Case Studies
University Fills 38% More Seats at Home Games
THE CHALLENGE
One of the nation’s top research universities with more than 18,000 undergraduate and graduate students came to Money Mailer Direct Marketing to test a shared mail campaign with the goal of boosting football and basketball season ticket sales.
THE BOTTOM LINE
The object was to target geographies 14 to 30 miles from the university. The university’s assumption was that the epicenter of activity for season ticket sales are miles 1-13 around the school. We were tasked with providing post analysis of the test to determine incremental sales lift as a result of the campaign, provide key insights and recommendations moving forward.
OUR APPROACH
Money Mailer Direct Marketing’s unique approach to selecting shared mail zones consisted of targeting geography with the highest potential for response based on PRIZM and MRI indexes for season ticket holders, single ticket buyers, attend college basketball and college football games. In addition, we analyzed the data from the university’s nearly 8,000 transactions at the ZIP+4 level.
OUR SOLUTION
The Money Mailer shared mail test had a definitive positive impact on both the season ticket sales and the percent of ticket purchasing households in zones mailed:
- Total season ticket sales were 38.3% higher in mailed vs. non-mailed zones
- Transaction amounts were higher in mailed vs. non-mailed zones
- Mean percentage of season ticket purchasing households compared to available circulation was significantly higher in mailed zones.
The top decile of the university’s season ticket purchases (highest transaction/most profitable) have some distinct demographic differences to the majority. We were able to identify and target eleven (11) PRIZM segments which correspond to the highest potential to purchase a season ticket - they represented 71.1% of purchases in the 14-30 mile range.
THE REAL BOTTOM LINE
The result, Money Mailer Direct Marketing’s ability to identify the university’s key targets to successfully maximize ticket sales growth and profitability to university moving forward by:
- Maximizing zones mailed between 14-30 miles by adjusting the mailing profile to include more high potential performing zones (16) and reduce lower performing zones (8)
- Developing a high potential (top decile look-a-likes) acquisition strategy with specific messaging, offers and a one-to-one mailing strategy.
- Completing a full database analysis on the university’s season ticket holders for a more comprehensive strategy in the entire trade area, not exclusive to the 14-30 mile radius.