Departed Spirits

Launching a Challenger Brand with Test-and-Learn Approach


The Challenge:

When Departed Spirits, a bold new entrant in the Australian spirits market prepared to launch, they engaged me to design and execute their Paid Social campaigns. The challenge was clear: build brand awareness from a standing start, while proving immediate sales performance in a competitive category dominated by established players.

Working closely with the client’s internal team, we co-developed creative assets tailored for social-first impact. At the heart of the strategy was an intensive test-and-learn framework, with a particular focus on headline testing. By isolating headline variables, we were able to identify messaging that best resonated with target audiences and rapidly scale winning combinations across Meta placements.

This iterative, data-driven approach allowed us to do more than just generate clicks, it helped refine the brand’s core positioning in real time, turning Paid Social into both a performance engine and a feedback loop for creative strategy.


The results validated the approach

2.5×

Consistently achieved 2.5× ROAS during launch campaigns

3%

Scaled website traffic from a zero baseline while maintaining conversion rates above 3%

By blending performance marketing discipline with agile creative testing, Departed Spirits not only hit their launch goals but also laid the foundation for sustainable growth in a crowded category.

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