Some for them.
Some for you.
First one’s free.

The Brief

Protein bars had become a wall of sameness. Walk down the grocery aisle and everything blends together. Louder macro claims. Bigger protein numbers. Lower sugar callouts. The category had grown so specialized that standing out meant being a superlative, and ZonePerfect wasn’t one.

The brand didn’t have the highest protein or the lowest sugar. It lived in the middle of the aisle, and that sameness was starting to show up in sales. As competition intensified, ZonePerfect risked getting lost not because people disliked the product, but because nothing on shelf helped new shoppers notice it.

The challenge wasn’t fixing the product. It was finding a way to cut through a crowded category when the usual plays didn’t work, and people trusted each other more than the packaging.

My Role: Strategic Lead

The Work

We turned snackers into storytellers. If people trusted peers more than packaging, the answer wasn’t louder claims. It was letting fans lead the introduction.

Loyal ZonePerfect fans were already hyping the brand on Instagram, so we built an advocate-led sampling program around that behavior. Instead of chasing new audiences, we activated the community that already believed, giving them branded care packages designed to be shared.

Each kit was built to spark real moments. Free product. Thoughtful design. A simple nudge to tag their squad. What started as surprise-and-delight became a system for organic trial, conversation, and UGC, powered by trust instead of promotion.

Why It Hits

This wasn’t influencer marketing. It was inner-circle marketing. We turned loyalty into growth by letting fans lead the introduction, not the brand. They filmed unboxings, tagged their crew, and lit up their feeds. Then they did something better than post. They passed it on.

What started as a care package became a ripple effect, turning brand love into first-time trial.