SAGA plc and AUDIENCES swoop to win Silver PMA
The industry once again gathered for the annual celebration of performance marketing, the PMAs. 2025 award entries were rich with innovative and impactful work across many categories.
Congratulations to to Hannah Fisher and her team at SAGA plc who entered and won a Silver PMA in Best use of Data & Insights a highly competitive category win entries from Samsung, Peugoet, Kellogs, Nestle, North Face & Smarty Mobile. The winning entry under the title 'Revolutionising Marketing with First-Party Data: Saga Cruise’s Story' caught the attention of the PMA judges with its omnichannel approaches and demonstrable return-on-investment (ROI). Enabled by AUDIENCES the team at SAGA plc were able bring the competitive advantage derived from 1st party data to advertising campaigns across multiple CTV & social channels including Sky AdSmart & Meta driving outsized results.
This transformation centred on harnessing first-party data to improve acquisition and retention across digital channels, reducing dependency on brochures while increasing online sales and reducing offline/call centre sales. Saga implemented audience-based strategies, leveraging customer lifetime value (LTV) and propensity models to optimise campaigns across platforms like Sky AdSmart, Meta, and Google Search.
The results were striking. In 2024, Saga Cruise achieved their fastest-selling season ever, surpassing the 2024 season target six weeks early and increasing online bookings by 6% year-over-year. A strategic shift in budget allocation saw a 58% increase in ATL and digital investments and a 7% reduction in overall CPA. Key highlights include:
- A Sky AdSmart campaign leveraging first-party data delivering a 33% booking uplift (control vs exposed) and £1M+ incremental revenue
- Meta lookalike targeting, powered by customer insights, reducing cost-per-leads (CPL) by 79%
- Meta re-engagement campaigns utilising audience segmentation cutting overall CPL by 85%
SAGA plc and Saga Cruise, a luxury boutique cruise provider for the over-50s market, embarked on a strategic marketing transformation to evolve into a digitally focused, omnichannel powerhouse. Historically reliant on offline, brochure-led marketing, Saga sought to attract younger first-time buyers and drive future growth by embracing digital excellence. Leveraging Significant investments in cutting-edge datawarehouse Snowflake, SAGA plc chose to go the final-mile to marketing value by utilising AUDIENCES - Snowflake & AUDIENCES have a deep partnership providing immediate advertising & media value to brands, publishers & data providers
Hosted by the incredible actor from cold feet, James Nesbitt, the 19th PMAs featured a Come Fly With Me serenade, the biggest LED lit stage yet and a night of star-spangled glamour. An artistic electric violin and sax duo took to the stage with their light up instruments and wowed guests during the 3 course dinner while a roaming photo-booth captured shots of guests during the drinks reception. With over 27 of the industry’s companies awarded gold, this year saw the biggest unique take home of gold wins that we have seen for a long while at the PMAs. Overall, it was a fabulous evening of celebrating a huge diversity of winners!
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