📋 Case Study — Footwear

From Wasted Ad Spend to 5.09× ROAS — With 27% Less Budget

How PRB Digital helped a leading orthopedic footwear brand completely restructure its digital strategy — cutting wasted spend, connecting digital to offline, and achieving its highest-ever monthly performance.

IndustryHealth Footwear / Retail

MarketSoutheast Asia

Store Footprint40+ Retail Branches

ServicesPaid Media · E-commerce · Analytics

About the Client

A Trusted Footwear Brand with Strong Offline Roots

Our client is a well-established orthopedic footwear brand with over 40 retail branches across major mall networks in Southeast Asia. With a genuinely differentiated product — podiatrist-developed technology, in-store foot assessments, and a loyal customer base — the brand had everything it needed to win.

The problem wasn't the product. It was the digital strategy. Despite strong offline fundamentals, online sales were inconsistent and the connection between ad spend and real revenue was unclear.

The Challenge

What Was Broken When We Took Over

When PRB Digital came on board, the brand was spending significantly on ads with a below break-even ROAS of 0.86× — meaning for every peso spent, less than a peso was coming back. The budget structure wasn't working.

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Budget was spread across campaign types with no data showing what was actually driving purchases. Ad spend was high but returns were below break-even.

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Traffic numbers looked impressive on paper but weren't translating into purchases or store visits. Vanity metrics were masking poor performance.

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No structured approach connecting digital efforts with the 40+ offline stores that generate the majority of total revenue. Digital and offline were in silos.

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The e-commerce store had significant checkout friction — a massive drop-off between add-to-cart and actual purchase completion.

The Approach

The PRB Framework: Let the Data Decide Everything

Our strategy was simple in principle but rigorous in execution. No guesswork. No vanity metrics. Every decision had to be traced to a real revenue outcome.

Audit & Eliminate Waste

We audited every active campaign and budget allocation against actual revenue outcomes. We identified campaigns inflating traffic metrics while producing zero measurable impact on revenue. We cut them entirely and reallocated the budget to what was working.

Shift to What Actually Drives Revenue

Catalogue conversion ads became the primary format for online sales. Messaging campaigns replaced traffic campaigns as the driver of in-store visits — connecting digital activity directly to the offline branches that generate the majority of the brand's revenue.

Build a Data Feedback Loop

We implemented weekly performance reviews tracking the full funnel — ad spend, sessions, add-to-cart, checkout, purchase, and offline store growth. Every week, the team reviews data against targets and adjusts in real time.

The Results

One Quarter. Transformational Results.

The numbers below reflect percentage improvements only. Specific revenue figures are confidential per client agreement.

Online Revenue Growth

236%

Online revenue tripled within a single quarter — growing consistently month over month from January through March.

ROAS Improvement

0.86× → 5.09×

From a below break-even ROAS of 0.86× to a strong 5.09× by end of quarter — a complete turnaround in ad efficiency.

Cost Per Purchase

-48%

The cost to acquire a customer was cut nearly in half — while revenue was growing. More sales, less spend per conversion.

Offline Store Growth

+16%

Offline store growth across all 40+ branches by end of quarter, alongside a 446% conversion rate improvement online.

The most important lesson: spending smarter beats spending more. After restructuring, the brand achieved significantly better results on roughly half the original ad budget. Same brand. Smarter system. Dramatically better outcomes.

Key Wins

What PRB Digital Actually Did

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Identified & eliminated wasted spend

A significant portion of the monthly ad budget was going to campaigns that inflated traffic metrics but produced zero revenue. We cut them and reallocated to campaigns that actually drive purchases and store visits.

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Built a proven creative hierarchy

Through testing, we identified the six creative formats that consistently outperform — from catalogue ads to employee-generated videos. Every campaign now uses proven formats instead of guesswork.

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Connected digital marketing to offline store growth

For a brand where the majority of revenue comes from physical stores, digital had to drive foot traffic — not just website clicks. Messaging campaigns became the bridge, generating thousands of conversations per month that led directly to in-store visits.

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Built a system, not just campaigns

Weekly data reviews, clear KPIs, creative testing protocols, and budget allocation principles mean the brand's growth is no longer dependent on any single campaign or promotion. The system scales.

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Flagged risks before they became problems

When a promotional campaign drove unexpected returns, we identified it immediately and recommended fixes. When we found that short-burst promotions underperformed, we established minimum duration guidelines that prevent future budget waste.