Case Reima:
How does the Finnish legacy brand conquer the U.S. - one state at the time?
How can a Finnish brand succeed in the biggest global winter apparel market on a limited budget? The secret lies in data driven marketing creating awareness and desire - one State at the time. Can you imagine growing up to 1000% in revenue in 3 weeks? Well we did just that. Here is how:
Starting point & the Challenge
Every Finn knows Reima brand. This company has been weatherproofing Finnish kids since 1944. But in U.S. Reima is still the new kid around the block. Business growth in the biggest consumer market doesn’t come easy and getting attention comes with a heavy price tag.
So, how can a brand with a modest budget make a big impact and achieve rapid growth in the U.S.?
Strategy:
Picking the right data = key to success
Heatmap of Reima purchases by the State 2024
Identifying the purchase barrier
We identified a key challenge: according to the search & purchase data, Reima has the biggest brand awareness and purchase volume in New York, but remains largely unknown in most of the States across the U.S. To overcome this, we needed to pinpoint the states where Reima had the highest potential for success but still lacked brand awareness and revenue.
Data driven insights
With the vast size and diversity of the U.S. market, we began by mapping Reima’s sales and customer data across states and seasons. We also factored in key purchase drivers for a premium brand like Reima, including wealth, cost of living, and local weather —crucial for a test during the peak winter apparel season. The result? The District of Columbia and Delaware emerged as prime candidates, combining strong market potential with the right size for impactful growth.
The Marketing Approach
After selecting the test markets, it was time to launch our campaign. You might think we dived all in with performance marketing to maximise the results? NO. We took a different route. Instead of relying solely on tactical, short-term sales-driven efforts, our strategy blended brand awareness with consideration. Research into the Attention Economy and IPA databank showed that a more holistic approach would not only boost brand recognition, but also drive sustainable sales and most profitable growth over time.
TVScientific platform’s report on performance per target group
Our goal was simple: to reach the right audience on the biggest screens, delivering high-impact ads with maximum effectiveness.
We selected our top-performing creatives from the Winter 24 campaigns, based on view rates, traffic, and ROAS. Notably, none of the materials featured discounts or sales—just pure, compelling branding that showcased the Reima world and products.
We chose channels and formats designed to capture prolonged attention, like YouTube and TV streaming platform TVScientific. We then focused on target groups that had delivered the best ROAS and viewthrough rates in past campaigns. For example we noticed that surprisingly the best performing TVScientific target group was not the custom audience based on our loyalty program or even parents - it was the high-net-worth individuals.
Our best performing video ad during the campaign.
The Results
First, we measured the campaign’s impact on brand awareness and interest by tracking Google brand term searches. The results spoke for themselves: while brand searches across the U.S. typically dipped after major shopping events, our pilot markets—especially D.C.—saw a dramatic surge, both during and long after the campaign.
Our test campaign ran right after the busiest shopping period of the year—Black Friday and Cyber Monday. While Reima brand searches were declining nationwide, our test markets defied the trend, with searches in D.C. skyrocketing!
The test States Delaware and D.C and the whole U.S. as a comparison. Timeframe 1 before the campaign, 2. during the campaign, 3. after the campaign.
90 day search trend on Reima brand word.
So, how about those sales? We didn’t expect a major sales spike during the campaign itself, as brand awareness typically yields longer-term results. But thanks to our data-driven approach and precise targeting of test markets, the results were extraordinary. In just three weeks, sales in D.C. soared over 500%, and in Delaware, they skyrocketed by over 1000% compared to last year—while U.S. sales as a whole grew by 94%.
What’s even more impressive? The real breakthrough came after the campaign. In the following month, our sales remained up by over 400%, while the general market only grew by 22%. Typically, performance marketing results drop off as soon as the campaign ends, but by focusing on brand-building, we’re able to sustain growth—even between campaign periods.
Next steps
Following the test campaign, Reima will leverage these insights to strategically allocate its awareness budget, maximizing growth not only in the U.S., but also in large key markets like Germany and Poland.
Some budget from performance level will be re-allocated to the top funnel to ensure the attention - and purchases - of the future Reima Friends.