iSTYLE Hungary : From Audit Project to Discovery Initiative and a Regional Rollout Across 9 Countries

Salesforce Marketing Cloud was introduced at iSTYLE—one of Apple’s largest premium reseller partners—several years ago. However, the system only truly came to life in 2021 with the help of the Attention CRM Consulting team. The results achieved with Salesforce Marketing Cloud have since far exceeded expectations: for instance, engagement rates on automated, event-driven email journeys have increased two to threefold. The collaboration is set to continue, with best practices already applied in Romania, the Czech Republic, and Hungary, and soon to be rolled out across iSTYLE’s operations in Serbia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and North Macedonia. This project is a textbook example of a powerful marketing tool sitting in the drawer, barely utilized. Today, Attention’s online training videos serve as a go-to Salesforce Marketing Guide within iSTYLE, greatly supporting new team members in marketing.

The Beginning

Ivett Hegyi has been the Regional CRM Manager at iSTYLE since October 2020. The company is part of the MIDIS Group, one of Apple’s largest premium reseller partners in Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East. iSTYLE operates in 9 countries across Europe—Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, and Slovenia—with 52 Apple Premium Reseller stores, 9 online shops, and official Apple service centers. Their core business is selling Apple products, accessories, and the Apple ecosystem.

“One of my key tasks was to build and implement a customer-centric marketing automation strategy across the group that would lead to continuous, measurable growth in both revenue and profit across consumer and B2B segments. One of the tools supporting this was Salesforce Marketing Cloud, which had already been introduced at iSTYLE years earlier. However, shortly after I arrived, I realized that the innovative features of the platform were barely being utilized—something that, if changed, could unlock exciting opportunities even in the short term,” recalls Hegyi Ivett.

Although colleagues were using Salesforce Marketing Cloud once or twice a week for general newsletter distribution, the platform’s broader capabilities had not become part of their daily routine.

“At the time, I had already gathered several years of CRM experience in an international banking environment. I was convinced that, with the right consulting partner, we could achieve exceptional results with Salesforce Marketing Cloud. Eventually, through an invitation-only tender, we selected Attention CRM Consulting for the task. While iSTYLE already had a Czech strategic partner who initially implemented Salesforce and Marketing Cloud, I specifically wanted additional dedicated support for the latter. I also firmly believe that two companies’ combined expertise is always greater than what any single partner—no matter how professional—can offer,” says Ivett.

“This was a classic case of a marketing ‘superweapon’ being left unused in the drawer. But once Ivett came on board, everything changed,” adds Bálint Siegler, Business Unit Director at Attention CRM Consulting, who has been involved in the iSTYLE project from the beginning.

The Project

The collaboration between Attention CRM and iSTYLE began with an audit project in the fall of 2020. They then focused on three key areas:

• Delivering a training series to familiarize iSTYLE employees with the software and its functionalities, using real-world examples.

• Creating dynamic marketing lists based on the CRM manager’s strategic input.

• Developing a highly successful welcome journey for new customers, tailored to the Czech, Hungarian, and Romanian markets.

The First Audit

Before launching the internal Salesforce Marketing Cloud training, both teams got to know each other. For the platform to function efficiently, it was essential that the Attention consultants understood iSTYLE’s organizational structure, communication channels, and short-, mid-, and long-term strategic goals.

“After this, they proposed a few internal process improvements, and we started working together to eliminate the skepticism surrounding Marketing Cloud, which mostly stemmed from a lack of familiarity. I wanted to make sure that, since we had such a powerful tool, we would use every available feature to meet our business goals,” says Hegyi.

The Salesforce Adoption Course

The training sessions, led by Bálint Siegler from Attention, were highly interactive and used real examples from iSTYLE’s daily operations to demonstrate how Marketing Cloud works. Anyone interested could join the sessions—especially those using the platform or struggling with it. Participation quickly grew, with up to 20–25 colleagues attending each online training.

“We recorded these interactive sessions, and they’re still available today as an internal Salesforce Guide, which is especially helpful for new hires,” adds Ivett. She believes the course was effective because Attention’s team members are highly knowledgeable, committed, and collaborative. They don’t act as passive executors—they give honest, expert feedback when something doesn’t work or isn’t feasible.

“They pay attention to every detail, and because they understand how our internal systems work, many of the best ideas and improvements come from them,” notes the CRM Manager.

An Exciting Journey Together

Over time, Attention CRM helped iSTYLE build email automations optimized for specific customer segments, which were then rolled out to more countries in Eastern Europe after successful pilot tests. Alongside this, marketing databases were also refined.

“For instance, if someone buys an iPhone, a 60-day journey begins—not only to welcome them but also to ask simple questions that, when answered, can significantly improve customer satisfaction. This lets us offer personalized cross-sell opportunities at the right time,” says Ivett.

Since partnering with Attention CRM, engagement rates on welcome emails have doubled or tripled, and nearly 30% of recipients now respond to four sales-critical questions.

“In my experience, a non-segmented, general newsletter can never be this effective,” Ivett states.

According to Bálint Siegler, Ivett’s success also stems from “having incredible ideas and knowing when to let go of things that would require disproportionately large effort.”

Results and Future Plans

“We didn’t introduce Salesforce Marketing Cloud ourselves—but we brought it to life, even during the pandemic, fully remotely. We only met Ivett and her team in person for the first time in summer 2021. Despite that, the cooperation was smooth from the start, and the results came quickly,” says Siegler.

“In this field, nothing works on autopilot for years. Marketing Cloud requires ongoing optimization and the resources to do it. Fortunately, Attention is always a partner in finding the most effective solutions. Today, we’re capable of designing and executing highly segmented campaigns tailored to local market conditions,” says Ivett, adding that iSTYLE’s email marketing system is now exactly what one would expect from a top-tier company in 2021.

“As a premium Apple reseller, we are accountable not just to our owners—the MIDIS Group leadership—but also to Apple itself for key projects. The results achieved with Salesforce Marketing Cloud have far surpassed expectations. While in the beginning, colleagues used only basic features, today, we rely on a highly efficient, logically structured, and goal-oriented internal automation system. We now set the pace and direction ourselves—and we are undoubtedly extending usage to the six other Eastern European countries where we operate. We will continue working with Attention CRM on campaigns in Serbia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and North Macedonia,” says Hegyi Ivett.