Client: Primark
Primark, a retailer built without advertising, faced a shifting landscape as store traffic fell and competitors closed locations. To protect a store‑only model in a digital‑first world, it launched an inaugural digital campaign to prove that media could stimulate visits and sales without e‑commerce. A bespoke, rapid measurement system connected paid impressions around each store to real‑world footfall and incremental revenue, allowing optimisation in near real time. The programme ran as a controlled experiment, with matched regions, burst‑and‑pause flighting, and continual tweaks to channels, formats, creative and targeting. Findings were clear: broad reach tactics most often beat return goals; dynamic creative sharply improved efficiency; and firm reach‑frequency guardrails emerged locally. The effort delivered significant additional sales, beat profitability targets, unlocked far larger budgets the following year and expanded across multiple markets. Primark ultimately proved that smart media and smarter measurement can move tills—even when nothing is sold online—energising physical stores nationwide.
