Success Stories

How New York Tech Drove Open House Registrations with Hulu Ad Manager

Like many of us, Briana Bronchick, Director of Marketing at the New York Institute of Technology (New York Tech), was thrust into the unknown when COVID-19 hit. Not only was her student recruitment marketing team facing tightening budgets amidst uncertainty, but they also had to quickly pivot and move all of the university’s in-person events – including annual Admitted Student Days and Open Houses – online.

Briana needed a way to introduce the virtual Open House concept to New York Tech’s audience at scale while being cognizant of resource limitations. Luckily, Hulu Ad Manager offered an opportunity to accomplish exactly that.

We sat down with Briana to learn about her first streaming TV advertising experience and how Hulu Ad Manager enabled New York Tech to stay nimble and make the best of an unprecedented situation.

The ability for us to stay nimble was great, especially during COVID-19. Being able to make changes on the fly, to launch campaigns quickly – with total control – was huge.

What led you to incorporate streaming TV, and specifically Hulu Ad Manager, into your marketing mix?

When the pandemic hit, budgets tightened. No one was sure what was going to happen. We transitioned as much as we could from agency to in-house as a part of an effort to streamline our advertising initiatives. Despite limited resources, however, we still needed to grow enrollment; we still needed to reach our target audience.

Knowing that Hulu had this self-service platform – and you didn’t need to install software or have extensive knowledge of digital platforms – we thought, “Here’s an opportunity for us to dive into this channel that we know our audience is using.” 

How has your experience with Hulu Ad Manager been?

I found Hulu Ad Manager very easy to use. I liked the fact that I could go through it and decide everything myself. The targeting capabilities helped us find and reach our audience of prospective students and families. Hulu Ad Manager puts the control in your hands.

Not only were we able to drill down by location, but we could also get very specific with age groups, interests, and viewing preferences. Having access to this level of targeting and customization helped our budget work harder for us.

The ability to be hyper-focused on who we wanted to reach was huge. We’re very localized in our outreach to prospective students and our advertising reaches the tri-state area. With Hulu Ad Manager, not only were we able to drill down by location, but we could also get very specific with age groups, interests, and viewing preferences. Having access to this level of targeting and customization helped our budget work harder for us.

Let’s talk about results. How did your campaign perform? 

We used Hulu Ad Manager as a way to support registration for our virtual Open House.

We ran limited advertising at the time, so Hulu Ad Manager contributed to the success of our event and gave us exposure in households we targeted. We saw a high attendance rate with an engaged audience for Open House 2020, despite shrinking budgets and limited resources. These results have led us to continue to expand our advertising efforts on Hulu. 

How did this campaign compare to campaigns you’ve run on other platforms?

With cable, the TV could be off when your ad is running. If you only have a 10-day campaign run, like we did for Open House 2020, and most of the TVs are off, you’re out of luck. With Hulu Ad Manager, the TV must be on for your ad to run. We know our ad is being shown, and we know that we are meeting audiences where they are.

What was your key takeaway from this experience with Hulu Ad Manager?

The ability for us to stay nimble was great, especially during COVID-19. Being able to make changes on the fly, to launch campaigns quickly – with total control – was huge. In the current environment, it’s a must. We want to be able to react to how our audiences are responding to us and to our ads.

We plan to continue to grow our budget within the streaming TV space.

Experience Hulu Ad Manager for Yourself

Hulu Ad Manager is changing the game for businesses of all sizes. Learn more about our self-serve ad platform and discover how you can showcase your ads on a platform with some of TV’s biggest shows. 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.