Mad Mex sees a 9% sales uplift with ANZ-first campaign via Vistar Media + Hearts & Science

Vistar Media, a leading global provider of programmatic technology for digital out-of-home (DOOH) and data-driven marketing agency Hearts & Science have today announced the results and strategy behind an ANZ-first campaign that utilised near real-time store data to optimise results for QSR Mad Mex.

Australian-based Mexican fast-food chain Mad Mex engaged Hearts & Science and Vistar Media to activate a tactical programmatic DOOH campaign that would resolve its footfall challenge and drive sales uplift. The campaign, which aimed to reach consumers at the point of purchase, had to activate with immediacy using optimised sales data to support stores in need of a sales boost.
Says Ben Baker, managing director APAC, Vistar Media: “DOOH has evolved to become a channel offering flexibility and agility to brands and marketers alike, and this campaign is a great example of how it can be used. This tech solution enabled Mad Mex to have a significantly longer retail media presence as sites were activated programmatically only when required, ensuring the limited media budget wasn’t chewed through, minimising wastage and maximising effectiveness.”

The innovative and data-driven marketing strategy relied on the flexibility of programmatic DOOH – leveraging daily store-level sales data to position and activate proximity-focused messaging to drive visitation when and where it was needed for Mad Mex. Proximity targeting combined with a DOOH venue mix of Vistar’s widespread supply footprint ensured the campaign utilised POI targeting within 1km of select restaurants, informing contextually relevant media placements. The creative message deployed at each digital panel was informed by the store’s monthly performance data, and whether taste, health or value would be the most influential driver.

Says Nick Cook, general manager of marketing at Mad Mex: “Sales performance increases have been so well-received, that we are in the process of refining this partnership and strategy further. We’re working to increase the complexity of sales data used significantly, to not only factor overall store sales but product sales too, increasing store footfall and product sales along the way. We are very excited to see how this solution will evolve and how this use of tech delivers for Mad Mex in the future.”

The success of the campaign has set a new standard for how Mad Mex will activate its retail footfall communications from now on. During the campaign period, nearly 2.9 million Australians saw programmatic OOH panels activated by daily sales performance. Mad Mex saw a 9% overall sales uplift in the stores where in-proximity programmatic OOH was activated, with a transaction uplift of 7%. These increases have not been achieved using previous retail media activation strategies.

Says Gail Halbert, head of client service Sydney at Hearts & Science: “Hearts & Science has always looked to provide the most innovative ideas to our clients and Mad Mex gave us the opportunity to prove this. The campaign successfully addressed footfall challenges within 24 hours, cutting down sales-to-media-activation lag time, leading to phenomenal results which were previously unachievable through traditional channels.”