In the right place at the right time

Our strategy

We love it when brands think big. Enter Hertz Iceland with an ambitious goal: achieve 80% online revenue growth in 2023. While post-Covid tourism was rebounding, a looming seasonal dip posed a significant challenge. Additionally, maintaining profitability was critical, with a target cost ratio of 15% and an expectation for Google Ads to drive 20% of total online revenues.

To meet these targets, we embarked on a comprehensive Google Ads restructuring. Our strategy focused on targeting travel enthusiasts aged 18-35 using a two-fold geo-targeting approach. First, we honed in on key international markets like the US and UK. Second, we targeted tourists already in Iceland, capturing high-intent search traffic.

Leveraging historical tourism data, we pinpointed lucrative opportunities and structured the campaign around three core pillars:

• Autos: Focused on high-performing rental categories.
• SKAGS: Single Keyword Ad Groups for precision targeting.
• Theme: Creative campaigns highlighting Iceland’s unique attractions and experiences.

Our results

Our data-driven approach yielded outstanding results:

• +140% revenue increase, far surpassing the original growth target.
• 5.14% cost ratio, dropping from a previous 27%—a record low.
• 441% revenue increase in Q1 2023, with a 12.1% cost ratio for non-branded terms (more competitive) and 2.1% for branded terms.
• 22.34% of total online revenue came from Google Ads, exceeding the 20% target.