Projects
Driving Record Ticket Sales for a Seasonal Event Through Cross-Channel Synchronisation
Client Overview
Blue Tiger partnered with a UK events organisation to support ticket sales for its February exhibition, one of two major annual shows held at a national venue.
The February show has historically faced greater challenges than its October counterpart due to seasonality and lower demand during winter months. The objective was to grow ticket sales year on year while improving efficiency and adapting to changing media consumption habits.
The Challenge
The February show operates outside the core seasonal demand period, making it inherently more challenging to drive attendance.
The client needed to:
- Increase ticket sales year on year
- Improve return on advertising spend (ROAS)
- Reduce cost per acquisition (CPA)
- Deliver strong performance within a shorter campaign window
Additional complexity included:
- A reduced campaign duration (4 weeks vs 6–8 weeks previously)
- Declining interest in key segments such as caravans
- External media investment beyond Blue Tiger’s activity, limiting full attribution visibility
- Ongoing debate around the role of TV within the media mix
The Insight
Consumer media habits have shifted significantly, with increased time spent on streaming and digital platforms.
The opportunity lay in rebalancing investment away from traditional linear TV toward data-led digital and connected channels, while maintaining the scale benefits of broadcast where appropriate.
By combining this with a fully synchronised, full-funnel approach, the campaign could maximise reach, frequency, and conversion efficiency across multiple touchpoints.
The Approach
Blue Tiger delivered a full-funnel, multi-channel media strategy, combining digital and offline activity to drive awareness, consideration and conversion.
Key strategic elements included:
- Reallocation of budget from linear TV into CTV, DRTV and digital channels to align with changing consumption habits
- Increased investment in Meta and Google, leveraging advanced campaign types such as Advantage+ and Performance Max
- Continued use of OOH, radio and audio platforms to build reach and frequency across the UK
- A 50/50 split between awareness and conversion activity, with increased emphasis on lower funnel performance
Creative was tailored across funnel stages, combining high-impact video for awareness with urgency-driven messaging and countdown tactics to drive conversions.
Ongoing testing and optimisation ensured budget was continuously directed toward the highest-performing channels, audiences and creative formats.
The Solution in Action
Campaign activity was phased strategically, beginning with pre-campaign search activity before scaling into full multi-channel delivery.
Digital channels launched earlier to build momentum, followed by broader channel activation including TV, VOD, audio and OOH. This ensured demand was generated and captured effectively throughout the campaign period.
Creative testing played a key role, with:
- Video formats outperforming static assets in efficiency and engagement
- Reminder and urgency-led messaging driving the lowest CPAs and highest ROAS
- Campaign learnings informing real-time optimisation across channels
Regional performance insights were also used to refine strategy, with targeted investment in high-performing areas such as Yorkshire driving incremental sales at strong efficiency.
Channels & Services Used
Digital channels
- Paid Social (Meta, YouTube)
- Paid Search
- Programmatic Display
- Connected TV (CTV)
- Programmatic Audio (Spotify, DAX)
Offline channels
- Linear TV
- Out-of-Home (OOH)
- Radio
Services
- Full-funnel media planning
- Audience segmentation and insight
- Creative testing and optimisation
- Performance measurement and reporting
- Campaign optimisation
The Results
The campaign delivered record-breaking performance, exceeding all core KPIs:
Channel-level performance demonstrated significant improvements:
- +61% increase in sales via Paid Search, with a 76% reduction in CPA and +33% increase in ROAS
- +107% increase in conversions via Paid Social, driven by improved targeting and creative performance
- +47% increase in YouTube-driven transactions, with significant uplift in reach and engagement
Targeted regional investment delivered strong incremental impact, including:
- 3,786 incremental sales driven at a £3.30 CPA and 3:1 ROI
- +62% YoY sales growth in Yorkshire, supported by targeted TV investment
Why It Worked
Success was driven by a combination of channel rebalancing, full-funnel synchronisation and continuous optimisation.
By aligning media investment to evolving consumer behaviour, leveraging high-performing digital channels, and maintaining strong upper funnel support, the campaign delivered both scale and efficiency.
The ability to test, learn and optimise in real time ensured that performance improved throughout the campaign, ultimately delivering record sales despite seasonal challenges.
