Ashley HomeStore Northwest Ohio

Ashley HomeStore is the #1 furniture retailer in North America. The brand uses a unique structure as a manufacturer, retail owner-operator, and licensor to more than 150 licensees. The Northwest Ohio licensee owns six stores spread across five unique media markets.

Strategy and Planning Media Planning and Buying Campaign Development and Management Measurement
Front view of an Ashley HomeStore retail building with large signage above the entrance, stone pillars, and glass doors under a clear blue sky.

THE CHALLENGE

Getting granular

Two of the six HomeStores in Northwest Ohio faced declining traffic. For years, they performed well under the overarching marketing plan developed to support the entire licensee group. However, it became clear a new approach was needed to support these stores at a hyper-local level.

Line drawing of three pieces of furniture: an armchair, a bed with pillows and blanket, and a standing lamp with light rays, all outlined in orange on a white background. An outline of the state of Ohio with five orange location markers clustered in the northwest and along the northern border. The rest of the state is unmarked and on a white background.

THE APPROACH

Adjusting to market changes

The troubled stores’ metrics were closely studied to find trends and variances from the other locations. By removing them from the larger strategy and turning to hyper-local activation we utilized local media tactics and highly targeted digital executions. This allowed us to pinpoint people with signals of an intent to purchase furniture in those communities. The plan added outdoor billboards to drive awareness, a specific cable zone to drive brand recall, and targeted high index zip codes with high-impact digital video to drive traffic.

A simple illustration of a road with two Ashley HomeStore billboards on either side, both promoting sales and discounts, with minimal line art of clouds, grass, and the sun in the background.

THE RESULTS

Small focus, big results

With a more localized effort to support these two stores located in smaller communities, a continual increase in foot traffic to each store was achieved and sustained. The revised plan was implemented in the second quarter of 2019 with demonstrative results for each quarter following.

13.3 %
increase in 2Q 2019
7.4 %
increase in 3Q 2019
10.9 %
increase in 4Q 2019