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Razorfish has handled HSN’s display and paid social advertising since last year and is now taking on the client’s search work. While the brand’s SEM budget wasn’t disclosed, such accounts typically range anywhere between $5 million and $20 million, per sources.
The relationship kicked off last month when HSN (also known as the Home Shopping Network) parted ways with iCrossing, which had been the brand’s search agency since 2009. While the review was competitive, HSN wouldn’t disclose other contenders.
Razorfish now has the lion’s share of the St. Petersburg, Fla.-based retail company’s digital work outside of email. HSN, which does its organic social work in-house, relies on SEM to drive traffic to an HSN.com property that was redesigned by the New York digital shop in 2011.
"[Razorfish] has a deep knowledge of our brand, which was important to us when putting our search work out there," Annemarie Frank, VP of digital at HSN, told Adweek. "They’ve worked in all areas of our business to create a holistic experience across digital properties. That was definitely very appealing to us."
Shannon Denton, Razorfish’s North American CEO, said search marketing efforts sometimes don’t get enough attention because they are so technical and lack the buzz of social media plays.
"For an e-commerce company that does a lot of online sales like HSN, search is big," Denton said. "There’s no doubt it gets a lot of the budget. It’s straightforward to show the relationship between clicks and purchases."
