When the world shut down, Aruba faced a choice: Adapt or disappear. 

With 93% of its GDP tied to tourism, Aruba couldn’t afford to wait for travelers to come back. It had to keep its brand alive in the minds of consumers whose needs and attitudes were shifting by the day. The wrong move wouldn’t just cost visitors; it would risk the island nation’s future. 

At the recent Corporate Research Conference, Andy Davidson of Big Village and Kyle Krueger of Deep Focus shared how their teams helped the Aruba Tourism Authority not only survive, but thrive. Their message was blunt: research without connection is useless. Insights can’t sit in a deck—they have to move, shape, and accelerate decisions across planning, creative, media, and measurement. 

Competing in a Noisy, Uncertain World

As global travel rebounded, Aruba was no longer competing against the Caribbean—it was competing against every destination on Earth. The “one-size-fits-all” playbook wasn’t just outdated, it was dangerous. Aruba needed to know:

• Who exactly are we talking to?
• How do their attitudes translate into action?
• How do we measure what’s working—fast?

It started with attitudinal segmentation.

But here’s the industry’s dirty secret: most segmentation dies in PowerPoint. Why? Because attitudinal signals don’t exist in media platforms, so marketers rely on weak proxies. As Davidson put it: “Proxies aren’t strategy—they’re leaps of faith.”

Building a Connected System 

Aruba refused to settle for leaps of faith. Instead, the team built a connected research framework that carried insights through the entire marketing engine: 

• Deep Intelligence: Segments enriched with cultural and behavioral context to fuel creative. 

• Agentic Twins: Digital mirrors of each audience, stress-testing strategy in real time. 

• Platform Integration: Segments piped directly into major media platforms for precise targeting—no wasted spend. 

• Closed-Loop Measurement: CRM data scored against the segmentation, tying activity to business outcomes. 

The creative platform, The Aruba Effect, flexed across audiences, cultural moments, and channels. The results? Record-breaking visitation, improved ROI, and proof that efficiency doesn’t mean compromise. 

The Bigger Lesson 

Aruba’s story is bigger than tourism. It’s a warning shot to every brand leader: 

• Segmentation without activation is theater. 

• Proxies are guesswork dressed up as science. 

• Research has no value unless it’s connected to execution and measurement. 

The choice is clear. You can cling to old habits—static decks, generic personas, wasted media dollars. Or you can build a connected system where insights flow seamlessly into action. One delivers diminishing returns. The other drives growth. 

At Big Village, we help organizations make the second choice. We connect research, creative, media, and analytics—so your marketing doesn’t just reach people, it moves them. 

Want to see what connected research could unlock for your business? Get in touch.