Amid declining entrepreneurship in Canada, the audience-driven out-of-home campaign aimed to boost women-led entrepreneurship across the country – and drove triple digit lifts across all KPIs

Alberta Women Entrepreneurs (AWE), a not-for-profit organization focused on supporting female entrepreneurs in Canada, tapped Vistar Media, the leading global provider of technology solutions for out-of-home (OOH) media, to launch its first national programmatic digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising campaign to boost women-led entrepreneurship across the country. While entrepreneurship in Canada is declining, women-owned businesses are on the rise – which is why AWE set out to drive awareness, consideration and sign-up intent for its BOLD Leadership and Strategic Edge programs to give more women the tools they need to succeed. The unique strategy, which involved audience and location targeting, ultimately drove a 178% increase in awareness, 266% increase in consideration and 273% increase in sign-up intent for AWE’s services.

“We are thrilled to partner with AWE on its first national programmatic advertising campaign,” says Scott Mitchell, Managing Director, Canada at Vistar Media. “AWE wanted to expand its Alberta-based program for women entrepreneurs to a national level, and required a media channel that provided the necessary tools and insights to reach a very specific audience in a meaningful, impactful way. Fortunately, AWE recognized the potential of DOOH to expand its reach beyond traditional channels, and valued the ability to strategically place its ads in high-traffic areas frequented by their target audience. DOOH was a natural extension to its advertising strategy, and we’re honored to play a small part in furthering its powerful mission across Canada.” 

Highlights from AWE’s “Dare to Transform” OOH advertising campaign:

• Audience Insights: AWE implemented audience targeting to reach female small business owners and entrepreneurs, and females with a specific company revenue threshold. This enabled the organization to think beyond only targeting office buildings where its audience might be, and instead dive deeper into truly understanding who they are, where they are and the type of messaging they may be receptive to.

• Diverse DOOH Venues: The campaign ran across a mix of DOOH media in schools, gyms, salons, office buildings, billboards, bus shelters and more across Canada.

• QR Code Creative Strategy: The bold, eye-catching creative integrated a QR code that directed passerby to the Bold Leadership program page on AWE’s website – driving its audience to learn more.

“Partnering with Vistar Media for our first foray into programmatic DOOH advertising was an exciting new use of technology for Alberta Women Entrepreneurs,” said Alycia Benson, Marketing Coordinator, Alberta Women Entrepreneurs. “Their expertise not only streamlined the process but also delivered impressive results, helping us understand the national landscape of women entrepreneurs and utilizing that data for future marketing efforts." 

Benson added: "Vistar Media understood our unique needs as a non-profit from the very beginning. They crafted a programmatic strategy that not only aligned with our budget but also amplified our message of support for women entrepreneurs. Thanks to our bold designs and Vistar Media's strategy, we're reaching a wider audience and making a real impact on the lives of women who are growing their business." 

After its first successful national DOOH campaign, AWE is further expanding its advertising strategy across OOH with a new campaign expected to launch this fall.

Reach out today to learn more about Vistar Media’s out-of-home advertising capabilities in Canada and beyond.