Results / Case Study / Sports Nutrition
Gnarly Nutrition
Year over year, while spending 25-30% less on ads at the same revenue.
Where they started
Gnarly Nutrition is a sports nutrition brand. When Aaron Santanello brought us in, the brand had stopped growing. Not shrinking - just stuck.
"The business was essentially a 10-year-old startup... stagnated at a certain level of revenue, not really growing for a number of years."
The dashboard said the ads were working. The bank account said otherwise. Their previous partner leaned on returning-customer retargeting to dress up ROAS - counting people who were already going to buy as wins.
"The previous partner was deploying a lot of smoke and mirror tactics. Really focused on returning consumers... just not great tactics if you're looking to actually grow a brand."
What the audit changed
The engagement started the way every HoloGrowth engagement starts: with the diagnostic. We rebuilt the numbers outside the platforms and separated real acquisition from retargeting dressed up as growth. The audit found they could cut 25-30% of ad spend with no revenue loss - they acted on it.
"Where HoloGrowth really blew my mind was the level of the audit that they provided. The other agencies barely gave us a one-page Google doc on what was wrong... The 20 plus page research document we received after the audit was really mind-blowing."
Aaron SantanelloGnarly Nutrition · client interview
With the wasted spend gone, the budget went where it belonged: reaching people who had never bought from Gnarly before.
What happened
- 102% new-customer growth year over year
- First profitable month in 12 years - $140K in profit
- 25-30% less ad spend at the same revenue
- Growth from net-new customers - not retargeting dressed up as acquisition
"When we look at our new consumer orders in this month compared to last November, it's up 102%. That kind of just proves that HoloGrowth is putting a strategy in to reach new consumers and it's actually working."
Aaron SantanelloGnarly Nutrition · client interview
"When Holo took over, not only did revenue stay relatively stable, we spent about 25 to 30% less ad spend a month capturing that revenue. That just kind of proved that the previous agency was not using a sound strategy."
Aaron SantanelloGnarly Nutrition · client interview
Hear it from Aaron
Aaron on camera, in his own words: the stagnation, the smoke and mirrors, and what changed when the numbers got rebuilt.
Verify this case study
- Watch the full recorded interview above - unscripted, on camera
- Read what partners say on Trustpilot
- Ask about references on your Strategy Call - we'll tell you exactly what's verifiable and how
Run the same math on your own account
Every HoloGrowth engagement starts with the same five numbers: CM3, nCAC, 90-day LTGP:CAC, payback, and new-vs-returning split. The free Scaling Scorecard gives you those five metrics with the exact scale/hold/fix/kill thresholds we use on managed accounts - so you can see what Aaron saw before you ever talk to us. If you only want to run one number first, work out where your own spend stops being profitable with the ad spend ceiling calculator.
Get the Free Scaling ScorecardYour numbers can look like this too - if the constraint gets named first.
It starts with a free 30-minute Strategy Call - we clarify your numbers, name your most likely constraint live, and decide together what makes sense next.