Case Study:
Digital Brand Transformation DEPOT

+240%

more engagement within 3 months

+63%

follower growth in the 18–34 target group in 6 months

+75%

Instagram follower

+320%

Client
DEPOT

Timeline
October 2018- March 2019

increase in ROI across the social media funnel

Here are the details

DEPOT, a well-established home & lifestyle brand with a strong offline presence across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, was facing a growing relevance gap with younger audiences online.
Content felt static, tone of voice too generic, and the visual identity lacked distinction.
Social media and the webshop were treated as catalog extensions — with no channel-specific strategy in place.

The Challenge

Objectives

1. Sharpen the brand identity in the digital space

2. Make the brand more modern, magnetic, and relevant

3. Build a brand & content strategy rooted in the company’s DNA

4. Create a consistent, recognizable digital look & feel

5. Increase reach, relevance & engagement on Instagram and Facebook

My Role

Strategic lead for the digital creative team (content & social)

Development of a new brand framework for digital storytelling

Visual & verbal repositioning on Instagram and Facebook

Management of external partners (agencies, creators, production)

How to fix this?

Solution & Implementation

1.
Strategic Foundation

  • Identified the target groups dreams and desires, their problems and visual style

  • Defined brand guidelines for visual storytelling, tone of voice & topics

  • Developed strategic content pillars to create clarity & structure

2.
Content System &
Channel Strategy

  • Built a strategic content calendar with a defined rhythm

  • Introduced new formats like challenges, behind the scenes, home trends, how-to’s

  • Implemented a hero/hub/help format logic

3.
Visual Refresh

  • Created moodboards and style guides for shoots and UGC

  • Onboarded new photographers and stylists

  • Upgraded the visual identity with elevated colors, fonts & layouts

4.
Team Enablement

  • Onboarded in-house teams to the new strategy & system

  • Ran alignment workshops to define shared goals

  • Supported the in-house studio setup and creative processes

  • Introduced more agile workflows for faster content creation

Results

  • +63% follower growth in the 18–34 target group

  • +240% engagement rate within 3 months

  • Instagram following grew from 80k to 140k within 6 months

  • Facebook following increased from 180k to 250k in the same period

  • +320% increase in ROI across the social media funnel

Learnings & Strategic Impact

  • Brand rejuvention requires time to get to know your target group

  • Communicate WITH them not to them

  • A clear content system empowers teams and fuels creative freedom

  • Platform-specific strategies do not conflict with brand consistency