershey, PA. The price for visiting during the Christmas season hadn’t increased for many years, and park operators needed to know how that price was perceived in the marketplace, the price elasticity of demand and the intent to purchase tickets for the coming season. Additionally, new product was being considered for the park, so would this warrant an increase in price? H2R Market Research recommended conducting Pricing Research to answer these questions.
The research used several different pricing models to test the elasticity of the prices for Hersheypark during the Christmas Candylane festival. Results indicated that while an increase in price would decrease demand slightly, the increase in revenue would more than make up for any losses in attendance. Additionally, the optimal price point for guests was nearly $2 higher per ticket than what was currently being charged, indicating that guests were willing to pay more for their tickets to the park.
In the end, Hersheypark decision makers were able to increase the price of a general admission ticket to the park by $2 that year, bring in more than 300,000 guests for the festival and generate an additional $600,000 in ticket revenue. All because of a relatively small investment in research to ensure their decisions were the right ones before moving forward.
Leslie Ferraro, Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer for Hershey Entertainment and Resorts had this to say about working with H2R:
““H2R is more than a partner, they are an extension of our team. They are thoroughly invested in understanding our business in order to help us gain a better understanding of who our guests are and what they value. We have been able to integrate key learnings from their research and analytics across multiple channels of our business. They are clearly experts in their field.””
H2R Market Research and Magellan Strategy Group have enjoyed a strategic partnership for six years. H2R has partnered with Magellan in numerous destination studies, including research for smaller (often unexposed) DMO’s.
Last year, Magellan contacted H2R to help solve brand related issues for Blowing Rock, NC. The research identified the area’s market potential, key competitors, barriers to visitation and brand strengths, among other findings.
The study revealed that Blowing Rock has a considerable ratio of considerers (those who have thought about visiting but haven’t) that just need a compelling reason to visit. H2R recommended a strategy for building awareness of the area, followed by a call to action to encourage top of mind consideration and, eventually, visitation. H2R also identified the area’s key brand strengths and hurdles to visitation, and these insights helped direct marketers to create a campaign travelers can believe in and will ultimately inspire future visitation.
Decision makers used the findings from the research to create a new brand that markets to a diverse visitor mix and caters to all four seasons of the year. The new brand capitalizes on the assets of the area and gives travelers a reason to choose Blowing Rock over the competitors. Chris Cavanaugh, President of Magellan Strategy Group, had this to say about working with H2R Market Research on this study:
Magellan Strategy Group
““H2R has been a very knowledgeable and dependable strategic partner of ours for many years. The research they performed as part of my work for the Blowing Rock Tourism Development Authority was invaluable and provided much-needed insight into the dynamics of a destination with a diverse visitor mix and four very different seasons. The client was delighted with the results, which will enable the Authority to target their visitors much better by season, both psychographically and demographically.
I depend a great deal upon H2R’s experience in travel and tourism for my clients, and they always come through with research that is designed to be actionable and reliable.””
In early 2015, the Maryland Heights CVB contacted H2R Market Research to help them solve their branding related issues. Being so close to a large metropolitan city, their brand became lost in the clutter of other major brands surrounding them—they had no identity of their own. Using Brand Perception Research with a Visitor Profile component, H2R helped Maryland Heights to discover exactly what their identity should be and how to make themselves stand out in a crowded market place.
Decision makers with the Maryland Heights CVB and Carr Strategies used the findings from the research to create a new brand that paid homage to the past and brought themselves into a more modern and relevant place. The new brand capitalized on the assets of the area and gave travelers reason to choose Maryland Heights over the competitors. Karen Krispin, Director of the CVB, had this to say about working with H2R Market Research & Carr Strategies:
Visit Maryland Heights
““We love our new brand and it has been so very well received—we are happy campers. The entire process was wonderful, and we sincerely appreciate H2R Market Research and Carr Strategies for their expertise and guidance.””
Visit Maryland Heights has become a life-long partner with H2R and continues to use the insights gained from that original research to build upon insights each year and continue to innovate to bring visitors to the Maryland Heights area.