Klient:
case study
Glove manufacturer overcomes difficult period, opens showroom and establishes itself on the market
445 %
the year-on-year increase in revenue from advertising campaigns
1,8 milion
in sales after the launch of advertising campaigns
1 showroom
opened by the company with our help
their story
PREMIUM GLOVES FOLLOWING A TRADITION OF MORE THAN 150 YEARS
Dobris and gloves. For more than a century and a half, these two terms have been as inextricably linked as Pilsen and beer or Litomyšl and Smetana. For the last few years, the banner of glove production has been carried by BOHEMIA GLOVES and its owner Petra Kesnerová. She is the one who decided to save the traditional but unfortunately fading craft in 2020. She took over a glove-making workshop in decline, ended her maternity leave early and attempted a miracle – to return the once popular, but now largely overlooked fashion accessory and its production to its original lustre.
The core of the range consisted of classic winter gloves in women’s and men’s versions. They were complemented by walking and leisure variants. The company has always prided itself on premium materials and impeccable craftsmanship. This is ensured by workers with many years of experience, who are able to conjure up real masterpieces from leather or textiles.
However, the relative unfamiliarity of the product, foreign competition and not least the Covid-19 pandemic that broke out in Europe in early 2020 meant that sales were far behind expectations. Worse still, the company was realistically threatened with the end of production. So it needed help, and it needed it fast.
their goal
TO SAVE AND STABILIZE THE COMPANY, TO ENRICH THE OFFER
The impulse to cooperate with BOHEMIA GLOVES came from Four Bros. While shopping in the Place Store, our COO Honza Rypar caught the eye of a beautiful and at first glance high-quality glove. When he found out that it was a purely Czech product, his curiosity multiplied even more. He found the owner’s contact details on the internet, contacted her immediately and asked how the company handles marketing.
The answer could not have been more interesting. Mrs. Kesner revealed that she was just trying to save the company from extinction. With this goal in mind, she set up a campaign on the crowdfunding portal HitHit, asking donors for contributions. The money raised was supposed to go towards restarting the company. Unfortunately, this effort failed completely, as only about 5% of the target amount was raised. It was clear that this was not the way to go.
There were also gaps in online marketing. BOHEMIA GLOVES did work with an outsider who was supposed to take care of this part of the promotion, but the results were rather weak. The marketing lacked any concept, everything was done rather randomly and unthinkingly.
Therefore, we quickly agreed with Mrs. Kesner on cooperation. We agreed to start with performance campaigns first, which in our experience tend to be very effective when set up correctly and can bring the company the desired profit. We also planned to create content for social networks and revise the company website.
our solution
COHERENT CAMPAIGNS, CONTENT AND CONSULTATION, IMPROVED MEASUREMENT
1
ACCURATELY SET UP AND FUNCTIONAL CAMPAIGNS
The first part of the marketing mix we launched was performance campaigns on Facebook and Google. We carefully calculated PNOs and other metrics, determined KPIs, and started making money in the fall of 2020. And the results came almost immediately.
The e-shop, whose earnings until then were units of thousands of crowns per month, exceeded monthly sales of 210 thousand crowns within a short period of time. This dramatic increase helped the company to survive the most critical period.
Since gloves are mainly seasonal goods, we have shifted the campaign to a maintenance mode during 2021. Our aim was to keep the brand in people’s minds and gradually prepare them for the main season, i.e. autumn and winter.
We entered it after careful preparation, which this time we had much more time to do than the year before. We developed a content strategy and started to manage our social networks during the year. We launched campaigns not only on Facebook and Google, but also on Sklik and the Glami portal.
The result was a year-on-year increase in monthly turnover from 210 to 750 thousand crowns, which is approximately 350%. The e-shop’s sales then saw a great 445% year-on-year increase from the lower hundreds of thousands to almost two million crowns.
2
MORE ACCURATE MEASUREMENT OF SITE PERFORMANCE
Along with campaigns, we also focused on complete web analytics and improved performance measurement. This issue has not been addressed much so far, but it is crucial for the operation of the website and e-shop. Based on the results, it is possible to find strong and weak points and implement possible improvements.
That’s why we set up and deployed Google Tag Manager, which immediately started providing much-needed data. Thanks to this data, we discovered several weak points of the company’s website and improved it.
3
CONTENT AS A TOOL FOR INCREASING BRAND AWARENESS
Along with technical issues, we have also started to address social media content. Even this had not received much attention until then. Content is one of the key activities for brand awareness.
