Industry
Hospitality
Challenge
The company struggled to drive real-time purchase behavior using static menus and limited signage, leaving key offerings overlooked. At the same time, they lacked clear proof that in-venue media was generating revenue, needing a way to test, optimize, and directly attribute sales impact without disrupting the guest experience.
Results
Using Vistar’s ad server and player software, the company built a dynamic, time-based campaign strategy aligned to the guest journey, serving the right messages at the right moments. This enabled real-time optimization, and promotion of new or non-menu items, with fully measurable attribution tying in-venue media directly to revenue outcomes.
Key Product
Ad Server, Cortex
The customer
This technology-led sports and entertainment complex blends gameplay, food, beverages and social experiences under one roof. With tens of thousands of digital screens spanning in-venue displays and large-format placements across nearly 100 U.S. locations, the company has built a media environment that is always on and visible throughout the guest journey.
As a long-time Vistar partner, the organization uses Vistar’s ad server and player software as the foundation for managing and activating this premium, in-venue inventory. The business focuses on using their in-venue screens to drive measurable food and beverage sales.
The challenge
The company continuously introduces new food and beverage offerings, but traditional promotion methods, like static menus or limited in-venue signage, made it difficult to influence guest behavior in real time. While certain items were available for order, they were not always top-of-mind for guests during their experience.
At the same time, the team wanted greater confidence that its in-venue media strategy was driving tangible revenue, not just awareness. They needed a way to test, optimize and directly attribute sales lift to specific messages, placements and moments within the guest journey without disrupting the premium experience.
“Using our screens as a real revenue driver - not just brand reinforcement - has completely changed how we think about in-venue media.”
Ad Operations Lead, National Entertainment Venue
The solution
Using Vistar’s software stack, the company built an intelligent campaign strategy designed around the guest experience. The team set up rules that triggered different ads based on real-time data signals around the guest experience. The in-venue screens dynamically served different messages based on how long a guest had been checked in, surfacing drinks early in the session followed by food offers later on.
This flexibility allowed the company to promote offerings that were either under-utilized or not listed on the menu at all, while maintaining full control over content, timing and ad delivery. Campaigns could be launched quickly, swapped out in real time and tested across locations to understand what resonated most.
“Being able to test, validate, and directly attribute revenue to what's on our screens has been a game changer for how we price, plan, and expand our in-venue media network.”
Ad Operations Lead, National Entertainment Venue
The results
After enabling in‑venue promotions exclusively on screens and never listed on the menu, the results were immediate and measureable:
- 3x increase in sales for featured drink that had previously gone unadvertised
- $2M revenue driven from an off-menu special promoted exclusively on in-venue screens
- 100% measurable attribution to in-venue screens powered by Vistar's ad server and player software
After enabling in-venue promotion for a frozen beverage that had previously gone unadvertised, the company saw a 3× increase in sales. In another test, a platter promoted exclusively on screens and never listed on the menu generated approximately $2 million in revenue.
With 100% measurable attribution to in-venue media, the team was able to tie outcomes directly to campaigns built and delivered through Vistar’s Ad Server. This provided the proof needed to validate higher-value campaigns, expand internal buy-in and scale its in-venue media strategy to maximize revenue.