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
- 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.
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