In the run up to Black Friday 2021, HMV was looking to capitalise on the peak sales period and capture as much demand as possible. With ambitious spend and revenue targets, a change was needed in the account in order to meet these goals. HMV wanted to make an impact quickly, without sacrificing efficiency.

With Smart Shopping activity in place and brand search not particularly incremental, generic search was identified as the best avenue for growth. HMV’s current campaign had activity split between exact and phrase match types. In order to expand reach and drive more volume for the account, HMV implemented broad match in favor of phrase match. Supported by bid strategy adjustments and regular SQR checks, this change allowed HMV to reach more users, while still only serving at the most relevant times and for the right audience.

From mid-October until the day before Black Friday, HMV saw a huge increase in traffic and revenue through generic activity. Clicks were up 483% at point of purchase (PoP) versus 59% growth at account level. Similarly, revenue increased by 413% through generic, significantly outpacing the account’s growth of 70% PoP. The impact-to-efficiency metrics such as conversion rate and click-through rate were marginal, and the campaign achieved HMV’s return on ad spend (ROAS) target.