We’re thrilled to announce that Tug has been shortlisted in 2 categories at this year’s UK Search Awards.
These nominations showcase our commitment to innovation, performance and integrated thinking across search and digital media.
Best Use of Search - Merlin Entertainments
Merlin Entertainments, one of the world’s leading family entertainment groups, faced a challenging shift in organic search behaviour. As SERP features and AI-driven overviews increasingly answered user queries directly, organic clicks and traffic declined—even with stable keyword rankings.
Our mission was to help Merlin reclaim and grow organic visibility for their major Halloween events - Fright Nights at Thorpe Park and Scarefest at Alton Towers - while uncovering new opportunities across all digital touchpoints.
To achieve this, we used Tug’s proprietary tool Search Uncut, which identifies user intent at a deeper, more nuanced level than traditional keyword categorisation. This allowed us to optimise content precisely toward searcher motivations and expand Merlin’s presence across SERP features, including PAA boxes, Featured Snippets, AI overviews, YouTube results, and local map listings.
The results were standout. We saw an 18.5% increase in organic revenue across Halloween content. Thorpe Park received a 14% rise in site sessions and nearly 20% uplift in revenue. Alton Towers received an 11% month-on-month revenue increase. For the Fright Night Scare Maze page alone: 53% more sessions and a 118% revenue uplift. On the back of this success, Merlin expanded our SEO strategy to 30+ attractions in 2025, paving the way for even bigger future wins.
Best Integrated Campaign - Zipcar
Alongside this, our integrated summer campaign for Zipcar also earned a shortlist for Best Integrated Campaign. By aligning OOH formats - including bus supersides, TCPs, 6 Sheets and bus wraps - with digital channels such as display, YouTube and paid social, we delivered a connected, use-case-driven strategy measured through our Real Impact platform.
The campaign delivered a significant increase in return on ad spend, outperforming expected benchmarks by 30%. A test combining OOH and GumGum drove an even stronger uplift of 55.7% and we generated over 4,000 new applications during the campaign.
These dual shortlists highlight the strength of our cross-disciplinary approach and the incredible partnerships we’ve built with Merlin Entertainments and Zipcar. A huge congratulations to everyone involved!