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Linz-based paid media specialist smec takes on Google Ads management, AI search visibility and Marketing Mix Modeling on its own technology for ZGONC, the Austrian specialist retailer for tools, machinery, construction and garden equipment.
ZGONC, one of Austria’s best-known specialist retailers for tools, machinery and garden equipment since 1957, is now working with smec to further accelerate their ecommerce business. smec, the Austrian paid media and marketing technology company takes on a comprehensive agency mandate: full Google Ads management, Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) for AI search, and Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM). The goal is to significantly grow the online share of total revenue, invest marketing budgets even more precisely, and get ZGONC ready for AI-powered search.
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A brand all of Austria knows
“Raunz’ ned, kauf!”
Ask anyone in Austria to finish that sentence and they will. It’s dialect for “Stop moaning, just buy it”, and it has been the slogan of ZGONC, Austria’s tool and garden specialist, for decades.
The company now wants to turn that awareness into more online revenue, both in its webshop and in the places customers increasingly search for products: AI answers and assistants.
“Our customers have known ZGONC for decades from our flyers and TV ads. Now we want to reach them even better online, whether they search on Google or ask an AI assistan. In smec, we have a partner that combines data, technology and retail experience,” says Vanessa Koller, Head of Ecommerce Marketing at ZGONC.
AI Search, managed as one: paid and organic
Search is at the heart of the partnership. smec takes over ZGONC’s entire Google Ads management, from Search and Shopping to Google’s latest AI-powered search features.
In parallel, smec handles organic visibility in AI search. Using Generative Engine Optimization, the team monitors and improves how ZGONC and its products are presented and recommended in AI assistants’ answers.
Both sides sit with one team, one strategy and the same data foundation. That way, paid and organic visibility pull in the same direction instead of being optimized separately by two providers.
Marketing Mix Modeling on proprietary technology
To make sure every budget goes where it has the most impact, ZGONC relies on smec Marketing Mix Modeling. The in-house solution shows what each channel actually contributes to revenue, online and offline, independent of ad platform reporting.
The models are AI-powered, statistically validated and continuously tested through experiments. Scenarios make it possible to play through what a budget shift will deliver before it happens. For a retailer with a broad mix of traditional and digital channels, this is the foundation for allocating budgets based on what demonstrably works.
“ZGONC is a brand almost everyone in Austria grew up with. We’re delighted to support the company on its path to more online revenue,” says Marcel Verhofnik, Agency Lead at smec. “With our own Marketing Mix Modeling, we can see what each channel really delivers, online and offline. And because search increasingly runs through AI, we manage paid and organic visibility from a single source.”
About ZGONC
ZGONC is an Austrian specialist retailer for tools, machinery and garden equipment. The company was founded in Vienna in 1957 as a family business and built up by Peter ZGONC from 1959 onward. Today, ZGONC is a purely Austrian private company headquartered in Vienna, with stores across the country. It is known for its distinctive advertising: regular flyers, TV spots and slogans such as “Wenn er’s nur aushält, der ZGONC”, “Raunz’ ned, kauf!” and “Unerreicht in Österreich” (“Unmatched in Austria”), which have long since entered everyday Austrian speech.
About smec
smec helps brands and retailers turn paid media into profitable growth, online and in store. The company combines independent measurement, proprietary technology and almost two decades of retail experience in one partnership. One team manages all channels, from search and social to programmatic. Today, smec manages more than €620 million in annual ad spend for over 300 brands and retailers, including THG, Intersport, REWE, Snipes and Decathlon. Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Linz, smec has been a Google Premier Partner since 2016 and is a three-time Microsoft Retail Partner of the Year.
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