The focus on this project was on strengthening AA Roadside’s mid-funnel performance through a more deliberate mix of Programmatic and Paid Social activity. By introducing new creative formats, scaling promo-led messaging, and aligning media more closely with user intent, the aim was to drive stronger consideration, incremental search, and more efficient sales, while generating clear learnings to shape future testing and optimisation.

Brief

This project focused on evaluating and scaling mid-funnel performance for AA Roadside through Programmatic and Paid Social activity, with a particular emphasis on driving consideration, intent, and incremental search behaviour. The goal was to understand how effectively our media and creative strategy was moving users lower down the funnel.

Challenge

The key challenge was improving mid-funnel impact in a highly competitive category, where intent metrics lagged behind regional and vertical benchmarks. We also needed to balance increased reach and frequency - particularly within retargeting - while maintaining efficiency and avoiding disruption to BAU learnings during account restructuring.

Solution

We invested in mid-funnel Programmatic and Paid Social activity, introducing new creative formats such as Pencil ads and promo-led messaging. This was supported by stronger branding, consistent messaging across channels, and a refined account structure that allowed better budget control, testing, and alignment between audiences and creative motivations.

Result

My thinking

From the start, the idea was to let the assets do more of the heavy lifting by giving ourselves creative freedom to test different images, templates, and promo-led messages, rather than relying on a single static approach. Pencil was key here - it allowed us to quickly explore what combinations of visuals, offers, and AA branding actually resonated, while still grounding decisions in performance data. Alongside this, we were mindful of learnings from wider channel testing (search uplift, frequency on RTG, and consideration vs. intent gaps), using those signals to shape how far we pushed mid-funnel messaging. The balance was about moving fast creatively, but being disciplined with what we scaled - doubling down on what proved it could drive both efficiency and genuine progression down the funnel.