Case Study

Winter magic display campaign evokes emotional response driving increased revenue

Danielle Allen

GCommerce · סֶפּטֶמבֶּר 12, 2025

Boston Harbor Hotel faced a challenge: increasing bookings and revenue during the cold winter months when tourism typically declines. The Winter Magic display campaign was created to evoke emotional responses and drive increased revenue, with a goal of achieving a monthly Return on Ad Spend of $10:1.

Why it matters: The Boston Harbor Hotel strategy shows that hotels and destinations can grow revenue in slow seasons without heavy discounts by leveraging emotional storytelling. Well-crafted imagery and messaging can inspire bookings during traditionally slow periods, unlocking untapped seasonal potential and paving the way for more creative, profitable marketing strategies.

Emotional appeal works: The campaign's success without explicit offers proves the power of evoking emotional responses in advertising. Winter tourism potential: Boston's winter charm can be effectively marketed to boost tourism during traditionally slow months. Imagery over discounts: Carefully chosen imagery and messaging can outperform campaigns relying on discounts or offers. Continued innovation: Future campaigns can build on this success by further exploring emotional connections with potential visitors.

Top 3 Core Objectives: Boston Harbor Hotel launched the Winter Magic display campaign to boost bookings and revenue during the slow winter season, aiming for a $10:1 monthly ROAS by sparking emotional connections with travelers.

Winter imagery: Display banner ads featured carefully chosen winter scenes to enact a visceral response, rekindling a childlike sense of wonder about snow and the winter season.
Romantic scenes: Images included couples ice skating hand in hand, capturing the magic of winter romance in Boston.
Boston beauty: Snowy cityscapes of Boston showcased the city's winter charm, enticing visitors with its unique seasonal appeal.

"Stepping away from discounts and diving into emotional storytelling was a powerful reminder that marketing is about building trust and resonance with audiences."

Erin Fischer

Director of Marketing

👍 Director of Marketing Erin Fischer said that Marketing isn’t just about driving sales, it’s about creating connections.:

"Stepping away from discounts and diving into emotional storytelling was a powerful reminder that marketing is about building trust and resonance with audiences."

⚖️ The selection process: During their research process, Jennifer McMahon evaluated GCommerce's product differentiators, customer support, and holistic value as a strategic partner and ultimately decided that GCommerce was the best fit solution:

Regional Director of Sales & Marketing Jennifer McMahon said, about their decision: "The Boston Harbor Hotel always appreciates GCommerce's proactive suggestions and creative thinking. We have also seen a 26.1% increase in YOY produced revenue with our partnership."

📈 The results: The Winter Magic campaign became the top performer of the entire year, outshining other seasonal campaigns such as the Autumn and Evergreen campaigns.