Challenge

Galeries Lafayette operates in a complex paid media environment: a vast product catalog, strict profitability goals, and a need to balance scale with precision.

With no direct competition on branded terms but high CPCs across categories, the challenge was dual:

• Control acquisition costs (COS) across all channels.
  
• Identify and scale product-level performance without over-cutting long-tail value.
  

In short, the goal was clear: more efficiency, more incrementality, without sacrificing business volume.

Strategy

On Google Ads, Primelis restructured the entire Paid Search engine to focus on real-time product performance. Using a dynamic segmentation approach, campaigns were optimized around both media signals (clicks, conversions) and business KPIs (revenue, margin).

A cross-brand strategy was also deployed to address brand cannibalization and reduce non-incremental spend on low-competition queries.

On Social, the focus shifted to creative diversity and audience expansion. With increasing investment in Meta, efforts centered on integrating UGC, expanding reach, and measuring true incrementality,particularly through GeoLift tests.

Execution

• Product-Centric Restructuring on Google Shopping: We executed a full migration to Performance Max, enabling more dynamic segmentation of campaigns based on conversion volume, margin profile, and product contribution to revenue. This restructuring allowed us to prioritize spend on top-performing SKUs while tightening control on underperforming inventory. By diversifying the product feed and adapting creative formats, we achieved a reduction in CPCs without compromising coverage or delivery. The setup aligned media investment directly with commercial value at the product level.

• Cross-Brand Optimization: Using the Primelis Signal tech, we deployed a cross-brand optimization strategy designed to reduce overinvestment on branded terms. By identifying queries with little competition, we were able to limit spend where incremental value was low and reallocate budget to more profitable, high-margin products. This approach protected branded traffic while lowering CPCs,delivering both efficiency gains and strategic budget flexibility across the account.

• Diversified Creative & Measured Impact: On social, we focused on expanding creative formats and validating performance contribution. Systematic use of UGC,particularly from influencers,led to stronger engagement and improved penetration among younger audiences. To assess real business impact, we applied GeoLift testing to isolate social’s incremental effect within the broader media mix. A continuous test-and-learn cycle was maintained across TikTok, Pinterest, and YouTube Demand Gen, enabling faster iteration and scaling of top-performing assets.

All figures reflect performance growth in 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.

Impact

The collaboration delivered a step-change in performance governance. Budget was reallocated with precision, scaling what worked and pruning what didn’t,without blunt cuts.

By bringing product-level logic into campaign design and using statistical measurement for media incrementality, Galeries Lafayette achieved higher profitability on a stable revenue base.

In a context of rising acquisition costs and platform volatility, this was not just optimization,it was strategic insulation.