Fastweb fires up its programmatic strategy to overcome lockdown

When Italy entered lockdown in March 2020, it was the first country in Europe to do so on a nationwide level. With brick-and-mortar stores closed, businesses had to scramble to move and enhance their online operations.

Fastweb, a leading telecom operator, knew it had to boost its online sales to counteract the effect of store closures. However, in order to do so, the company needed to understand the changes to consumer behavior that were playing out in real time.

Quantcast quickly sprang into action. At the time, the country was only one week into lockdown, yet significant shifts had already occurred. The consumer’s path-to-purchase had accelerated considerably, with a 27.5% decrease in average conversion time compared to pre-lockdown. Moreover, there was a 50+% surge in the number of customers being converted upon their first visit to Fastweb’s website.

Armed with these new insights, the Quantcast team adjusted Fastweb’s programmatic campaign, giving higher priority to prospecting rather than retargeting so as to broaden unique user reach. Additional analysis into ad creative and messaging revealed that audiences were more likely to engage with hybrid native creative compared to pre-lockdown. As a result, Quantcast’s Creative Services team helped Fastweb integrate hybrid native display banners into the campaign, drawing on the format’s visual appeal and deploying it across IAB-standard display inventory.

Thanks to Quantcast’s consumer insights and campaign optimization, Fastweb saw its online sales grow by 16%, with 52% of converted customers exposed to banner ads delivered by Quantcast. Moreover, CPS decreased by 14% over the campaign period, helping Fastweb realize effective digital advertising and overcome the challenges of this unprecedented period.