For its 2017 collaboration with Spanish clothing brand El Ganso, the eyewear brand Hawkers tested the collection ad format against photo ads, and found that the collection format boosted engagement by 86% and return on ad spend by 51%.
Case study summary
• Hawkers used Facebook collection ad format displays catalogue items under a main video on Facebook
• Used split A/B testing see performance of ‘Collection’ ads against regular photo ads
• Eyewear brand saw a 51% higher return on ad spend on Facebook Collections ad
The challenge
Founded in Spain in 2013, Hawkers has disrupted the sunglasses market with its stylish, affordable shades. The ecommerce brand’s successful partnerships, branding strategy, and savvy Facebook advertising have fuelled its growth into a business that does an annual $100 million in sales.
Hawkers wanted to test whether the collection ad format, which displays catalogue items under a main video or image, performed better than photo ads on Facebook. The company chose to test a campaign promoting the launch of its new range with fashion brand El Ganso.
The solution
In March–April 2017, Hawkers ran a Facebook ad campaign promoting its new glasses made in collaboration with El Ganso. To test whether the collection format was more powerful than the photo ads it had run in the past, Hawkers and Facebook Marketing Partner MakeMeReach divided the audience so that half of them were shown the collection ads, and half of them saw the regular photo ads. The creative and copy in both ads were the same.
The only difference was the 4 catalogue images that appeared below the campaign hero image in the collection format.
Hawkers used Facebook’s Lookalike Audiences to reach a larger audience and deliver the ads to people who were similar to its existing customers in Spain.
The results
Hawker’s test of the collection ad format made massive improvements to its campaign results, and the brand is now investing 33% of its Facebook ad spend into the collection format. By using this format, rather than just single photographs in its ads, Hawkers achieved:
• 51% higher return on ad spend
• 30% lower cost per purchase
• 86% higher engagement (interaction with ads)
Axel Ramírez, Advertiser, Hawkers Co., said: “Until now, the photo ads were the best-performing ad type for Hawkers’ products. Having such better results with the collection format is very, very impressive for us! We can’t wait to launch more campaigns with this new ad format on Facebook.”
