ABOUT

Canal & River Trust is a charity protecting our heritage sites, keeping an extensive network of over 2,000 canals alive and protecting the wildlife that inhabits the waterways. Canal & River Trust faced a unique data-backed challenge: while people love canals, only 51% of the UK population is aware of the charity. Our analysis also showed that 30% of people mistakenly believe the charity is government-led, which reduces their intent to support. To move from neutral to needed, we didn't just guess where our audience was; we mapped them. We leveraged mosaic audience segmentation to identify two high-value heartland groups - Country Living and Prestige Positions - and identified City Prosperity as our primary growth segment. By overlaying location-based Out of Home (OOH) and Above-the-Line (ATL) targeting with a strict 5km radius of canal networks, we uncovered a compelling insight: our best prospects weren't just "outdoorsy", they were hyper-local. We shifted from a broad national approach to a granular, data-informed Spring Campaign designed to intercept these specific personas in their own backyards.

Creative Execution
We didn't just use data to find the audience; we used it to talk to them. We translated our insights into a hybrid media mix that blended the scale of ATL with the precision of digital.
We orchestrated a dual-layered OOH approach across key cities, using a mix of digital, print and rail placements. We targeted priority postcodes with a hybrid messaging model: high-impact print assets carried universal brand-building messaging, while digital OOH and Social were dynamically updated with local, contextually-relevant creative. This ensured that assets reflected the specific canal landmarks nearest to the user, grounding a national brand in a hyper-local experience. Data from previous campaigns suggested we were missing younger demographics. We strategically tested TikTok and Podcasts to intercept the 18–34 age bracket in high-attention environments. By using real-time engagement data, we were able to pivot spend dynamically toward the audiences and creators driving the highest response. To maximise reach and engagement across the wider digital ecosystem, we deployed a sophisticated channel mix. We leveraged Sky AdSmart and ITVX to capture ‘lean-back’ attention and drive frequency within our target postcodes. Using DV360, we layered Category, Affinity and Contextual audiences to scale across display formats. We combined this with YouTube and high-impact partnerships to develop assets designed for maximum attention. We also used InVibes, combining network-wide reach with contextual interest targeting on premium sites to ensure Canal & River Trust appeared in relevant, high-quality environments. Alongside TikTok, we used Meta to provide a consistent touchpoint for brand reach, ensuring a seamless journey from awareness to engagement. The centrepiece of our execution was our proprietary causal measurement tool, Real Impact. Tug has trained its AI model to predict what the business outcome would have been had the ads not run on a specific media channel. It ingests campaign data in near real time, which is then run against a wide range of potential control variables to build a measure of confidence in the observed impact of marketing activity. This wasn't just standard attribution; it was a sophisticated statistical model that ‘controlled’ for external noise. We fed the model data on weather patterns (max temperatures in four focus cities) and Google Trends (search volume for terms like “angling”, “canal near me” and "fishing near me") to ensure we were measuring the campaign's true contribution, not just a sunny weekend.

Results & Impact
Our data-led approach transformed brand awareness into a measurable business driver. By isolating our impact from external factors, we gave the client 100% transparency on their ROI. Notable results included the following: Real Impact proved that the Spring Campaign was the direct driver of a 12.16% increase in direct and organic web sessions. There was a 97% confidence level that the Spring Campaign caused this increase. Our data-driven targeting delivered 3,200 additional newsletter sign-ups, creating a direct pipeline for future donor cultivation. Our podcast strategy delivered a 50% stronger visit rate than the industry benchmark, while Sky CTV drove a 19% traffic uplift specifically within our priority postcodes.
By using InVibes Trivia assets, informed by our audience interest data, we exceeded engagement benchmarks by 173%. Now, Canal & River Trust has moved from "gut-feel" marketing to a position of total data clarity. By integrating our Real Impact tool into their ongoing strategy, they can easily measure the bottom-line effectiveness of every pound spent, ensuring they remain an agile, donor-first charity in a highly competitive sector.