Mackintosh: Data-Led International Growth for a Luxury Outerwear Brand

Overview

Mackintosh is one of the world’s most recognisable luxury outerwear brands, known for its handmade raincoats, rubberised coats and enduring commitment to traditional craftsmanship.

Operating in a highly competitive global luxury fashion market, Mackintosh required a marketing strategy that could support international growth while protecting the integrity of the brand. The challenge was not simply to increase traffic, but to attract the right traffic, in the right regions, at the right time of year.

Dancing Badger worked with Mackintosh across Growth Strategy, SEO, PPC, Data Analysis and Insights. The focus was on using deeper commercial insight to understand keyword demand, competitor positioning, seasonality and product performance across key markets.

Within the first full financial year, this data-led approach helped deliver strong international growth, including an 80% increase in the EU and a 45% increase in the US. Search traffic also grew by 32%, with a clear shift away from a heavy reliance on branded search traffic towards a broader mix of unbranded luxury outerwear searches.

The Client

Mackintosh is a luxury outerwear brand with a heritage rooted in traditional coat making. The brand is internationally known for its rubberised coats, raincoats and weatherproof outerwear, combining timeless design with specialist craftsmanship.

With a premium product range and a strong international customer base, Mackintosh operates in a market where brand trust, product relevance, seasonality and regional demand all play an important role in performance.

For a brand with such established recognition, the opportunity was not only to capture existing brand demand, but to build stronger visibility across broader luxury outerwear searches.

The Challenge

When Dancing Badger began working with Mackintosh, a significant proportion of organic search traffic was dependent on brand-specific searches. Approximately 97% of search traffic was coming from users already searching for Mackintosh by name or using brand-related terms.

While this showed strong brand awareness, it also highlighted a clear opportunity. Mackintosh had the authority, product quality and heritage to compete more strongly across unbranded search terms such as luxury coats, luxury raincoats, rubberised coats and premium outerwear.

The challenge was to build a strategy that could:

• Increase international sales performance
• Grow visibility in the EU and US markets
• Reduce reliance on brand-only search traffic
• Identify high-value unbranded keyword opportunities
• Understand regional product demand
• Align marketing activity with seasonality
• Improve paid media efficiency and ROAS
• Ensure the right products were being marketed in the right regions
• Maximise revenue return from SEO and PPC activity

This required a joined-up approach across data, SEO, PPC and commercial planning.

Our Role

Dancing Badger supported Mackintosh with a strategy built around insight, market understanding and measurable performance.

SEO Consultancy

SEO consultancy played a central role in identifying new areas of organic growth.

Rather than focusing only on brand terms, Dancing Badger carried out detailed keyword and competitor analysis to understand where Mackintosh could increase visibility across unbranded luxury outerwear searches.

This included reviewing search demand around luxury coats, raincoats, waterproof outerwear and seasonal product categories. By identifying where customers were searching without using the Mackintosh name, we were able to highlight opportunities to reach new audiences earlier in the buying journey.

The SEO strategy focused on improving visibility for commercially relevant, unbranded search terms while still protecting strong performance across branded search.

This had a direct impact on the balance of organic search traffic. Previously, 97% of search traffic relied on brand-specific mentions. After the first year, this has now reduced to 78%, meaning unbranded search now makes up a much stronger share of overall search visibility.

At the same time, total search traffic increased by 32%, demonstrating that Mackintosh was not simply replacing one type of traffic with another. The brand was growing its overall search presence while becoming less dependent on existing brand awareness.

PPC: Google Ads

Paid search activity was focused on improving return and ensuring budget was allocated to the regions, products and campaigns most likely to deliver commercial value.

For a luxury outerwear brand, PPC performance depends heavily on intent, seasonality and product relevance. A waterproof coat or raincoat may perform differently across regions depending on climate, time of year, customer behaviour and competitive demand.

Dancing Badger used data analysis to ensure that paid media activity was aligned with market opportunity. This meant reviewing which products should be promoted in which regions, when demand was likely to increase, and where spend could produce the strongest sales return.

This more focused approach helped improve ROAS on PPC spend, with performance outperforming original targets.

Growth Strategy

The wider growth strategy was built around international performance.

Mackintosh had clear opportunities across both the EU and US markets, but each region required its own understanding of search behaviour, product demand and seasonality.

The strategy looked beyond campaign management and focused on how marketing activity could support wider commercial growth. This included analysing market demand, identifying product priorities, reviewing competitor visibility and understanding where Mackintosh could increase share across high-value search categories.

Within the first full financial year, this approach helped deliver 80% growth in the EU and 45% growth in the US.

