October 2025

Vera Wang

Thoroughbrand Digital Limited

01

Project summary

Overview

We are preparing to launch a new premium womenswear brand that includes ready-to-wear, denim, and athleisure collections. The line will be sold via our own eCommerce platform and in top-tier fashion retailers across the UK and EU.

This is a startup venture within an established U.S. luxury brand, known globally for its bridal and high-end occasionwear. This ready-to-wear line is a licensed tier of the brand, designed to extend its fashion authority and accessibility while retaining premium positioning.

Objectives

Launch the brand digitally in Q4 2025 across UK and EU markets but planning teaser campaigns with hero products from Nov 2025.
Drive £2M+ in direct-to-consumer (DTC) revenue within Year 1
Build and scale a paid media strategy that drives brand awareness, traffic, and sales from launch
Achieve a target ROAS of x6–x8 on paid media spend

What We’re Looking For

We are seeking a performance marketing agency with deep expertise in paid search and paid social, and a proven ability to launch and scale ambitious ecommerce brands.

You will act as a strategic growth partner, working closely with our in-house team to define and execute a high-performance digital strategy across core channels including:

Paid Social (Meta, TikTok, Pinterest, YouTube) – exact channels tbc
Paid Search & Shopping (Google, Bing)
Display and Retargeting
Upper funnel strategy and audience building

We will provide all creative assets, brand direction, and campaign messaging, and expect you to handle strategy, media planning, execution, and performance optimization. We will have a strong ecommerce ops & dev team to optimise the website and support the agency

Deliverables

Go-to-market paid media launch strategy (UK & EU)
Channel mix recommendations and phased scaling plan
Budget and ROI modelling
Daily/weekly optimisation and performance management
Advanced audience segmentation and creative testing roadmap
Transparent reporting and actionable insights
Regular strategic review meetings and comms with our team

02

Who we are

Experience is everything

Thoroughbrand is a boutique “anti-agency” delivering big-agency digital strategy and experience without the overhead or bureaucracy. We’re a nimble collective of senior-level specialists who design tailored marketing programs built on research, data, and experience—from in-depth audits and brand listening to SEO, paid media, and analytics.

At our core is PAIR™—Precision Audience Identification & Resonance—which aligns personas, behaviour, and platform to eliminate wasted spend and amplify ROI. We’ve helped brands like lopay and leading healthcare organizations achieve rapid results, including 32% app adoption in 90 days and breakout returns in competitive digital landscapes

Michelle Viar

Managing Director
16 years’ experience

A. Chris Turner

Strategic & Operations Director
16 years’ experience

Lee Grant

Lead Developer
14 years’ experience

Lukus Blackford

Paid Media Strategist 15 years’ experience

03

Our approach

Audience First

At Thoroughbrand, we are proudly audience-first.

Before media is planned or ads and landing environments are produced, we begin with a forensic understanding of who the audience really is — their motivations, affinities, behaviours, and moments of purchase intent. Through our proprietary, trademarked PAIR™ process (Precision Audience Identification & Resonance), we identify not just demographics, but psychographics — what they believe in, what they buy, and where they spend their time.

We map brand affinities (such as fashion, beauty, wellness, or lifestyle brands they already trust) to shape lookalike and interest-based targeting. We layer this with behavioural cues — from time-of-day patterns to device preference and platform-specific actions — to inform both media placement and message sequencing. The result? Less spend, fewer wasted impressions, and significantly higher-value outcomes — from stronger conversion rates to more valuable shopping baskets.

Our process doesn’t just reach the right people — it speaks to them, in the right place, at the right moment.

Establish our target consumers by segmenting them into personas, along with potential fashion brand affinities, something like this.

