UNKNOWN SHELF.
VIRAL Campaign.
$1.2M VELOCITY.
An emerging RTD beverage brand needed to prove shelf velocity across 1,600 Target and Walmart locations. ZRG built a viral UGC campaign, activated geofencing at every store, and drove 79,000 cans per week in sell-through.
SHELF HUNT.
Every store is a stage.
People go to Target or Walmart, find the product, shoot a photo or video with it, and post for a chance to win. Every post is a free ad. Every store is a stage.
Head to Target or Walmart and find the product on the shelf.
Scan the QR code on the shelf tag or promo card near the product.
Film a video or snap a photo. Be real. Be creative. The best content wins.
Share with the campaign hashtag and tag the brand. Every post is one entry.
Month 1: $5,000 grand prize. Monthly $500 after that. Top creators get influencer deals.
Energy and Flavor Seekers
TikTok and Instagram native. They post and compete naturally. SHELF HUNT fits exactly how this generation discovers brands.
Channels: TikTok, Instagram, Spark Ads, geofencing near every store in their metro.
Collagen and Wellness Buyers
Already buying collagen supplements. Clean energy with a health benefit is a natural add-on purchase.
Channels: Facebook, wellness and beauty creators 35 plus, benefit-led email flows.
6 months. Five milestones.
Click through the strategy.
Select any milestone below to see what happened, what changed, and what the numbers looked like at that moment.
Shelf Hunt Launch
Designed and launched the SHELF HUNT UGC campaign across 1,600 Target and Walmart stores. QR codes on shelf tags captured email and phone automatically. Influencer seeding began on TikTok and Instagram.
Geofencing Live
Activated 1-mile geofence zones around every store location. Zone-entry ads fired on Meta, TikTok, and Google Display within seconds of a shopper entering the radius. Retargeting audiences built automatically.
UGC Flywheel
SHELF HUNT posts began compounding organically. Each user-generated post became a free ad. Spark Ads amplified top creators 3-5x. Email and SMS list growing from QR scans at every purchase.
Velocity Targets Hit
Store-level velocity tracking showed consistent sell-through across both Target and Walmart. Paid ad dependency began dropping as organic UGC and retargeting audiences matured. CPM dropped 35%.
Scale Phase
Expanded ad spend to scale phase. Lookalike audiences built from purchaser data. Competitor conquesting activated around competing RTD brands. Monthly retail sell-through exceeded $1.2M.
The transformation
side by side.
Click any category to see the full before and after comparison. Every change below happened within 6 months.
Unknown RTD brand. Zero shelf velocity data. No UGC. Competing against established energy drink brands with massive budgets.
SHELF HUNT campaign generated 2,400+ organic posts. Brand recognition built through real consumer content, not corporate ads.
No geofencing. No store-level targeting. Generic social media ads with no location intelligence. Wasting spend on broad audiences.
1,600 store geofences active. Every ad localized to the exact store. Zone-entry triggers firing across Meta, TikTok, and Google Display.
High CPMs on broad Meta campaigns. No retargeting. No UGC amplification. Every impression paid at full price.
35% CPM reduction through optimized audiences. Retargeting window captures zone visitors within 48 hours. Spark Ads amplify top UGC 3-5x.
Single demographic target. No segmentation between energy seekers and wellness buyers. Same creative for everyone.
Dual-audience strategy: 18-34 energy seekers on TikTok/IG, 35-55 collagen/wellness buyers on Facebook and email. Different creative for each.
No velocity tracking. No store-level performance data. No way to know which locations were selling and which were stagnant.
Store-level velocity reporting. 79,000 cans per week across 1,600 locations. Real-time performance visibility per store, per flavor.
Struggling to justify shelf space. Retailers questioning whether to keep stocking. No data to defend placement.
$1.2M monthly retail sell-through. Retailers requesting expanded shelf space. Data-backed velocity reports for every buyer meeting.
1,600 stores.
1-mile triggers.
A 1-mile geo-entry trigger around every store location. The moment someone crosses that boundary, an ad fires on whatever app they are using.
An ad fires on Meta, TikTok, or Google Display immediately
Copy is localized to that exact store and location
SHELF HUNT reminder fires for existing list subscribers
Everyone who triggered the zone is added to a Meta and TikTok custom audience
Within 48 hours they see a follow-up ad with different creative
Standard paid media retargeting. The zone impression is the trigger.
What you need to spend
to hit velocity.
Built from Meta CPG CPM benchmarks ($10 avg), Google Display benchmarks ($4 CPM), and CPG industry attribution benchmarks showing 2.5 to 4% digital-to-in-store conversion.
1M impressions, 18K clicks at 1.8% CTR, ~540 in-store trips at 3% conversion, ~1,600 cans
6,250 high-intent clicks at $0.80 CPC, ~625 in-store trips at 10% conv, ~1,200 cans
Spark Ads amplify influencer content 3-5x and seed SHELF HUNT campaign virally
What hitting velocity
actually means.
Drag the sliders to model your real numbers. See projected weekly and monthly sell-through based on store count, flavors, and retail pricing.
Six pillars.
One velocity engine.
SHELF HUNT Campaign
Designed a viral UGC campaign where shoppers find the product in-store, shoot content, and post for prizes. Every post is a free ad. Every store is a stage. QR codes capture leads automatically.
Geofencing
1-mile geo-entry triggers around 1,600 store locations. The moment someone enters the zone, an ad fires on whatever app they are using. Localized copy per store. Retargeting within 48 hours.
Dual-Audience Ads
Two distinct audiences, one campaign. 18-34 energy seekers on TikTok and Instagram. 35-55 collagen and wellness buyers on Facebook and email flows. Different creative, same brand.
Competitor Conquesting
Geofences around competing RTD and energy drink retail locations. When a shopper visits a competitor shelf, they see a Liquid Youth ad on their next social scroll.
Velocity Tracking
Store-level can movement per week. No black box. Real numbers per location, per flavor, per retailer. The data that wins retailer meetings and justifies shelf space.
Ad Spend Management
Phased spend strategy: Launch ($18-28K/mo), Growth ($35-53K/mo), Scale ($50-75K/mo). Every dollar tracked across Meta, Google, and TikTok. Platform spend is paid directly, management separate.
Ready to own
the shelf?
This RTD brand went from unknown shelf presence to $1.2M monthly velocity in 6 months. Book a free audit and we will show you what the same approach looks like for your brand.
30 minutes. Free $500 strategy audit, client or not.