All Case Studies

How Zone-Based Creative Optimization Increased Holiday ROAS up to

By simplifying visuals and aligning messaging to shopper mindset, American Greetings built a scalable creative playbook that improved salience, clarity, and conversion across retail placements.

Results

Increase in Target digital ROAS
+37%
Uplift in Target promotional ROAS
+8%
Improvement in Walmart in-aisle ROAS

Simplified visuals and context-aligned messaging improved clarity, increased salience, and drove stronger purchase action across seasonal campaigns.

The Problem

Holiday creatives were visually strong but lacked clarity and hierarchy across different shopper environments. Multiple messages, low contrast, and competing elements slowed decision-making and reduced conversion.

  • Crowded layouts diluted key messages
  • Weak contrast reduced visual salience
  • Small logos and hashtags distracted attention
  • Same creative used across different shopper zones
  • No consistent message hierarchy

Strong visibility but inconsistent conversion performance.

The Approach

1

Benchmarked and diagnosed creative

Analyzed 50+ assets across transition, impulse, and destination zones.

2

Built a shopper-zone playbook

Defined clear rules for message hierarchy, contrast, and focal points per zone.

3

Simplified and standardized layouts

Reduced clutter, prioritized offers, and improved readability.

4

Created scalable templates

Developed reusable retailer-specific creative templates for future campaigns.

What Changed

Before

  • Multiple competing messages per creative
  • Low contrast and busy layouts
  • Small secondary elements distracting attention
  • Same structure across all placements

After

  • One primary message per creative
  • High contrast and stronger negative space
  • Clear focal point and CTA hierarchy
  • Zone-specific creative structure
  • Reusable templates for consistency

Faster comprehension, stronger attention, and improved conversion performance across retailers.

Key Insights

Clarity drives conversion

One strong message outperforms multiple competing elements.

Design must match shopper mindset

Different zones require different message intensity and structure.

Contrast and negative space improve salience

Simple, high-contrast layouts capture attention faster.

Pre-launch validation scales performance

Standardized creative rules improve efficiency across campaigns.

See how optml predicts creative performance before launch

optml analyzes visual attention, context fit, and cognitive clarity to show what to fix before you spend budget.