Circle K - Carwash

Circle K faced a significant challenge in growing its carwash business, particularly in increasing its base of high-value subscription customers. The core issue was that carwash sales were intrinsically tied to unpredictable external factors, most notably the weather. Internal sales data clearly showed that revenue would surge with sunshine and rising temperatures but drop sharply during periods of rain.

Their traditional marketing approach, which relied on broad, continuous display advertising, was inefficient and costly. This "always-on" strategy resulted in significant wasted media spend, as ads were often served to consumers when weather conditions made a carwash purchase highly unlikely. The primary challenge was to break this cycle of inefficiency and align media spend directly with the fluctuating, weather-dependent demand patterns. Circle K needed a smarter way to invest its marketing budget to maximize return on investment, minimize waste, and achieve its ambitious goal of increasing carwash customers by 25%.

To overcome this challenge, the team moved away from conventional advertising and developed a hyper-local, data-driven, and fully automated solution. The cornerstone of this new strategy was a proprietary, intelligent algorithm designed to activate display media spend with surgical precision.

Instead of blanketing regions with ads, the algorithm continuously analyzed real-time weather, pollen, and insect data at a granular, city-by-city level. This system operated on a simple but powerful logic:

1. Condition Check: The algorithm first checked the weather in a specific city. If it was raining, all ad spending in that area was paused to prevent waste.

2. Trigger Activation: If it was not raining, the algorithm then scanned for positive triggers known to drive carwash demand, such as sunshine, high temperatures, or high pollen and bug counts.

3. Precise Activation: Only when one or more of these positive triggers were identified would the algorithm activate the media budget for that specific city, ensuring ads were only shown when customers were most likely to be receptive.

This intelligent timing was paired with Dynamic Creative Optimization (DCO). The ad creative itself would automatically adapt its message to reflect the specific trigger—whether it was a sunny day, high pollen levels, or a bug-splattered windshield—making the communication not just timely but also highly relevant and contextual for the user. This approach transformed the weather from a significant barrier into a strategic advantage, ensuring every marketing dollar was spent where it had the highest probability of driving a carwash visit or subscription.

The implementation of this weather-triggered, hyper-local strategy yielded outstanding results, fundamentally transforming the performance of Circle K's carwash marketing. The campaign not only met but exceeded its objectives, driving significant business growth and earning industry acclaim.

• Explosive Customer Growth: The campaign was a massive success in driving subscriptions. It led to a 39.7% increase in carwash subscribers since its launch in May 2024, demonstrating its effectiveness in converting awareness into high-value, recurring revenue.

• Optimized Media Efficiency: By activating the budget only during optimal conditions, the campaign drastically reduced wasted ad spend and maximized the impact of each impression. This dynamic allocation led to a far more efficient and economically smart use of the marketing budget.

• Enhanced Branding & Behavioral Change: The ultra-relevant, timely nature of the ads made the branding effort significantly more effective. Furthermore, the campaign successfully influenced consumer behavior, encouraging a shift from single carwash purchases to the more convenient and valuable subscription model.

The campaign's innovative approach was recognized by the industry, winning the Display Campaign of the Year 2025 at the prestigious EUROPEAN PAID MEDIA AWARDS.