The challenge

British lifestyle brand Cath Kidston was a traditional brand before coming to us, with an older demographic and with minimal SEO strategy. Our challenge was to build top tier links for the brand, while also pushing their brand into niches they'd never been in before - in this case, gaming. We wanted to expand Cath Kidston's reach to a younger audience, so we decided to focus on one of the most popular games at the time to do this effectively. This, if successful, would achieve all the goals we initially set out, as well as contribute significantly to their organic SEO strategy. Let the games begin.

The idea

Cath Kidston is famous for one thing above all else - their prints. We wanted to show them off in a whole new way. During Covid lockdown, Animal Crossing was booming in popularity, as more people flocked online to stay connected with their friends and keep themselves entertained.

We brought the two together, making it possible for people to download Cath Kidston prints and use them within the game. All you had to do was scan a QR code - themselves seeing a boost during Covid - and your island could be decorated like never before.

The results

Coverage for our Animal Crossing campaign went crazy. We got placements in traditional press like the Mail Online, Evening Standard and Yahoo, gaming press like GameRant, and fashion press like Essential Retail and Fashion United.

But it wasn’t just the media talking about it - fans were too. Facebook communities loved our idea, sharing it over 1,200 times and driving 4,267 views to our dedicated landing page. 42% of visitors were new to the site, showing how we’d tapped into a new audience and delivered more than just links for the brand.

People were spending an average time of 3:24 on the page, we achieved 77% referral traffic, and across the site everything was improving. Transactions were up 16%, revenue 11%, and the ecommerce conversation rate had increased by 17% year on year.

Animal Crossing had ticked all the boxes.