How two Juno studies more than tripled National Dental Care’s booking conversion

More than three times the booking conversion of the year before.

That’s what National Dental Care’s paid campaign delivered after two studies with Juno. It started with a simpler-sounding brief: three campaign concepts, pick one.

Juno suggested starting a step earlier. A straight preference test would have told NDC which ad people liked. It couldn’t say whether the ad spoke to what actually keeps people away from the dentist, or whether it was reaching the people most likely to book.

So before any creative was tested, NDC started with the audience. How do Australians decide whether to see a dentist at all? And what would an offer have to say to actually move them?

Juno talked to 132 Australians, with and without private health cover, about how they think about going to the dentist. Two things emerged before a single concept was drawn.

The first was language. People wanted plain words that told them what they’d pay, without having to decode industry terms.

The second was the real barrier. It wasn’t the price. It was not knowing the price until they were already in the chair.

NDC’s team built three concepts from that brief. Juno tested them with 129 people, asking each person which ad they preferred and, separately, which would actually get them to book.

The two answers didn’t line up.

That gap, between what people say they like and what they’d actually do, is what Juno is built to look for. One idea that had looked promising turned out to put people off when it led the ad. And instead of one compromise winner, there were two: each strongest with a different audience.

NDC took the new offer language and the sharper targeting into a live paid campaign. Booking conversion more than tripled on the year before. NDC credits two things: the research-led change in offer language and creative, and targeting the people most likely to book.

NDC came in to choose an ad. It left knowing what to say, and who to say it to.