Our Client:
vrSoftware is a global software vendor that has specialised in helping the retail industry plan and communicate since the 1990s. Progressive and proactive, vrSoftware serves over 4,000 users in 30 countries, counting some of the leading global brands such as Adidas, Footlocker, Levi Strauss & Co and Nike within its customer base.
vrSoftware’s flagship vrMockshop visual merchandising solution enables fashion retailers to quickly create a 3D virtual retail environment – of any grade, size or shape – populated with the latest collections and retail propositions. vrMockshop makes it easy to design standout shop floors and for brands to distribute foolproof visual instructions to each store.
Marketing Challenge:
Although substantial budgets had been allocated to online advertising, using Google AdWords on a global basis, vrSoftware had found the results from its online activity difficult to quantify and felt it was not attaining true value for money.
Channel Marketing Director Marie McCarthy comments, “When I joined the company I discovered that online spend had been allowed to lapse and the budget allocated elsewhere.
“I felt it was important for us to renew our online efforts, but it was imperative for us to be able to quantify the results. And to be able to do so to maximum effect, we needed to get the skills of an online advertising professional on board – ideally one holding a Google qualification.”
Marie commissioned AdStorm to put together an online campaign that would be measurable, so as to prove the ROI and justify the expenditure.
Adstorm’s Solution:
“AdStorm’s expertise in Google, understanding of how it works and knowledge of implementing and interpreting online analytics tools was really reassuring,” Marie continues. “They drilled down into the data and optimised our online advertising by media, keyword, creative treatment and landing page.”
Drawing on its experience of marketing software on a global basis and using a scientific approach to building the right media plan and targeting the right audience, AdStorm was, according to Marie, “able to cut straight to the heart of the ‘what’, ‘when’, ‘where’, ‘how’ and ‘why?’ of our campaign.”
“From a creative perspective, they took our ideas and added their own fresh thinking, helping us stride down new marketing avenues,” she explains. “We started out with a vision of online pay-per-click adverts delivered on Google the AdWords platform. AdStorm not only set up ads on Google AdWords, but looked beyond the brief, putting together a social media strategy that included some highly targeted social media – something we had not considered using before – to potentially generate a greater return than other online media.”
“It’s fair to say that Rob and the team delved deeper into our requirements than we expected and the result was a harder working marketing solution,” Marie continues.
“We researched the market thoroughly and created attention-grabbing ads that would attract relevant clicks from the right individuals,” agrees Rob Frost, AdStorm Director. “This involved generating relevant keywords against which to advertise, designing the campaign, advising on landing page design and recommending an innovative technique for lead capture, which would ultimately generate 90% of the campaign’s leads.”
“As is often the case in marketing, we wanted a solution straight away – if not sooner!” says Marie. “I found everyone at AdStorm great to work with; really responsive and capable of making things happen, fast.
“The entire campaign was built, translated and extended out on a global basis within the space of a week, following which a significant number of leads were collected.
“It was clear from the way the campaign was executed, managed and optimised that they weren’t in it just to get the job done and paid. On the contrary, they focused on keeping the all-important Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) as low as possible, so that our marketing spend would earn its keep.”
Marie is impressed by the volume of leads delivered by the programme, the quality of which she describes as ‘outstanding’. “Almost without exception, the enquiries are from senior decision makers at global household name brands, with a genuine interest in vrSoftware and our products.
“Having worked with a number of digital agencies in the past, I knew what I was looking for. We needed a results-generated approach and AdStorm more than delivered. If you take our Social Media ads as just an example, the cost per lead is way beyond our expectations.
“Our online advertising campaign was initially trialled in just four countries but proved so successful that it was also rolled out across Europe, North and South America.”