We took Facebook and Instagram under our management. We identified our communication pillars and drew up a content plan, according to which we started publishing regular monthly posts, including stories and reels. These not only featured selected products, but also revealed behind-the-scenes of the company’s operations and other interesting facts.
Many of the comments that appeared below the posts included feedback on products or services. As a result, the business owner had many suggestions on what to focus on for improvements and what works perfectly.
We also took care of the graphics. Together with HotCat Production, we provided several photo shoots of selected products for socials and the e-shop. For example, we had the driving gloves photographed at a luxury car showroom in Prague. This added a touch of exclusivity to the product presentation.
As an interesting fact, there was no snow during the winter gloves shoot in Brno. HotCat had to add it during post-production. However, they handled it perfectly and the photos look completely natural.
After a few months of us managing the socials at Four Bros, Mrs. Kesner expressed interest in taking over this activity. So we organized a workshop where we explained to her how to write posts, what fits into the content or how to take interesting photos that will attract an audience.
We also sent out several mailings as part of the marketing package. These were mainly about special offers on merchandise. The results of these campaigns were quite satisfactory and indicated that this way of communicating with clients would deserve more attention in the future.
We also planned to write a blog. In this case, however, we ran into the problem of an overly complex editorial system that would make the work disproportionately difficult and time-consuming. In the end, we advised the client to postpone this until a new and more administratively friendly website was available.
4
TAILORED STRATEGIC CONSULTATION
Strategic business consultations were and are an important part of the cooperation. For example, we set business goals and monitor their achievement, or advise on the selection of products to focus on in particular parts of the season. Working together, we have managed to get retail sales into the black. Their contribution then matched that of wholesale.
We also successfully diversified sales between the B2C and B2B sector, which had been predominant until then. This reduced the company’s susceptibility to potential wholesale sales fluctuations.
These efforts paid off very quickly. In fact, mainly due to the war in Ukraine, which began in the second half of February 2022, the B2B sector experienced a significant downturn, bordering on a complete halt. If we hadn’t picked up retail before then, the company would have had to shut down production.
common success
Despite the fact that at the beginning of our cooperation BOHEMIA GLOVES was going through a very difficult period, thanks to exemplary cooperation accompanied by considerable effort we managed to overcome everything. According to the words of Mrs. Kesnerová, the situation has stabilized and the company is constantly receiving new orders from satisfied customers. Thanks to this, the company has the means to develop much-needed innovations that enrich its offer.
The company celebrated one of its major milestones in the summer of 2022, when, after months of preparation, it opened its first store with a showroom at an exclusive address near Prague’s Nový Smíchov shopping centre. There, interested parties can view selected samples of the range, as well as belts, handbags and other accessories that go with the gloves.
The successful cooperation between Four Bros and BOHEMIA GLOVES continues. We continue to manage performance campaigns, which we are constantly optimising to deliver the best possible results. We also meet regularly for strategic workshops to discuss next steps and think about where we will take the company in the near and distant future.
In this case, we have also confirmed that even if we are a small company with minimal sales at the beginning of the cooperation, if both parties communicate with each other and everything is done with thought and not just based on feelings, a long-term and prosperous cooperation can be created.
Petra Kesnerová, Owner, BOHEMIA GLOVES
At the beginning of my business, I had a naive idea that I could do everything myself, I didn’t study marketing for nothing… But after a few months of struggling with everything, I sobered up and it became clear that I couldn’t succeed online without a team of experts. In the fall of 2020 I met with Four Bros. It is no exaggeration to say that the day Mr. Rypar called me and explained that I had a lot of potential flowing through my fingers, he probably saved our brand and the glove industry.
It’s amazing to watch the competence of every member of their team. I am impressed with their responsible approach to the budgets entrusted to them, their professionalism, but at the same time the amazing friendly atmosphere that prevails during meetings and meetings. At the same time, our success and our ethics towards our customers come first. Every meeting is always as efficient as possible, with great preparation.
In an extremely short time, they were able to perceive the specifics of the craft and our complex situation and prepare the communication and campaigns so that our e-shop started working great from day to day.
For me personally, the fact that I sometimes feel that they would even breathe for our business and beyond the cooperation we get suggestions on how to develop and improve further is a clear proof that we are in the best hands.
If you are looking for a great team, reliability and professionalism along with a good group of people, I recommend Four Bros.
