Axel Accessories

The Case

Axel Accessories is one of Greece’s most established fashion brands, with over 25 years of presence, stores across Greece and Cyprus, and a nationwide wholesale network of loyal customers. Its direct-to-consumer (DTC) channel focuses on handbags, purses, and accessories for fashion-savvy women 30+, offering affordable yet stylish fashion.

The Challenge

By late 2024, Axel’s eCommerce growth had hit a wall:

• Heavy reliance on discounts eroded margins, and with underperforming paid media, profits were squeezed thin.
• Overdependence on branded PPC (80%+ of PPC revenue) left the business exposed to platform changes and rising ad costs, while inflating spend without incremental revenue growth.
• Unsuccessful attempts at reaching younger audiences meant the brand’s growth relied mainly on its legacy customer base.
• Lack of alignment between board and marketing caused erratic decisions; overspending in low periods, then cutting spend at peaks when results should have been strongest.

The challenge was clear: Axel needed a sustainable performance marketing strategy that delivered growth beyond discounts and built profitability into the DNA of decision-making.

Our Approach

With the state of ecommerce in mind, we redesigned Axel’s digital growth strategy with a focus on profitability and long-term scaling:

• Commercial-first analysis: Even before campaign access, we worked with the finance team to evaluate product categories by margin, then re-prioritized campaigns to push higher-margin lines.
• Paid media overhaul: Rebuilt PPC to strengthen mid- and upper-funnel activity, launching Performance Max and Standard Shopping campaigns, and reducing reliance on branded search. Integrated third-party CSS (Producthero) to cut CPCs.
• Discount discipline: Guided Axel’s board to reduce overreliance on flash sales, investing instead in evergreen funnel activity that built brand equity and stable demand.
• Creative diversification: Tested a mix of DPAs, static formats, animated videos, and raw lifestyle imagery to deliver resonant messaging across funnel stages.
• Board-level reporting: Introduced MER & FOCM as north-star metrics, bridging the communication gap between board and marketing. This built confidence, budget flexibility, and appetite for sustained investment.
• SEO integration: Added a new organic growth lever, ensuring Axel wasn’t solely dependent on paid channels.

The Details

Channels Used: Google Ads (Search, PMax, Shopping), Meta Ads, SEO, CRO & Reporting

Unique Tactics & Insights:

• Mid- & upper-funnel PPC restructuring: Instead of over-relying on branded search, we designed campaigns to reach new audiences actively searching for relevant categories, not just the brand name. This opened incremental demand while stabilizing acquisition costs.
• CSS integration (Producthero): Running Shopping ads through a third-party CSS reduced CPCs by 10–15%. Savings were reinvested into scaling non-brand Shopping activity.
• Creative & funnel mapping: Each stage of the funnel was matched with distinct creative – animated videos for awareness, lifestyle images for consideration, and high-intent DPAs at conversion. The mix nurtured users systematically instead of relying on one-off sales campaigns.
• CRO-informed campaigns: On-site analysis revealed drop-offs in cart & checkout. Tactical CRO fixes not only improved conversion rates but also fed back into campaign design, ensuring clicks were more efficiently converted.
• SEO expansion: Technical improvements (site speed, structured data) and targeted content built a new organic channel, which within months contributed ~20% of total eCom revenue.
• Board-level forecasting: Built quarterly forecasts and demand-based planning models. This shifted conversations from reactive cuts to proactive investment planning.