Decathlon generated 6 times more traffic using the power of Ad Manager, Datalab and Seamless Ads

'Move people through the wonders of sport'

Decathlon’s mission is clear: to make sports accessible for all. The brand wants to inspire people to exercise and enjoy wonderful sports memories. Decathlon offers a wide range of competitively priced sporting goods aimed at making sports available to all. Backpacking is a rapidly growing trend, and the Dutch target audience is primarily made up of men and women between the ages of 18 and 35. This athletic, sporty group is looking for adventure and freedom, has a limited budget and is primarily found online. To encourage a backpacking audience to visit Decathlon’s website, a targeted online traffic campaign was created in a smart collaboration with DPG Media.

Complete control with Ad Manager
Decathlon made the most of Ad Manager, Datalab and Seamless Ads. Ad Manager, the self-service platform, offers Decathlon complete control over their advertising campaigns in an intuitive and user-friendly interface, which operates 30% faster than competing platforms. Decathlon also benefited from a highly optimised digital supply chain. Keeping in mind that no tech costs are linked to Ad Manager, every single euro of the campaign budget was converted into media value.

Focused targeting with Datalab
Decathlon started its campaign by compiling their backpacking target audience in Datalab, creating a custom audience based on DPG Media’s first party data. The tools? Socio-demographic targeting and relevant keywords related to adventurous travel and backpacking, based on the browser behaviour of consumers on DPG Media’s network.

Higher engagement with Seamless Ads
Next, the brand transformed its existing, standard IAB banners into DPG Media’s unique Seamless Carousel in just a few minutes using Ad Manager’s Ad Studio. This type of Seamless Ad is an interactive advert that offers the right space for storytelling, resulting in a higher user engagement. That’s exactly what Decathlon needed to generate traffic to its website from backpackers in the Netherlands.

A perfect synergy between DPG Media’s platforms
The custom audience was moved from Datalab to Ad Manager at the touch of a button. Within a few minutes, the Seamless Carousel was ready to be used. This enabled Decathlon to set up the campaign and spread it through DPG Media’s high-quality network in just a heartbeat. Closing the self-service circle of audience targeting, creation, media activation and optimisation.

Exceptionally effective and highly efficient
Decathlon far exceeded their campaign benchmark through the smart, combined use of Datalab, Seamless Ads and Ad Manager. The results? A click-through rate (CTR) that was six times higher and a Cost Per Click (CPC) that was five times lower than on competing media platforms that also ran the campaign. Competing platforms used standard IAB banners in HTML5, with the same visuals and copy used in the Seamless Carousel. The focused, future-proof targeting powered by Datalab, paired with impactful Seamless Ads and the powerful optimisation and cost savings of AD Manager made this campaign a winner that was not just extremely effective, but also highly efficient.

Have an impact
Do you want to follow in the footsteps of Decathlon and increase your brand awareness, brand preference and consideration, while also generating more sales? Reach out to us! Together, let’s explore how we can bring your message to life and captivate your audience in the most impactful way possible.