Team Lewis x Paulmann: German lighting brand lights up the French market thanks to influencer marketing

The mission: Step out of obscurity and into the limelight

If you've ever been to Leroy Merlin or BHV, chances are you've come across Paulmann lighting fixtures without necessarily remembering the name. And that's precisely the brand's problem. Well known in Germany, the brand suffered from a lack of awareness in France, despite a solid presence in retail stores. The challenge was clear: make Paulmann a brand that shines in the world of decoration, DIY and lifestyle, while maintaining a focus on design, technology and product quality.

• Introduce the brand to the general public
• Reach a more masculine and older target audience
• Generate traffic to stores
• And above all, breathe life into products that are sometimes perceived as purely technical.

An influencer approach designed to boost image and performance

To boost Paulmann's visibility and brand image in the lifestyle and renovation segment, we worked together to develop a tailor-made influencer strategy.

Initially, the brand wanted to focus on male profiles aged over 30, mainly on YouTube, in order to highlight the installation and technical aspects of the products. As a consulting agency, Team Lewis proposed a broader approach, combining educational and detailed content on YouTube with aesthetic, simple and inspiring formats on Instagram. The goal was to maximise impact by reaching a wider audience without limiting ourselves to a single target, and while maintaining editorial consistency.

Throughout the year, around 10 micro- and macro-influencers were selected for their authenticity, creativity and shared passion for renovation and decoration. Their strength lies in their genuine connection with their community, their meaningful personal projects and their ability to naturally integrate Paulmann products into their everyday content.

“We found the profiles using Kolsquare, which allows us to sort and highlight the accounts best suited to our projects. We have access to statistics and previous collaborations, which helps us a lot in our choices,” explains Team Lewis Influence Consultant Cassandre Surelle.

The strategy was based on regular, targeted and relevant communication, with a controlled budget, and without one-offs or major launches. Team Lewis decided to leverage marketing and seasonal events throughout the year to offer consistent and impactful activations: Christmas decorations, DIY Mother's Day, summer parties, spring picnics, etc.

Content designed to last and perform: YouTube for storytelling, Instagram for aesthetics, emotion and immediate action

At Paulmann, light is more than something you see, it tells a story. That's why YouTube was a key channel for the brand’s paid strategy: the ideal platform for diving into specific renovation projects, detailing the steps involved and showing the real impact of lighting on a room or outdoor space.

As well as enabling rich, narrative content (before/after shots, installation tutorials and mood videos), YouTube proved particularly effective at reaching the brand's priority target audience: male viewers aged 30+, often homeowners or renovators, who like watching long, technical explanatory formats.

The videos made for YouTube were then repurposed on other platforms — Reels, carousels or Stories — maximising their lifespan and effectiveness.

Instagram remains an essential lever for capturing attention and creating visual appeal. Paulmann used it in paid advertising to combine aesthetics, practicality and commercial performance.

Immersive Reels, carefully crafted carousels, engaging stories with tracked links: each piece of content was designed to highlight ease of use and beautiful design, and to encourage action with a clear CTA.

This channel also allows the brand to showcase more technical or seasonal products, while maintaining an emotional and accessible tone.

At the same time, the earned strategy is based on a model of trust and co-creation.

Rather than imposing a fixed brief, Paulmann offered creators in the midst of home renovation projects support in the form of gifting: a generous product package that allows creators to produce high-quality installations without budget constraints. In exchange, they freely share their experience and results.

The brand does not vet content, guaranteeing 100% natural, spontaneous posts and honest opinions. As a result, content is well received by audiences because it is part of real, personal projects.

“It's a win-win approach: the brand benefits from authentic, high-impact content, and creators are supported in their efforts without pressure,” comments Cassandre Surelle, Influence Consultant at Team Lewis.

And the results?

Throughout the year, the influence strategy implemented for Paulmann generated results that far exceeded initial expectations, with a return on investment of +1070%. But what do these figures really tell us?

“Kolsquare enabled us to calculate and analyse the impact of our content for the brand, giving us concrete and accurate results to share with the client,” explains Cassandre Surelle.

A whopping boost to Paulmann's brand visibility

With 3.6 million people reached and 1.13 million unique accounts exposed to the content, Paulmann emerged from obscurity into the light of the French market, particularly among specific targets: interior design enthusiasts, DIY fans and committed renovators. The results confirmed that the combination of Instagram and YouTube, coupled with well-chosen profiles, generated high-quality reach, focused on interested audiences and potential buyers.

Engagement that matters

The 81,000 engagements and average engagement rate of 2.6% show that the content produced was not just viewed: it was commented on, liked and shared, proving that the creators were able to generate real conversation around the brand. This rate is all the more impressive as it is calculated across all activations, including paid content, which is traditionally less engaging than organic content.

Strong performance in Earned Media Value

With an EMV of €353,000, the brand has more than recouped its investment, thanks in particular to the clever gifting strategy: by providing real added value to creators, it obtained rich content that is often perceived as more credible than that produced by traditional sponsored campaigns.

Controlled content volume that delivered impact

Over the year, 27 pieces of content were produced — a relatively small volume, but designed to maximise longevity and complementarity between platforms.

From long YouTube videos to dynamic Reels, immersive stories and educational carousels, each piece of content had a specific role to play in the inspiration or purchase journey.

A brand image transformed

Beyond the raw figures, the main impact of the campaign is qualitative. Paulmann has gone from being a technical and little-known brand to a modern, aesthetic and accessible benchmark in the lighting sector. The content inspires and demonstrates concrete use of the products. Above all, it positions the brand in people's real lives, at the heart of their homes, their projects and their daily lives.

“Aesthetics are important because they attract attention. However, influence is not just about a pretty picture. It's a conversation between a brand and a community – an insight that Paulmann has fully embraced to establish itself naturally in the French market,” comments Cassandre Surelle, Influence Consultant at Team Lewis. 

As the brand leans into 2025, the difference to the previous year is clear. Paulmann is increasingly solicited by content creators, earned collaborations are easier to organise and the brand image has been transformed.