Client: Steve Madden
Services: Full funnel digital media strategy, planning, buying, optimization, and analysis.
Overview and Challenges:
Steve Madden, a global fashion footwear retailer with over 220 stores in 80+ countries, set out to shift consumer perception and reassert its identity as a bold, fashion-forward brand.
While brand awareness remained strong, perception had begun to lag, particularly among younger, trend-driven consumers who increasingly viewed the brand as dated. To address this, Steve Madden partnered with January Digital to lead the strategic planning and execution of a full-funnel digital media campaign designed to reposition the brand, improve favorability, and drive incremental revenue and engagement across digital channels.
The campaign needed to deliver both brand lift and measurable business outcomes, all while operating with aggressive ROAS goals and third-party validation through analytics partner Measured. Strategic precision, creative agility, and platform diversification were essential to success.
Goals:
- Increase aided brand awareness and favorability across digital platforms
- Drive incremental revenue and improve ROAS
- Accelerate new user growth through diversified digital traffic strategies
- Expand and optimize the media channel mix to reach new audiences and unlock performance
Our Work:
January Digital led the full strategic and executional planning of Steve Madden’s “NEVER MISS A BEAT” campaign, ensuring every aspect of media activation was aligned to performance and brand transformation goals:
- Led Full-Funnel Campaign Planning and Media Strategy
Owned the strategic foundation of the campaign, aligning creative direction, audience targeting, channel selection, investment strategy, and performance goals into one cohesive plan. - Executed Comprehensive Media Buying Across Platforms
Activated across a wide-ranging channel mix including Google, Meta, TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat, and Pinterest. Tactics were tailored to each platform to support both upper-funnel brand building and lower-funnel conversion. - Optimized Cross-Channel Performance in Real Time
Deployed active daily optimizations across all platforms to capture demand, respond to consumer sentiment, and refine creative delivery. Budget allocations were adjusted in real time to maximize both efficiency and impact. - Integrated Third-Party Measurement for Incrementality Insight
Collaborated closely with Measured to validate performance through incrementality reporting. January Digital used these insights to continuously refine strategy, identify high-value opportunities, and improve campaign profitability.
Results and Business Impact:
The campaign exceeded expectations across every major metric, driving measurable performance gains in both brand and business outcomes:
- Overall campaign revenue exceeded goal by +17%, while incremental revenue surpassed forecast by +62%
- Brand awareness lift outperformed goals across key platforms, including +4.9% on YouTube and +4 pts on Snapchat
- SteveMadden.com new users increased +36%
- Channel-level performance highlights:
- YouTube: +2.7M video views above goal, +273% increase in order contribution, and +100% ROAS growth
- TikTok: +35% increase in order contribution and +30% lift in incremental ROAS
- Pinterest: Delivered the highest incremental ROAS of any channel
