Challenge
FITCRUNCH competes in an increasingly crowded protein snack category across both retail shelves and digital commerce platforms. While the brand maintained strong distribution across major retailers, club stores, and eCommerce, growth had begun to slow due to increased competition from emerging protein snack brands growing exponentially over a short time.
Over-reliance on RMN investment with mis-guided attribution and limited visibility into how media influenced both DTC purchases and retail sales (in-store and online) created additional headwinds.
Insight
Top competitors were spending 4-8x the category average, owning SOV across mass media and retail media environments. Media mix modeling showed channel performance varied significantly by retail outlet, confirming a fragmented shopper journey. Upper funnel channels were significantly under-valued, identified as a key lever for improved customer acquisition and return purchases. Mid-funnel engagement tactics increased retail conversion rates, while retail media delivered the highest direct sales attribution but struggled to maintain strong contribution in the absence of brand awareness activity.
Idea
Rebalancing Media Mix To Support Sales Growth
With aggressive competition both at-shelf and across online sales channels, FITCRUNCH had to rethink its strategy. Based on media mix modeling insights, we optimized media investment to include greater upper and mid-funnel support.
- Upper funnel channels significantly under-valued, identified as lever for improved customer acquisition
- Mid-funnel engagement tactics increased retail conversion rates
- Retail media delivered highest direct sales attribution but struggled without brand awareness
- Balanced funnel increased new acquisitions while improving conversion efficiency
Walmart sales (retailer priority) recorded YoY revenue increase for 22 consecutive months.