BAM shows demand-driving advertising increases revenue

BAM bamboo clothing, the environmentally sustainable brand founded by former pole vault athlete and explorer David Gordon, has overhauled its advertising targeting strategy, moving beyond re-targeting to drive 700,000 pounds in incremental revenue.

The ethical retailer of bamboo clothing has attracted 18,000 new customers as well as increasing revenue after moving beyond its demand-driven advertising to a personalised display programme, following what it called a “struggle” to measure ROI for its advertising efforts.

By aligning its retention and acquisition strategies across online and offline, BAM has been using Conversant’s CRM Media Solution, which has allowed the ethical retailer to build a personalised display programme by offering a mixture of brand, offer and product ads, customised to the individual viewer and providing a much more relevant advertising experience.

This shift to long-term demand-driving advertising has attracted 18,000 new customers and driven 700,000 pounds in incremental revenue, as well as boosted repeat purchases, with research showing a 30 percent increase in customers making a second purchase and a 9 percent increase in orders per person. In addition, BAM also saw a 20 percent increase in site visitation after customers had seen a BAM advert from Conversant.

“In the old days it was pretty straight forward; the customer saw an ad, used an offer code, and your cost of acquisition was very easy to work out,” explained Steve Newman, e-commerce manager at BAM in a statement. “For digital display, I had been used to working with the mentality of the banner and the creative – that how it looks is not as important as getting the click. But we’ve evolved beyond that now – just looking at the different touch-points of how customers are interacting shows you can’t take a single journey anymore. The trick is to find a model that gives credit where credit is due.”

Elliott Clayton, senior vice president of Media UK, Conversant, added: “This challenge of alignment and measurement is not unique to BAM. It’s one that many other brands are coming across as the customer journey evolves. Using re-targeting alone there’s no way for marketers to know where the real value is coming from and precious budget should be invested – not to mention, the limited opportunity for bringing in new customers. But the value this new programme has already driven speaks for itself.”