The World Can’t Wait Marketing Campaign

The BIO International Convention is the largest biotechnology convention in the world – bringing together more than 20,000 scientists, researchers, academics, and policymakers. Yes& partnered with BIO to develop an overarching convention theme, a cohesive brand identity, and a high-performance paid digital strategy that would galvanize excitement, maximize visibility, boost audience engagement, and increase registrations for the 2025 BIO International Convention, which was held June 16 – 19, 2025 in Boston, MA. The objective was to surpass BIO’s 2025 business objectives for attendance and sponsorships while laying the groundwork for sustained engagement in future years. In essence, we sought to transform an already successful event into a driver for ongoing global bio-innovation. Yes& developed the overarching theme and executed the paid digital strategy for the 2025 BIO International Convention, aiming to maximize visibility, drive engagement, and increase registrations through an omnichannel, data-driven approach. Our solution unfolded in these key phases: - Research: We conducted a two-phase study. Phase 1 involved a discovery audit, market research, and stakeholder interviews. Phase 2 included onsite surveys at the 2024 event and a comprehensive quantitative survey to validate findings. This provided a robust, data-informed foundation. - Strategy: Leveraging these insights, we developed a cohesive event experience and brand narrative. This involved close collaboration with BIO, culminating in a workshop to define the convention's vision, brand positioning, and audience messaging. The central theme, "The World Can't Wait," emerged as a powerful call to action, strategically positioning the convention as pivotal for future solutions. - Creative: Our in-house team executed two phases of creative development. Phase 1 focused on distinct theme concepts and initial design assets for the 2025 announcement, tailored to BIO's three primary audiences. Phase 2 developed extensive branding and messaging assets to drive registration and engagement. Impressed, BIO requested additional high-value video assets—a "Brand Reveal Video" for internal alignment and a "Reason to Believe" video for external promotion. - Paid Media: We crafted a data-driven media strategy with measurable KPIs. This included multi-segmented audience targeting, personalized messaging, and a diversified channel mix across LinkedIn, Meta, Google Search, Performance Max, programmatic display, CTV, and online video, ensuring comprehensive engagement from awareness to registration. Results Our campaign for the 2025 BIO International Convention boosted overall engagement significantly, contributing to an overall increase in total registrations by 2,000 and resulting in the second highest number of attendees in BIO's history. This nearly five-month omnichannel, data-driven campaign yielded remarkable results: - Awareness: We delivered 65.7 million impressions (180% increase YoY) [DP1] and 616 streaming TV video completes. - Website Traffic: The campaign drove 382.2 thousand users to the site (a 69% increase), comprising nearly half of all site traffic, while reducing cost per ad click by 41% and cost per user by 45%, YoY, for a 91% lower-than-average CPA. - Registrations: 34,400 registration starts (38% of all starts) and 2,300 registration completions were directly attributed to our paid media campaign, with Google Performance Max proving exceptionally efficient. - Engagement & Efficiency: Metrics for Meta, Display, and LinkedIn showed strong performance, including over 3,600 ad likes and 148 reposts on Social, and a 64% decrease in Display CPMs on premium sites. The "Reason to Believe" video alone received 842 likes and 39 reposts. The unifying theme, "The World Can't Wait," resonated deeply. Audiences adopted the tagline pre-show, incorporating it into blogs and social media. Policymakers and keynote speakers referenced “The World Can't Wait,” underscoring its success in unifying and motivating the community. BIO’s high satisfaction with these results led to an extended partnership for the 2026 convention, demonstrating the campaign’s proven sustained impact.