Data Analysis & Insights

Data was central to the strategy.

Dancing Badger used detailed analysis to understand how customers were finding Mackintosh, which markets were showing the strongest growth potential, which keywords were driving visibility, and where competitors were gaining traction.

This included:

• Keyword performance analysis
• Competitor research
• Search traffic analysis
• Branded vs unbranded traffic review
• Regional performance analysis
• Product-level insight
• Seasonality planning
• PPC return analysis
• Market demand review
• Commercial opportunity mapping

This level of insight allowed the marketing strategy to be more precise. Instead of applying the same approach across every market, activity could be tailored based on where demand existed and where Mackintosh had the greatest opportunity to increase sales.

The Approach

The continued success of the project came from connecting SEO, PPC and data analysis through a shared commercial strategy.

For Mackintosh, growth was not about increasing traffic at any cost. It was about attracting the right customers and ensuring that marketing investment supported profitable sales growth.

The approach focused on understanding what people were searching for, where they were searching from, which products were most relevant to each market and how seasonal demand affected buying behaviour.

This insight allowed activity to be planned more intelligently. SEO recommendations were shaped by real keyword opportunity and competitor analysis. PPC campaigns were reviewed against sales return and regional demand. Product focus was aligned with the markets most likely to convert.

By bringing these elements together, Dancing Badger helped Mackintosh move from a heavily brand-led search position towards a broader international growth strategy.

Results

Within the first full financial year, Mackintosh achieved strong growth across key international markets.

Key Outcomes

• 80% growth in the EU
• 45% growth in the US
• 32% uplift in overall search traffic
• Brand-specific reliance reduced from 97% of search traffic to 78%
• Unbranded search visibility increased significantly
• Stronger visibility across luxury coats and raincoats
• PPC ROAS improved and outperformed original targets
• Product marketing became more closely aligned with regional demand
• Seasonality was used more effectively to support sales planning
• Data insight directly informed SEO, PPC and growth strategy

Growing International Sales

One of the most important outcomes was the level of growth achieved across international markets.

The EU saw growth of 80% within the first full financial year, while the US achieved growth of 45%. These results were supported by a more detailed understanding of regional demand and a clearer focus on which products should be marketed in each region.

Rather than treating international activity as one broad campaign, the strategy focused on market-specific opportunity. This allowed Mackintosh to improve performance in priority regions while maintaining a premium, brand-led approach.

Reducing Reliance on Brand Search

A key SEO success was reducing reliance on brand-specific search traffic.

Before the strategy was implemented, 97% of search traffic was linked to brand-specific mentions. This meant Mackintosh was capturing demand from users who already knew the brand, but had less visibility among customers searching more generally for luxury coats, raincoats and premium outerwear.

Through SEO consultancy, keyword research and competitor analysis, Dancing Badger identified opportunities to grow unbranded visibility.

Brand-led search traffic now accounts for 78% of search traffic, creating a healthier balance between existing brand demand and new customer discovery. At the same time, overall search traffic has increased by 32%, showing that this shift has contributed to wider organic growth.

Improving Paid Media Return

PPC activity also delivered stronger performance.

By reviewing spend against product demand, regional performance and seasonal trends, Dancing Badger was able to help improve ROAS on PPC spend. Campaigns were shaped around commercial opportunity rather than generic traffic growth.

This ensured that paid activity was focused on the products and regions most likely to generate a strong return, helping Mackintosh outperform original ROAS targets.

A Data-Led Partnership

The Mackintosh project demonstrates the value of combining data insight with specialist digital marketing expertise.

For a luxury brand, marketing performance depends on more than visibility alone. It requires an understanding of the customer journey, product desirability, seasonality, competitor activity and regional buying behaviour.

Dancing Badger’s role was to bring these insights together and turn them into a clear marketing strategy. This allowed Mackintosh to make more informed decisions about SEO, PPC and international growth.

Conclusion

Mackintosh is a strong example of how a heritage luxury brand can use data-led marketing to support international growth.

By combining SEO consultancy, PPC strategy, competitor analysis, seasonality planning and regional product insight, Dancing Badger helped Mackintosh achieve significant growth within the first full financial year.

The results included 80% growth in the EU, 45% growth in the US, a 32% uplift in overall search traffic and a clear reduction in reliance on brand-specific search traffic.

Most importantly, the strategy helped Mackintosh reach more customers searching for luxury coats, raincoats and premium outerwear without compromising the brand’s heritage positioning.

Through a focused, data-led approach, Dancing Badger helped turn search visibility and paid media investment into measurable international sales growth.