Criteo Sponsored Products enabled Microsoft to promote its Surface Pro 4 on its network of partner retailer websites, to a targeted audience, through native ads integrated throughout the path to purchase

Challenge

Microsoft wished to drive sales of Surface Pro 4 without sacrificing profitability. In a category with heavy commoditization, extensive product comparison and many brands competing on price, Microsoft needed a tactic to ensure that the top-of-the-line Surface Pro 4 stood out.

Solution

The Criteo Sponsored Products network presented an easily measurable way to increase product visibility and sales across a range of sites including Fnac, Darty and Rue du Commerce. Criteo Sponsored Products appear as native listings relevant to the shopper and the products they’re seeking. Sponsored Listings ads for the Surface Pro 4 appeared within search results for laptops or tablets, in those product categories and also at the highest levels of these sites to drive increased awareness.

Outcome

• +31% share of page views within its category
• 22% sales made from the home page
• 13x Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)

The campaign demonstrated strong incrementality, gaining share from competitors: 15% of sales were completed based on ads displayed on the retail site search results where generic keywords such as “laptop” were searched. Furthermore, 22% of sales were generated from ads displayed on the Homepage, while delivering a 13X Return on Ad Spend (ROAS), thanks to an optimal targeting of online shoppers most likely to purchase

Criteo was also able to determine that the Sponsored Products ads increased share of consideration (the percent of product page views within this category) that the Surface Pro 4 was able to achieve: share of consideration increased 31% versus the period prior to the campaign. These results were more than sufficient to encourage Microsoft to reinvest and develop an “always on” strategy for their commerce media with Criteo Sponsored Products.