How do you measure search incrementality vs organic cannibalisation?

Geo-holdout tests on brand terms, run as standard practice on every account we manage. If incrementality is low we throttle brand spend and reallocate to non-brand and PMax. Most clients are surprised by the result the first time. We do not assume brand search is additive without testing it.

How do you handle Performance Max vs Standard Shopping?

We run both, structured around what each does well. Standard Shopping keeps the precise negative-keyword control and brand exclusion that PMax cannot reliably enforce. PMax handles broad-match acquisition where Google's signal genuinely adds value, with asset groups split by product category rather than catch-all campaigns. We monitor the search impression-share split monthly and own the call to rebalance.

How do you build keyword architecture from intent data rather than volume estimates?

Keyword planner shows what people search, not what converts for your brand. We seed keyword lists from Shopify order data and Klaviyo purchase sequences, then validate against search term reports to find queries that already convert. The architecture is weighted to purchase intent signals from your own customer base, not category-level volume proxies.

Who owns the Google Ads account if we stop working together?

You do, from day one. The account sits under your Google login and we operate via manager-account access. At offboarding our access is removed and you keep the account history, conversion data, and audience lists intact. You leave with a working account, not a black box.

Paid search built to find new demand, not eat your organic traffic.

We split branded and non-branded spend deliberately, structure Shopping and Performance Max around feed hygiene and margin-tiered bidding, and test whether brand search is genuinely incremental before we scale it. Customer Match, negative-keyword discipline and value-based bidding keep spend pointed at profitable buyers, not just more clicks.

WHAT WE SHIP

Branded and non-branded, structured deliberately

We build keyword architecture from Shopify and Klaviyo purchase data rather than search-volume estimates, and split branded from non-branded campaigns so cheap brand traffic never gets diluted by broad auto-bidding. Negative keywords get sculpted against real search terms on a set cadence, with a specialist signing off before changes go live.

Shopping and Performance Max, built on a clean feed

Feed hygiene and custom labels drive margin-tiered bidding, so higher-margin products get backed harder. Performance Max asset groups are built by product category with brand-safety controls and audience signals from Klaviyo, and we hold onto Standard Shopping where negative-keyword control still matters.

First-party audiences into Customer Match

Klaviyo and Shopify customer lists push to Google Customer Match on a regular cadence, driving suppression, bid weighting and lookalike expansion. Anyone who bought yesterday gets excluded from acquisition bidding, so we're not paying to win them twice.

Value-based bidding, and proof that brand spend earns its keep

Target ROAS and Target CPA are tuned against real Shopify margin data, not platform defaults, and reset weekly against plan. We test brand-term incrementality with geo-holdouts, so branded spend is only kept where it's genuinely growing sales, not just claiming organic traffic.

Search-term waste cut before it inflates CAC

Search term reports are pulled weekly, not at the quarterly review, and irrelevant or low-intent terms get added to the negative list before they've burned real budget. On PMax, where search-term visibility is limited, we watch category and brand-safety signals as the proxy and push waste-adjacent segments into exclusions. The result shows up directly in CPA, not just impression share.

Brand and non-brand kept separate, so PMax can't cannibalise cheap clicks

Branded search converts cheaply almost by default; folding it into the same automated campaign as non-brand lets PMax's auto-bidding chase brand clicks it would have gotten anyway and call it a win. We isolate brand spend and measure non-brand PMax against its own incremental contribution, so reported ROAS reflects new demand, not existing intent recaptured at a premium.

ACCOUNTABILITY

What changes when we run it.

$95M

Media managed across our client portfolio each year

Search, Shopping and PMax included

Days between hands-on account reviews

Budgets, bids and search terms, checked weekly

24h

Longest a disapproval or feed error sits

Fixed same-day, not next sprint

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PROOF

Brands that prove paid search.

500%

Bed Threads

home

500% growth within the first year.

A homewares brand outgrowing its own stack. We rebuilt the storefront, scaled paid and lifecycle in lockstep, and ran peak periods across three markets without buckling.

View case study

Built for drop-scale demand

Khy

fashion

Building demand before every drop.

Khy runs on drops that sell through in hours and a founder with one of the largest audiences in the world. We run the paid social engine underneath it across the US.

View case study

Hero-SKU led, measurement honest

MCoBeauty

beauty

Acquisition and measurement rebuilt for a mass-prestige beauty brand

A mass-prestige beauty brand selling across DTC and major retail needed a sharper read on what was actually driving sales. The work centred on acquisition discipline, measurement rigour and creative built around hero SKUs.

View case study

Multi-fold search revenue lift

Boody

fashion

Sustainable basics scaled into a multi-country growth engine

A sustainable basics brand with international ambitions needed acquisition and measurement to catch up with its product. We rebuilt the storefront, the testing programme and the channel mix to power growth that keeps paying off across more than a dozen markets.

View case study

OBJECTIONS

Common questions.

These are the questions clients ask before signing. Honest answers below.

KEEP EXPLORING · ELEPHANT ROOM PLAYBOOK

Every service. One playbook.

Three pillars. One operating model. Pick your next move.

TALK TO THE TEAM

Talk to a strategist, not a salesperson.

A response within one business day.

50+brands

$750M+GMV

10+years