The Challenge

Birdies, a brand known for its stylish yet comfortable footwear, partnered with us to optimize their advertising strategy to drive efficient growth while maintaining strict brand standards.  

Their challenge was multifaceted:

  • Optimize advertising effectiveness to achieve significant growth in sales while adhering to brand guidelines.
  • Maximize cost efficiency across paid social, search, and shopping campaigns.
  • Strike the right balance between branded ad creative and user-generated content (UGC) style.
  • Ensure compliance with platform-specific requirements.

The Work

We partnered with Birdies to create a data-driven approach that seamlessly integrated creative excellence with strategic media buying while maintaining brand integrity at every touchpoint. Starting with an in-depth analysis of customer demographics, psychographics, media consumption habits, and competitor strategies, our strategy included:

  • Brand-compliant creative diversity:
    We developed a varied creative portfolio that respected Birdies’ strict brand guidelines. Ad formats across paid social, search, and shopping channels used 10-30 second videos, GIFs, carousels, and dynamic ads to appeal to different audience preferences and boost engagement. By combining proven strategies with new high-performing ads, we engaged Birdies’ audience more effectively, appealing to buyers at all stages of the journey.
  • Content style exploration:
    We discovered that authentic UGC-style content resonated better with Birdies’ target audience compared to highly branded, editorial-style creatives. This shift was supported by strategic iterations, ensuring continuous improvement in ad performance.
  • Non-brand keyword strategy:
    We strategically targeted non-branded keywords to capture early-stage buyers. Campaign data revealed a significant CPA difference between search and shopping channels, allowing us to optimize budget allocation for efficient cost per acquisition.
  • Testing and iteration methodology:
    Our Scale in Place methodology ensured we maintained top-performing ads and strategically allocated budget on the concepts and categories that yielded higher purchases at the most efficient CPA.

The Results

Our comprehensive and brand-safe strategy yielded significant results for Birdies, surpassing their goals and setting new performance benchmarks:

  • Video Optimization: Through “scale in place,” we narrowed the performance gap between ad formats while strategically increasing video spend. This resulted in a 28% reduction in video CPAs alongside a 72% increase in video spend for content driving a greater number of purchases.
  • Cost-Effective Non-Brand Growth: Non-branded keyword campaigns achieved an 89% lower CPA in shopping channels, demonstrating a more efficient approach to maximizing sales.
  • Surpassing Goals: Our comprehensive strategy delivered exceptional results for Birdies. Blended campaigns during the peak Q4 2023 generated a 57% increase over planned revenue targets and a 14% year-over-year growth in sales. These results surpassed Birdies’ initial goals and set new benchmarks for their advertising performance.

Our integrated and data-driven approach stablished a robust framework for birdies’ ongoing advertising efforts. This ensures continuous improvement and adaptation to achieve long-term growth objectives.