A leap beyond optimisation

IPA Effectiveness Awards Case Study 2020

With a reduced marketing budget available and slowing growth, online furniture retailer Cotswold Co. committed to more brand-led TV advertising to grow awareness and alter unfavourable perceptions. Print inserts, direct mail, digital and social amplified TV creative. The brand experienced an 8% revenue increase, its biggest ever annual rise, and grew household penetration. Research showed the brand became more appealing to audiences exposed to its TV ads. Brand building also made the retailer’s search marketing more effective. It is estimated that marketing returned a short term profit of £2.69 for every £1 invested.

The Cotswold Company are a company born and raised in the era of sophisticated online optimisation, but as competition in the sector increased, we worked with Creature to take a creative leap. The campaign shows that by taking a creative leap, you can generate the kind of step change in effectiveness that cannot be achieved through optimisation alone. More than that, by taking a page out of the brand-first book, we dramatically improved the performance of our search-first activities - and all with a reduced budget.

James Birtwhistle, Co-Founder, Marketing Director
Cotswold Co.