Case Study

Henkel Professional Beauty Achieve 30% Revenue Growth While Cutting Ad Spend by 34% 

How beBOLD Digital's strategic optimization and brand-building drove 40% organic growth and doubled marketing efficiency for one of the world's leading professional hair care brands

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Case Study: Henkel Achieves 30% Growth While Reducing Ad Spend by 34%

+ 40 %

Organic Sales

-44 %

ACOS % Reduction

-49 %

TACoS % Reduction

The Brand: Henkel Professional

A global leader in professional hair care, serving salons and stylists worldwide

 

About Henkel Professional

Henkel Professional is a division of Henkel AG & Co., one of the world's leading companies in consumer and industrial businesses. Their professional beauty portfolio includes prestigious brands like Schwarzkopf Professional, Joico, and other salon-exclusive hair care lines.

Market Position

As a leading player in the professional beauty sector, Henkel serves tens of thousands of salons globally with products designed specifically for professional use by trained stylists.

The Starting Point

Despite their market leadership, Henkel faced a common challenge: high advertising costs were eating into profitability, while organic brand strength remained untapped. They needed a strategic partner to optimize their digital presence and unlock sustainable growth.

The Challenge

Balancing growth ambitions with profitability pressures in a competitive marketplace

The Core Problem

Henkel Professional was growing but at an unsustainable cost.  With an ACoS of 33.9% and TACoS of 14.5%, their advertising efficiency was eating into margins.

Meanwhile, strong brand equity wasn't translating into organic sales growth. They needed to shift from a purely paid-growth model to a sustainable, efficiency-driven approach that leveraged their brand strength.

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High Advertising Costs

  • ACoS at 33.9% squeezing profit margins
  • Over-reliance on paid advertising to drive visibility
  • Inefficient campaign structures and limited testing
  • Rising acquisition costs restricting New-to-Brand growth
  • Lack of synergy between ad strategy and organic performance
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Limited Retail Ready

  • Product detail pages lacked optimized images and A+ content
  • Weak SEO and keyword structure limiting organic reach
  • Inconsistent brand story across PDPs and creative assets
  • Missed opportunities to engage shoppers through enhanced content
  • Incomplete retail media optimization impacting conversion rates 
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Growth vs. Profitability Tension

  • Need to scale revenue without proportional ad spend
  • Pressure to improve profit margins while maintaining visibility
  • Difficulty balancing brand-building with performance efficiency
  • Limited cross-channel insights to guide strategic spend
  • Sustainable, margin-positive growth model needed

The Solution: beBOLD's Strategic Approach

A comprehensive efficiency-first strategy combining advertising optimization with organic brand building

Strategic Framework: Rather than simply cutting ad spend, we implemented a holistic transformation that improved advertising efficiency while simultaneously building organic brand strength. This dual approach ensured growth continued even as marketing costs decreased.

12-Month Transformation Timeline

Q1 2023 → Q4 2024

1. Advertising Optimization & Efficiency

We completely restructured Henkel's advertising approach to eliminate waste and maximize ROI through precision targeting and campaign refinement.

  • Campaign audit: Identified and eliminated underperforming campaigns, saving $505K+ in wasted spend
  • Targeting refinement: Moved from broad to highly-targeted campaigns based on customer data and search intent
  • Creative optimization: A/B tested ad creative to improve CTR and conversion rates by 45%
  • Bid strategy overhaul: Implemented automated bidding with profitability guardrails
  • Keyword optimization: Focused on high-converting, lower-cost keywords with strong purchase intent

2. Organic Growth & SEO Strategy

Built a foundation for sustainable organic growth through comprehensive content optimization and brand-building initiatives.

  • Product listing optimization: Rewrote all product titles, bullets, and descriptions for SEO and conversion
  • A+ Content development: Created premium brand content showcasing professional use cases and benefits
  • Enhanced Brand Content: Developed storytelling content that differentiated Henkel in search results
  • Keyword research: Identified 200+ high-volume organic opportunities and optimized accordingly
  • Review management: Implemented systematic review generation and response program

3. Customer Loyalty & Repeat Purchase Program

Developed strategies to convert first-time buyers into loyal, repeat customers through targeted engagement.

