Art Van’s Marketing Revolution: How Interim Leadership Shaped a Cost-effective Media Strategy
Challenge:
Art Van, a billion-dollar regional omni-channel retailer and franchisee, found themselves in a period of transition after being purchased by private equity firm TH Lee. They faced challenges in stabilizing and improving their substantial annual marketing expenditure. As a company with six decades of history in the Midwest furniture and mattress industry, a fresh perspective on their media strategy and execution was needed.
Approach:
Chameleon Collective was brought in to provide interim leadership, aiming to instill stability and drive clarity around Art Van’s marketing efforts. Key to this process was a thorough evaluation and replacement of existing agency and vendor relationships. By identifying more cost-effective and industry-leading solutions, Art Van could better allocate their resources. Furthermore, a data-driven approach was instituted to ensure marketing spend was targeted and effective. The media mix was reallocated for optimal results with less investment. A ‘store-first’ execution strategy was implemented, focusing ad dollars on measuring increasing footfall. To sustain these improvements, an in-house media team was recruited and mentored, setting the stage for continued growth and success.
Impact:
Within six months, Chameleon’s efforts had directly saved Art Van millions of dollars in unnecessary agency and ad expense. The firm built a world-class, in-house media team, and provided the strategic framework and executional leadership needed to realize substantial improvement across all aspects of Art Van’s media efforts.
