Overview
A UK premium skincare brand had been on Amazon UK for several years. The account was mid-scale and well-established in its category but underperforming relative to the brand's DTC strength and category share elsewhere.
The previous agency had been managing the account at acceptable but unimpressive metrics. TACOS was 25.7 percent. ACOS was 67.8 percent. Revenue was growing in single digits year over year. The brand owner felt the account was capable of more but couldn't articulate exactly what was missing.
Over 18 months, the account scaled from £144,437 in total revenue during H1 2023 to £371,845 in total revenue during H1 2025, a 2.6x increase across comparable 6-month periods. TACOS improved from 25.7 percent to 16.8 percent and ACOS from 67.8 percent to 41.6 percent. Growth and efficiency moved together, which is rare in mature account scaling.
This case study is about scaling a mature account through structural campaign rebuild rather than spend increase. The total ad budget at the end of the engagement was meaningfully lower as a percentage of revenue than at the start.
Where the account was
Established UK skincare brand. Category presence in premium skincare for several years. Catalog of approximately 22 active SKUs across multiple product lines (cleansers, treatments, moisturizers, sun protection).
Revenue in H1 2023 totaled £144,437 across six months. TACOS was 25.72 percent. ACOS was 67.8 percent. Conversion rate was acceptable for the category. Reviews and ranking on top SKUs were strong. The infrastructure was sound.
The previous agency was running roughly 50 active campaigns across the account. Most were in a single portfolio. Branded and non-branded were mixed. Auto and manual campaigns had similar budgets despite very different ROAS profiles. The account was running, just not optimized.
What was broken
The diagnostic surfaced three primary issues.
- Campaign sprawl without segmentation. Fifty active campaigns. No portfolio structure. No clear hierarchy of campaign role (defense, acquisition, scaling, discovery). The data was unanalyzable at intent level because nothing was sorted that way.
- Branded vs non-branded ratio was inverted. Branded campaigns were under-funded relative to their ROAS. Non-branded campaigns were over-funded relative to their efficiency. The marginal pound of spend was going to the wrong place.
- No event pacing discipline. Prime Day, Black Friday, and category seasonal moments were managed reactively. No pre-event ramp, no post-event recovery plan. The events were profitable in raw terms but cost more than they should have.
What we changed
Account prioritization and structural redesign
Defined a clear product and range priority list to align investment with potential. Rebuilt the campaign architecture with objective-based segmentation: Ranking campaigns to boost organic placement on generic keywords, Conversion-focused campaigns to maximize ROAS, Branded campaigns (SP + SB) for defense and high-converting traffic, Research campaigns with low-bid broad match and auto targeting, and Competitor targeting for share-stealing and high-intent discovery.
Consolidated 50 active campaigns down to a manageable count across these intent buckets. The portfolio structure made every subsequent diagnostic possible.
Budget optimization and efficiency control
Aggressively cut spend from poorly converting keywords. Scaled investment in high-return, proven keywords. Deployed cost-controlled awareness campaigns to drive New-to-Brand orders. Focused on improving TACOS at the Parent ASIN level to influence overall efficiency.
The reallocation of spend toward higher-ROAS portfolios drove the ACOS improvement from 67.8 percent to 41.6 percent without revenue declining.
Listing improvements and creative integration
Enhanced PDPs with bullet points, A+ content, and image optimizations. Merged duplicate listings to consolidate reviews and organic ranking. Launched Sponsored Brand Videos and SB Product Collection creatives for awareness, storytelling, and branded traffic capture.
H1 2023 vs H1 2025 comparison
H1 2023 vs H1 2025 metric comparison. Revenue grew 2.6x across comparable 6-month periods while both TACOS and ACOS improved substantially. Growth and efficiency moved together.
The H1 2023 vs H1 2025 comparison is the cleanest read on the engagement. Revenue more than doubled across two comparable six-month windows while both efficiency metrics improved. That combination is rare in mature account scaling.
Summary metrics
Comparable 6-month periods, H1 2023 and H1 2025. All figures excluding VAT.
| Metric | H1 2023 | H1 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Revenue | £144,437 | £371,845 | 2.6x |
| TACOS | 25.72% | 16.8% | -8.9pts |
| ACOS | 67.80% | 41.6% | -26.2pts |
| Ad sales contribution | – | 33.7% | – |
| Period | 6 months | 6 months | – |
Results
- Revenue grew 2.6x across comparable 6-month periods (£144,437 in H1 2023 to £371,845 in H1 2025)
- TACOS improved from 25.7 percent to 16.8 percent (8.9 percentage point reduction)
- ACOS improved from 67.8 percent to 41.6 percent (26.2 percentage point reduction)
- Ad sales contribution reached 33.7 percent while maintaining strong organic performance
- Increased ad efficiency and profitability across all top ASINs
- Active campaign count reduced approximately 44 percent through consolidation
What we learned
Mature account scaling is structural, not budgetary. Adding more spend to an unstructured account amplifies the inefficiency rather than the revenue.
Campaign count is a vanity metric. The agencies that report on number of campaigns are signaling effort, not effectiveness. Most accounts run too many campaigns and most can consolidate by 30-50 percent without losing coverage.
Portfolio structure is the single highest-ROI structural fix on any mature account. The diagnostic absence below it makes every other analysis partial.
Event pacing discipline produces compounding gains. Reactive event management leaves money on the table on both sides of the event (pre-ramp inefficiency and post-event drag).
Branded defense is typically the cheapest revenue in any mature account. Most agencies under-fund it because the growth story isn't as compelling as new customer acquisition. The math usually favors the defensive layer.
Detailed monthly performance data is available on request to qualified prospects.