  • Subscribe & Save optimization: Increased subscription enrollment by 35%
  • Post-purchase engagement: Email sequences and retargeting for repeat orders
  • Bundle strategies: Created product bundles that increased AOV by 28%
  • Professional program: Exclusive offers for salon professionals to drive B2B loyalty

4. Data Analytics & Performance Tracking

Implemented comprehensive analytics infrastructure to monitor performance and make data-driven optimizations.

  • Custom dashboards: Real-time visibility into all key performance metrics
  • Profitability tracking: TACoS and ACoS monitoring with automated alerts
  • Competitive intelligence: Regular tracking of competitor positioning and pricing
  • Monthly strategic reviews: Data-driven optimization recommendations and action plans

The Results: Year-Over-Year Transformation

Exceptional growth coupled with dramatically improved marketing efficiency

The Bottom Line


Henkel achieved record revenue with less ad spend, signaling a mature, high-performing business model that leverages organic strength and precision advertising for sustainable expansion.

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Revenue Growth

Total Sales Increase: +30%
Organic Sales Growth (Primary Driver): +40%
Ad-Driven Sales Growth: +16%
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Advertising Efficiency

Ad Spend Reduction: -34%
ACoS Improvement: -44%
Cost Savings (Reduced Waste): $505k saved
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Profitability Metrics

TACoS Reduction (Nearly Halved): -49%
Marketing ROI Improvement: +87%
Profit Margin Enhancement: 2x Increased

 

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Strategic Wins

Organic Revenue Now Primary Driver: 62% of total sales
Sustainable Growth Model Established: ✓ Achieved
Scalable Without Proportional Ad Spend: ✓ Proven
Subscribe & Save: 5x Increase

Key Takeaways & Strategic Insights

What beBOLD learned from transforming Henkel's marketplace performance

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Efficiency + Growth Aren't Mutually Exclusive

Conventional wisdom says you must spend more to grow more — but beBOLD proved otherwise. Through smarter ad structures, refined targeting, and data-led decision making, the brand achieved 30% revenue growth while cutting ad spend by 33%.

This strategic balance between paid efficiency and organic strength built a sustainable foundation where profitability and performance worked hand in hand.

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Precision Targeting Beats Broad Reach

By eliminating wasteful broad campaigns and focusing on high-intent, converting audiences, beBOLD achieved stronger performance at 34% lower cost.

Refined targeting, smarter bidding, and continuous optimization ensured every ad dollar worked harder — improving efficiency without sacrificing scale.

The result: quality over quantity in advertising, driving superior ROI and sustainable, profitable growth.

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Organic Growth Is the Ultimate Moat

beBOLD’s strategy fueled 40% organic sales growth, making organic revenue the leading driver of total sales and reducing reliance on paid media.

With enhanced SEO, optimized A+ content, improved imagery, and a cohesive brand story, the brand strengthened visibility and conversions — creating a lasting competitive advantage and long-term growth engine.

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TACoS Is the North Star Metric

While ACoS measures ad efficiency, TACoS (Total Advertising Cost of Sales) reveals overall business health.

By aligning ad strategy with organic momentum, beBOLD helped cut TACoS from 14.5% to 7.4%, turning marketing spend from a cost center into a true growth engine.

The result: advertising became a strategic lever for profitable, scalable, long-term success.

Services Utilized

How beBOLD Digital delivered this transformation

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Vendor & Seller Analytics

Real-time data and insights to fuel smarter, more profitable decisions.

 
What’s included:
check-circle-svgrepo-com Track Sales, Ads and Inventory
check-circle-svgrepo-com Identify Growth & Profit Opportunities
check-circle-svgrepo-com Full Profit & Loss Analysis
check-circle-svgrepo-com Track LTV (Life Time Value)
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Full Service Agency

Everything your brand needs to grow on Amazon, Walmart, TikTok, Social Media Management - bundled into one expert-led solution.  From content and SEO to ads, DSP, and analytics, we manage it all to deliver scalable, profitable growth. 

Focus on your brand while we power your marketplace success — all under One Unified Agency.

account-management
Account Management
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Amazon Advertising
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DSP Advertising
Amazon SEO
Amazon SEO
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Graphic Design
Listing Optimization
Listing Optimization
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eCommerce Analytics

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