B2B Campaign Research and Strategy Case Study – Gong
Measuring the impact and brand perception of a high-stakes campaign
How it started
Revenue Intelligence pioneer Gong launched a high-impact marketing initiative: a regional Super Bowl television commercial targeting top-tier Sales Leaders (VPs and high-level decision-makers) in the nation's densest tech hubs — the San Francisco Bay Area, Chicago, and Boston.
Because high-profile enterprise sales executives are notoriously elusive to traditional polling methods, standard consumer-level metrics wouldn't suffice.
Gong needed a sophisticated research framework that could achieve two things: first, definitively measure the immediate cut-through and short-term resonance of a high-visibility broadcast ad; and second, evaluate how that attention translated into real market readiness for an enterprise software solution. They engaged Program 11 to design a multi-wave longitudinal study to validate the campaign's ROI and map the downstream buyer journey.
What we did
To accurately measure the campaign's impact, Program 11 designed a rigorous, two-phased longitudinal research methodology to capture both quantitative data and qualitative sentiment.
Phase 1: Quantitative Pre- and Post-Game Surveys To solve the audience accessibility challenge, we built a highly targeted "lookalike" panel strategy. This allowed us to survey a robust cohort of verified sales professionals across the three target media markets, capturing both primary buyers and the adjacent sales teams who heavily influence enterprise purchasing. The post-game survey was specifically structured to evaluate immediate visual and descriptive recall, providing a clear measure of the ad's ability to capture high-value short-term mindshare.
Phase 2: Qualitative In-Depth Interviews (IDIs) Recognizing that high-impact broadcast awareness must translate into pipeline velocity, we designed an immediate secondary phase consisting of 1:1 in-depth interviews (IDIs) with sales decision-makers nationwide. This phase allowed us to move beyond high-level metrics to analyze deep behavioral drivers—including buyer frustrations with legacy CRMs, market readiness for automation, and specific expectations regarding AI.
How it’s going
The study delivered a comprehensive, multi-dimensional view of the campaign’s performance, validating the immediate ROI of the Super Bowl spot while handing Gong the exact messaging blueprint needed for their next phase of growth.
The Creative Cut-Through: The quantitative data proved that the commercial achieved exceptional short-term resonance. By leaning into localized media breaks, the campaign drove a powerful regional impact: aided brand awareness among the target audience tripled post-game, successfully lifting Gong over the vast majority of primary competitors in top-of-mind awareness. Furthermore, the creative drove immense behavioral intent, with a significant majority of ad-aware respondents indicating immediate intent to visit Gong's website or request a formal product demo.
The Strategic Deep-Dive: By seamlessly pairing these high-impact awareness metrics with the rich insights from the qualitative interviews, Program 11 provided Gong with a highly sophisticated market analysis. While the ad beautifully solved the top-of-funnel challenge, the qualitative data revealed that the category definition of "Revenue Intelligence" was still highly evolutionary for the broader market. Interviewees expressed deep-seated professional anxieties regarding software migration costs, AI efficacy, and data privacy compliance (such as GDPR).
The Ultimate Outcome: Ultimately, the project moved far beyond a traditional campaign recap. By blending high-visibility performance data with deep qualitative insights, Program 11 provided Gong with an invaluable strategic asset: a clear validation that their high-stakes ad captured the industry's attention, paired with the exact enterprise messaging roadmap required to navigate buyer skepticism, articulate quantifiable ROI, and smoothly convert a massive wave of public awareness into a secure B2B pipeline.
