1. Case Study | Google Display Network
Taking Off
Hawaiian Airlines uses the Google Display Network to boost
revenues during tough times.
Is it really that hard to convince people to visit Hawaii? At first glance, Hawaiian
Airlines’ core service would seem to sell itself. “Actually, it’s a complex market and
not quite as easy as you might imagine,” says Reid Ichiki, senior manager of Internet
marketing at Hawaiian Airlines. “It’s very competitive, and we have to counter the
perception that getting to Hawaii is a lengthy – and expensive – flight. It’s really only a
Who they are five hour trip to paradise!”
• Hawaiian Airlines
• www.hawaiianair.com No one needs to sell Reid on the beauty of Hawaii. A native of Maui, he moved to
• Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii the mainland to attend college and work in digital marketing, and then returned to
• Airline serving 20 domestic and
become part of the Hawaiian Airlines marketing team. “For me, Hawaiian Airlines has
international destinations
always been synonymous with Hawaii,” says Reid. “I was excited to be able to use my
experience in online advertising to help build an excellent brand.”
Goal
• Increase brand recognition for Hawaiian
Airlines
• Stimulate additional sales
• Convert more leads into bookings
“With the help of the Display Network,
Approach we didn’t just weather a tough time, we
• Worked with their digital agency, Razorfish,
to develop display ads
accelerated through it.”
• Ran a series of tests on the Google
Reid Ichiki, senior manager of Internet
Display Network
• Used display ads to highlight Hawaii’s marketing at Hawaiian Airlines
unique attributes as a destination
• Used display ads to fuel search campaigns
and reinforce campaign messages
Results Onto the runway
• Increased revenue by 3% year-over-year
during a challenging time for the airline When Reid joined Hawaiian, the company advertised online in a singular way.
industry “Hawaiian was mainly focused on search campaigns to drive direct response,” Reid
• Now focus more than 15% of their total
online advertising spend on the Google
recalls. “But we wanted to make sure we were taking advantage of all of our online
Display Network opportunities.” He turned to Razorfish, Hawaiian Airlines’ trusted digital agency
partner, to develop a plan to test a range of campaign combinations to achieve
efficiency, scale, and reach.
“We were thrilled to work with someone who knows online advertising so well,” says
Danny Huynh, associate search director with Razorfish. “Reid was focused on building
a strong online presence for Hawaiian Airlines to increase online orders, return and
reach, through brand loyalty and awareness. He understands the value of diversifying
search and leveraging its full capabilities. As a result, we worked with Reid to develop
an experience and connections strategy, which included a test and learn approach to
Hawaiian’s online campaigns.”
Razorfish and Hawaiian Airlines used search as a mainstay with their Google
AdWords™initiatives, but had yet to try the Google Display Network, which is
comprised of hundreds of thousands of high-quality websites, news pages and blogs
that partner with Google to display targeted AdWords ads. Historically, Hawaiian

2. Airlines had minimal budget allocated towards display advertising. Reid and
About Google AdWords Razorfish decided to first develop a limited set of display ads in order to run test
Google AdWords™ is a performance- campaigns on the Display Network.
based advertising program that enables
businesses large and small to advertise
on Google and its network of partner web Wild blue yonder
sites. Hundreds of thousands of businesses “The approach was to extend our search text ads to the Display Network, garner
worldwide use AdWords for text, image, and
video ads priced on a cost-per-click (CPC) tactical learnings, and then apply those insights towards managing display ads,” Reid
and cost-per-impression (CPM) basis. Built explains. “The goal was to attract our target audiences – families planning vacations,
on an auction-based system, AdWords is a baby boomers, and seniors. We felt display would get across our core messages,
highly quantifiable and cost-effective way to and support them with the visual power of the Hawaiian Islands, while meeting our
reach potential customers.
business marketing objectives.”
For more information, visit
www.google.com/adwords Results from the tests exceeded expectations. “We hit every goal we set and were
pleasantly surprised by the response rates and online sales. People really connect
About the Google Display Network with the images, especially Hawaii imagery.” Based on the success of initial tests, they
planned a more ambitious program for the summer of 2008.
The Google Display Network offers text,
image, rich media, and video advertising on “That summer was a challenging time,” Reid recalls. “Record-high fuel prices impacted
Google properties, YouTube, and millions the economy, changing the vacation mindset. We were trying to do more with less, while
of web, domain, video, gaming, and mobile
partner sites. From mass media to niche keeping ROI as high as possible. But, even in that tough climate, based on our results
sites, advertisers can find the most engaged with the Display Network, we never considered pulling back our online advertising.”
audiences, place ads on the most relevant
pages, and achieve performance at scale
It worked. The campaigns increased online ticket orders and revenues by three
through our innovative targeting technology. percent year over year. “With the help of the Display Network, we didn’t just weather a
Using our tools, advertisers can build ads, tough time, we accelerated through it.”
measure results, optimize campaigns, and
expand their advertising reach to specific
audiences all over the web. Island hopping
For more information, visit Reid and the Razorfish team then rolled out another creative. “Based on our business
www.google.com/displaynetwork cycle, we decided fall would be a good time to build brand awareness and loyalty that
would translate into sales down the line.”
“The idea for the campaign was ‘What Island Am I?’. Many people visit Hawaii and may
not know where to go or what to do. So we developed a brand application that asks
people five simple questions about their interests and lifestyle, then recommends
the right island for them.” By using the Display Network to place this application on
relevant sites, Hawaiian reached new potential customers, while helping passengers
plan their stay.
“The level of targeting and control on the Display Network has helped us pinpoint the
exact audiences we want to reach,” says Brooke Boyle, search manager at Razorfish.
“The ‘What Island Am I?’ campaign performed better than all of the other media we
purchased, and branding with display paid off and fueled our search campaigns.”
Strong tail wind
“The Display Network performed better than all other placements we’ve explored,”
Says Reid. Today, it represents more than 15 percent of Hawaiian Airline’s total paid
advertising. “Display ads are now part of our core advertising initiatives. We always
want more intelligence on our target markets, and the Display Network provides the
accountability and metrics we need in this competitive space. Our latest ads are
designed to appeal to specific demographics and we’re using third party ad serving.”
As Reid continues helping would-be vacationers decide what part of Hawaii they
should experience, and ensuring they travel with Hawaiian Airlines, he’s confronted
with his own vacation conundrum – if you live in Hawaii, where do you go on vacation?
“That’s a tough one,” says Reid. “There are a lot of great places, so I’ll have to do some
searching myself.”
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