Overview

For a legacy footwear brand, the primary barrier to growth was a fragmented data landscape: digital teams optimized for clicks, while the business relied on distributor sales, with no clear link between the two. To solve this, we executed a complete infrastructure overhaul, building a centralized Unified Analytics Ecosystem on Google Cloud and Looker Studio to establish a reliable source of truth where none previously existed.

This new framework fused disparate data sources—including media delivery, eCommerce performance, and third-party location intelligence (Foursquare & Locala)—into a single, decision-ready view. This visibility allowed us to reverse a negative sales trend (-13% YoY) into massive growth (+73% YoY) by finally quantifying the "invisible" impact of digital media on physical retail.

Objective

From Siloed Data to Actionable Intelligence

Our mission was to aggressively modernize the brand’s marketing approach by solving a long-standing attribution challenge: connecting digital investment to real-world retail outcomes.

1. Build the Ecosystem: Construct a centralized analytics environment capable of fusing media, eCommerce, and offline attribution data to create a reliable measurement system where one did not previously exist.

2. Drive Demand via Insight: Leverage these new retail attribution metrics to optimize media in real-time, directly influencing consumer demand to strengthen B2B distributor engagement.

3. Segmented Execution: Execute a data-led split-funnel strategy, using psychographic insights to reintroduce the core brand to practical consumers while launching the remonte line to a distinct, younger audience.

Audience

Precision through Psychographics

We moved beyond basic demographics, utilizing Environics and GWI data to confirm that our two target segments required distinct analytical approaches:

• Rieker (Men & Women 40+): Identified as prioritizing "reliability and comfort." Data confirmed they spend heavily on Facebook/YouTube and prefer purchasing in-store at large retailers (e.g., Costco, Canadian Tire)

• remonte (Women 30–45): Identified as "mobile-dependent" and balancing careers with parenting. Data showed they rely on social for discovery and shop equally online and in-store.

Strategy

Building the Single Source of Truth

We engineered a measurement infrastructure that bridged the gap between digital metrics and physical sales:

Centralized Cloud Environment: We established a Google Cloud warehouse visualized by Looker Studio, consolidating all ad channel results and store visit data into one decision-ready dashboard.

Standardized Taxonomy: We implemented a rigorous campaign taxonomy across all platforms, ensuring data cleanliness and enabling apples-to-apples measurement across disparate channels.

Offline Attribution Integration: We integrated third-party location intelligence to close the loop. Foursquare (FSQ): Used to validate in-store visits resulting from Programmatic display and video. Locala: Used to measure incremental foot traffic lift (18.6%) resulting from Digital Out of Home (DOOH).

B2B Demand Signal: We introduced "online retail outbound clicks" as a new metric tracked in Google Analytics 4, giving us a live pulse on audience demand for local stores.

Geographic Prioritization: utilizing Environics psychographic clusters, we focused spend on high-efficiency geographies in select cities in Canada where retail activity was highest, ensuring every dollar was deployed based on data-verified potential.

The Data

Conclusion

This project achieved more than just a seasonal sales lift; it permanently solved the brand’s attribution blind spot. By replacing siloed reporting with a unified Google Cloud ecosystem, we have moved the organization from "gut feeling" to granular certainty. Rieker Canada now possesses a scalable data infrastructure that ensures every future marketing dollar is invested with verified, real-world intelligence.