Building Brand Loyalty in a Tough Economy

The year after the pandemic brought historic Back-to School purchases, and as a result apparel and accessories grew by 33% when students returned to in-person learning, Additionally, due to rising prices consumers were predicted to increase comparative shopping, purchase generic brands or rely on coupons, all to save money. A major national retailer needed personalized messaging backed by optimal frequency to capture the smaller growth and maintain loyalty among their existing customer base.

The team conducted upfront research to help understand which factors were likely to drive consumer behavior. The campaign was a mix of national and regional targeting. The team targeted by market based on school start dates and aligned budgets within a weekly timeframe to optimize spend and frequency. To secure limited shopper dollars, the team planned for early entry into market. Media efficiencies were created by funneling 50%+ of the budget into the two highest channels.

Working with industry leader Kantar, the team was able to execute a robust brand lift study that showed the value of marketing efforts to grow brand favorability and deepen consideration. Throughout the omni-channel campaign, the dynamic and video creatives were resonating differently with the target customers, in a big way. By optimizing to the customer’s preferred channel, ROAS grew from $2-4 to exceed $12+. The client’s budget returned larger dividends from swift adjustments.