As they launched, workplace pension provider NEST, they faced the challenge of scaling their customer base from the ground up having not done any marketing at scale, therefore, having little knowledge about their target audience and how they were likely to engage with online advertising.

Based on our previous experiences in online advertising, we decided to work with illuma because we understood the limitations of traditional content and audience targeting. We set ambitious targets for the initial campaign based on what we had seen in previous roles.

Illuma exceeded all the targets we set with 80% of the allocated initial budget, at a cost-per-acquisition that was half the original target, and delivered 3x the volume we anticipated. Furthermore, the activity with illuma met the profitability targets that we needed to hit in order to grow the business.

One of the biggest successes was that internally we were able to validate the scientific, data-led approach and go back to the wider business and say “here’s the money we invested, and here’s what we delivered, and we can prove it”. Having those proof points helped establish marketing in the business and made people believe in a data-led, scientific approach to marketing.

Today, NEST has more than 6 million members, across more than half a million small businesses making them one of the largest pension schemes in the UK, if not Europe.

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