Forever 21 Tackles Mobile Programmatically

Forever 21, a global clothing retailer, used two marketing trends in conjunction -- mobile and programmatic -- for a recent campaign. The brand tapped ad retargeting firm Sociomantic Labs and used Google’s DoubeClick Ad Exchange to do its bidding.

The clothing company wanted to use personalized marketing for in-app and mobile Web ads, with a focus on Apple’s iOS devices and Safari browsers. A case study details the results of the campaign, which started in October 2013.

In the case study, Sociomantic claims it helped Forever 21 achieve 20% higher click-through rates on the mobile Web compared to desktop campaigns. Post-click conversion rates on mobile stayed "within 15% of desktop conversion rates."

While that sounds like, "We tried, but mobile was still 15% worse than desktop when it came to actual conversions," it is still a notable performance improvement over typical mobile post-click conversion rates. One source told RTM Daily that post-click conversions on smartphones are typically 30% that of desktop rates.

Forever 21's return-on-ad-spend (ROAS) stayed the same, while the campaign volume, or number of ads delivered, increased by 15%.

The case study did not share many numbers -- and RTM Daily was unable to obtain more -- but the figures that were shared indicate two things: programmatic campaigns can work on mobile, but there is still plenty of room for improvement. 

Improvements figure to come with time, which marketers have plenty of given the fact consumers remain glued to their mobile devices.

Gerard Florendo, manager of online marketing and Web analytics for Forever 21, is quoted in the case study as saying that the company’s marketing strategy is based on where its consumers are spending time online.

“Right now that’s mobile,” he said.

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