The DADIs (The Drum Magazine awards for the digital industries) have been celebrating excellence in digital media since 2006. This year Summit triumphed over 9 other entrants to win the Use of Paid Search award, for our exceptional work with Argos during 2012. The highly competitive Use of Paid Search category aims to recognise digital marketing strategies that meet and exceed clients’ objectives, generating good return on investment and notable results against other key performance indicators. Our outstanding success was driven by our retail insight, expertise in search marketing, and use of our in-house technology and custom built tools.
Summit’s Ambitious Strategy
Summit had been working successfully with Argos for 7 years when together, at the beginning of 2012, we set an ambitious goal to establish Argos as the leading internet retailer in online shopping for the run up to Christmas. We aimed to capitalise on the recent developments in paid search on mobile devices and tablets to increase online activity and make a significant impact during the competitive festive period. This required Summit to operate in an evolving environment, and a strategy had to be created without the benefit of established best practices or the opportunity to consult secondary intelligence.
Record-Breaking Results
At the end of 2012, Argos reported the most successful peak trading period on record, with their newly sharpened PPC strategy achieving online sales up 60% year-on-year. A total of 5 million orders was generated through paid search, a 33% increase on the previous year. Summit had exceeded Argos’ expectations and was recognised by Google as having established new industry best practices in paid search.
PPC Optimised for Mobile and Tablet Customers
We were able to put ourselves at the very forefront of new developments in digital marketing by carrying out our own empirical research project on customer behaviour across devices. Based on our findings we devised a strategy that would allow us to be responsive to different behaviours on different devices, and ensure that we were delivering the right message on the right device at the right time. The logistical requirements of this ambitious approach involved increasing resources, adjusting existing software and building and developing new technology. Summit is proud to have had its hard work, dedication, and innovative strategy development acknowledged by receiving the DADI Award.
Commentary
“Summit was able to deliver a strategy that enabled Argos to become retail leaders in this space. Their willingness and ability to develop new technology and expand their own team showed remarkable passion and commitment to transforming the way big retailers like us sell online. Not only did they help us achieve our ambitions for that year, we forged a close working relationship along the way.”
Dan Patmore
Search Marketing Manager
Argos
“Search behaviour is rapidly moving towards mobile devices and brand prominence on these devices is key for future success. Companies that establish a strategic approach to increasing their share of voice on mobile devices in a cost effective manner are really the way in both reach and overall growth. Argos is a good example of how this can be achieved.”
Dave Harding
Industry Manager, Retail
Google
“Summit is always at the forefront of new developments in the digital industry, and our work with Argos gave us the opportunity to develop and utilise our knowledge and expertise in order to create a pioneering paid search campaign. We pride ourselves on being ‘changemakers’ wherever retail meets digital, and by thinking differently we were able to exceed Argos’ expectations and achieve record-breaking results.”
Hedley Aylott
Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder
Summit
To speak to a member of our Paid Search team, please email us as [email protected].
Summit Admin