Target Audience Personas

Persona	Age	Key Traits	Brands They Buy
Modern Muse	28 - 40	Urban, hybrid worker, art/fashion-inclined	COS, Reformation, The Frankie Shop
Conscious Minimalist	30 - 45	Eco-aware, loyal to quiet luxury	Totême, Sézane, ARKET, Everlane
Digital Dresser	25 - 35	Trend-savvy, online-native, video-first	Ganni, Rotate, H&M Premium
Fashion Curator	35 - 50	Editorial eye, collector of elevated style	Khaite, Marni, The Outnet, Loewe

And then start to look at how we can best expand on our strengths versus our competitors perceived weaknesses

Competitive SWOT

Competitor	Strengths	Weaknesses	Opportunity for Vera Wang
COS	Broad reach + quiet luxury aesthetic Business Insider Fashion	Seen as basic; lacks designer cache	Elevate luxury storytelling beyond "affordable minimalism"
Totême	Elevated style; quiet luxury appeal	Smaller scale; steep price	Expand distribution and inject global brand narrative
Ganni	Trend-driven youth appeal	Lacks timeless sophistication	Offer editorial design without compromising style edge
Rotate	Occasion-responsive design	Limited everyday wear	Blend runway versatility with everyday functionality

But of course we cannot focus only on fashion brand affinities to fill in the full picture of our target audiences, so we would also need to look at market-adjacent brand affinities

Affinity Brand Landscape (Fashion & Lifestyle)

Core Affinity Brands: COS, Totême, Sézane, Ganni, Rotate, Reformation
Complementary Lifestyle Brands:
- Skincare: Augustinus Bader, The Ordinary (varies by persona)
- Wellness: Hermosa, Form Nutrition
- Fashion Retailers: Net-a-Porter, The Outnet, Ssense
- Footwear: Aeyde, New Balance 550 (lifestyle lean), Vagabond Shoemakers
- Travel: Away, Cuyana

And as we are looking at the UK + EU countries, we need to consider the fashion brands with whom we would like to compete in those territories, which might look something like this

Country	Key Competitors
UK	'Reformation', 'COS', 'Totême', 'Sezane'
France	'Sandro', 'Maje', 'Isabel Marant Étoile', 'Sezane'
Germany	'COS', 'Arket', 'Totême', "Marc O'Polo"
Italy	'Pinko', 'Patrizia Pepe', 'Sandro', 'Motivi'
Spain	'Massimo Dutti', 'Uterqüe', 'Bimba y Lola', 'Sandro'
Netherlands	'Scotch & Soda', 'Arket', 'Sezane', 'Ganni'
Sweden	'Filippa K', 'Totême', 'COS', 'Arket'
Denmark	'Ganni', 'Baum und Pferdgarten', 'Stine Goya', 'Totême'
Belgium	'Essentiel Antwerp', 'Sezane', 'COS', 'Massimo Dutti'
Austria	'Lena Hoschek', 'COS', 'Arket', 'Wolford'
Ireland	'Reformation', 'Sezane', 'COS', '& Other Stories'
Switzerland	'Akris', 'Ba&sh', 'Sandro', 'COS'
Norway	'Holzweiler', 'Ganni', 'Envelope 1976', 'Totême'
Finland	'Marimekko', 'Arket', 'Totême', 'COS'
Portugal	'Bimba y Lola', 'Massimo Dutti', 'Sezane', '& Other Stories'
Poland	'Reserved', 'Mohito', 'Sinsay', 'Zara'

Which also leads us to existing brand awareness, and how conversion efforts may need to be balanced with overall awareness efforts in some countries

Brand Awareness (Qualitative Summary by Country)

Country	Vera Wang Awareness	Competitor Context	Implication
UK	Moderate–High	COS (strong), Totême (moderate), Ganni (high)	Leverage legacy + bridal familiarity
Germany	Moderate	COS (dominant), Totême (niche)	Performance media critical
France	Moderate–High	Ganni and Totême strong in press	Paris showroom or PR is essential

Then evaluate potential and barriers for each market, and the respective, resultant strategy and tactics for each

Which also leads us to existing brand awareness, and how conversion efforts may need to be balanced with overall awareness efforts in some countries

Strategy Implications

Awareness Lift – Investment in UK + France key to matching or surpassing Totême/Ganni following Fashion Week showrooms.
Positioning Gap – Emphasize editorial luxury with styling workshops, showroom dressing rooms, DTC storytelling.
Search Vorteil – Focus Google ads on “Vera Wang ready‑to‑wear UK” and “designer denim Europe” vs. generic “COS” searches.
Creative Narrative – “Elevated, wardrobing with ease” vs. “quiet simplicity” (COS) or “youthful play” (Ganni).

