Spend allocation
Measurement layer
Acquisition
Trading cadence
Channel performance
Where the spend actually moved.
Overview
THE CHALLENGE
Mass-prestige beauty lives on a knife edge. Hero SKUs drive the bulk of the category, retail and DTC compete for the same buyer at different price-points, and acquisition costs swing hard with every creative refresh. The brand was investing across multiple channels without a clean read on which surface was carrying the load and which was riding the halo.
Spend allocation was the immediate pressure point. Budgets had been set by habit rather than evidence, with category-leading mascaras and other top-position SKUs not getting the share of voice their margin profile deserved. The measurement layer underneath couldn't reliably separate signal from coincidence, which made every reallocation feel like a leap rather than a decision.
THE APPROACH
How the engagement was structured.
The work started with a clear-eyed look at the portfolio: which SKUs were genuinely in top position, which were sitting on borrowed momentum, and where the next dollar of media would actually earn its keep. Spend was reweighted toward the hero franchises, with a clear hierarchy between launch energy, always-on demand capture, and the long tail.
Channel splits were rebuilt from the ground up. Paid social carried the creative-led discovery load, paid search held the high-intent demand that retail traffic generated, and the mix was tuned weekly against contribution rather than last-click. The team ran tight weekly working sessions to keep allocation, creative and merchandising decisions aligned across DTC and the major-retailer channel.
Measurement was the connective tissue. The brand needed a single source of truth that could read across a hybrid DTC and wholesale footprint without overstating either side. The measurement layer was rebuilt to separate genuine incremental contribution from retail halo, so reallocation calls could be made on evidence rather than instinct. Creative output was lifted in cadence and tuned to the hooks that earned attention in a saturated category, with hero SKUs given the production budget their commercial weight justified.
MCOBEAUTY · IN THE ROOM
Inside the engagement.
The working moments behind the numbers.
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THE OUTCOME
The portfolio is now being worked the way the category demands. Hero SKUs carry the share of voice they have earned, supporting franchises get spend that matches their potential rather than scraps, and the long tail is held back from cannibalising the lead.
Acquisition efficiency has lifted as creative and channel allocation pull in the same direction. The measurement layer gives the team a defensible read on where growth is actually coming from across DTC and major retail, which has changed how trading decisions get made week to week. The cadence is now deliberate rather than reactive, with weekly reviews translating directly into the next round of spend, creative and merchandising moves.
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