04

Pre-launch, Timeline, Plans & Budgets

Ideally, we would warm the market and create anticipation around the launch of the range

Timeline & Rollout

Teaser Campaign (Nov–Dec 2025):
Showcase tailored hero pieces in digital lookbooks and Instagram Story content, focusing on editorial styling for the Modern Muse and Digital Dresser.

Full Launch (Jan 2026):
Launch across all channels with personas front and center—focusing on editorial visuals styled for accessible daily wear.

Launch GANTT Timeline (Nov 2025 – Q2 2026)

Our general path to launch, post-launch, and ongoing evaluation and analysis would be presented as part of the full strategy

The broad channel plan for each phase of pre-launch through post-launch should be intention, awareness, timing, and target specific

Channels by Phase

Pre-launch phase (Q4 2025): Heavier on YouTube, Pinterest, TikTok & Instagram for editorial build-up.
Launch (Q1 2026): Boost Meta with awareness (for unknowns) + conversion tactics (for knowns), Google, and retargeting heavily.
Post-launch scaling: Optimise into highest ROAS channels based on persona results.

Assumptions

🎯 Target ROAS: 6x to 8x
📉 Ad Spend Range Needed:
- At 6x ROAS → €333,000
- At 8x ROAS → €250,000

To stay ambitious but ROI-conscious, we’ll base this on €275,000 total ad spend for Year 1.

Recommended Digital Media Spend by Channel (Year 1)

Channel	% Allocation	Spend	Spend (€)
Meta (IG + Facebook)	35%	€96,250	Awareness, conversion, retargeting
Google Search + PMax	25%	€68,750	High-intent capture, branded/non-brand search
TikTok	15%	€41,250	Trend entry, storytelling, product culture
Pinterest Ads	10%	€27,500	Upper funnel inspiration, evergreen content
YouTube Shorts	5%	€13,750	Brand storytelling & editorial content
Programmatic/Display	5%	€13,750	Retargeting and awareness lift
Total	100%	€275,000

Both the budget as well as the compensation are based on cost assumptions as below, and are centered around a CAC estimate of around £40

Vera Wang Contemporary Line — Unit Economics (Per Order)

Metric	Value
Average Order Value	£295
Gross Margin (after COGS)	65%
Returns Rate	20%
Net Revenue (after returns)	£236
Gross Profit	£153.40
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)	£40
Fulfilment Cost	£15
Ops/Overhead per Order	£20
Net Profit (per order)	£78.40
Net Profit Margin	26.6%

05

Reporting

Reporting Dashboard: Summary

Combining multiple data points across the marketing channels, website tracking (GA4), pixels, events, and landing page engagement, our reporting dashboard gives our clients and our teams a central reporting dashboard to reference when reviewing data.

We also use the dashboard to produce monthly reports, online and as a PDF.

With our custom reporting, we can make updates, edits and changes to the report as needed to align with any additional data points needed that are accessible.

All the data points and KPIs are determined collectively and support data transparency as well as alignment. This report’s monthly summary will be updated during the first weeks of each month.

Reporting Dashboard: Example

06

Fee structure

Assumptions Recap:

Target Year 1 Revenue: £2,000,000
Average Order Value: £250
Estimated Orders in Year 1: £2,000,000 / £250 = 8,000 orders
Estimated Net Profit per Order: £55
Total Net Profit Potential: 8,000 × £55 = £440,000 net profit in Year 1

Recommended Compensation Structure:

1. Base Retainer (Monthly)

As we will provide full strategy, media planning, execution, and optimisations across multiple countries and channels.

Proposed Fee: £5,000–£7,000/month
Justification: Covers senior strategy, paid media experts, reporting, international complexity
Annual Base Total: £72,000–£96,000

This keeps base fees at 16–22% of net profit, which is healthy in fashion eCommerce (benchmark: 15–25%).

2. KPI-Based Bonus Structure

A tiered ROAS performance bonus:

For example, if we charge £5,500/month and deliver 7.5x ROAS, we would earn a £1,100 performance bonus that month.

Achieved ROAS (Monthly Avg)	Bonus (% of Monthly Fee)
< 5.9x	0%
6.0x – 6.9x	+10%
7.0x – 7.9x	+20%
8.0x+	+30%

Optional Add-Ons

Service	Optional Fee
Quarterly CRO Audits and adjustments	+£2,000/qtr
Creative Testing Playbooks	+£1,500/month
Ongoing SEO/Marketing specific SEO	+£500–£1,000/market/mo

07

A fashion case study

Global Luxury Retailer

The challenge:

A hugely successful global luxury retailer needed to entirely overhaul their paid social activity.

How their ‘browsers’ instead of ‘buyers’ approach was hurting them in real terms:

Online sales to men have fallen 18% in 2 years
Women in the age groups 35-44, 25-34, and 45-54 have fallen, on average, more than 30%. Interestingly, these groups have been lost from near markets such as France and Germany, but also the UK and US
The US has grown as a market, as has the UK, but South Korea – once the second largest market, has fallen by almost 30%, Hong Kong by more than 40%, while China has remained flat. And though Japan has grown, the gains do not offset the losses of South Korea and Hong Kong
Though Middle Eastern countries do not represent the level of revenue of the UK, US, or near markets, those who visit London from the region cannot be overlooked for their contribution while in-country

How does poor or no targeting impact your success?

In practical ways such as wasting money targeting people not interested in your good or services
Eg targeting entire countries instead of post codes, all ages instead of specific, all income levels instead of the most likely to buy from you
Not targeting the most likely to convert audiences at the right time of day/day of week, on the right platform, with the right tone of voice or message, thereby either missing them altogether, or alienating them with your messaging
Tailoring your creative to the entirely wrong audience which alienates the ‘buyers’ while garnering more ‘browsers’
It disables you from retargeting the best audiences effectively because you do not understand what resonates and motivates each member of your audience to convert
And good targeting helps you find and refine your audience, whilst building more data around your audience

So how did we approach this?

By looking at the client’s own data for insights as to who had bought historically and when the respective demographic shifts had begun
By using our third party data platforms to closely examine the conversation around the luxury goods and brands our client sells, who is discussing them as covetable vs. those discussing them as first person ‘bought,’ ‘am buying,’ ‘am considering’
Both in the effort to begin to build a profile of who the most ideal target audience or audiences are likely to be

Once we have narrowed down the prime audience(s) within owned data and identified the conversion conversation elsewhere online, we being to build a composite of who it is we want to target
Once we have done that, trends begin to emerge with regard to not only their demographics, but the conversations they have, where they have them, what time of day/day of week they are most likely to be browsing online, as well as the other content they consume, and what is important to them in a brand, all of which helps us to create the perfect tone, content, and tactical targeting plan

We found 6 different personas which were of high enough value to be treated as separate targeting segments

We prioritised them based on:

The audience with the highest number seen engaging online with the client
The audience with the greatest conversion rate
The audience with the highest average basket value
The audience with the highest average annual value – or potential value – of each persona to the client

Audience research

The results

By identifying the personas and implementing them as target audiences for the campaigns, ThB delivered unprecedented results for the client.

79% increase in AOV and 6.5x ROAS across paid social across all key markets.