Back to portfolio
Sports Nutrition
Forge Nutrition
Feed creative that looked like every other tub — large logo, macros, gym imagery.
Project Overview
The brief, in context.
Product Category
Premium whey isolate and recovery formulations
Brand Positioning
A formulation-led protein for athletes who read the back of the label.
Campaign Objective
Lift cold-traffic conversion in a category dominated by commodity creative.
Creative Challenge
Feed creative that looked like every other tub — large logo, macros, gym imagery.
Audience Analysis
Who the work was actually built for.
Primary Audience
Strength athletes who train four to six days a week and read supplement labels
Age 22 – 38
Motivations
- Trusting the formulation behind their daily intake
- Avoiding cheap fillers and proprietary blends
- Supporting a brand that respects the way they train
Purchase Triggers
- Finishing a tub and rechecking their current label
- A coach or natty-lifter they follow naming the brand
- A category-wide reformulation scandal
Pain Points
- Proprietary blends that hide actual doses
- Artificial sweeteners that don't sit well
- Brands that talk down to serious athletes
Market Positioning
Where the brand actually sits in the feed.
Competitor Landscape
Commodity protein lines competing on price-per-serving and influencer-led brands competing on aesthetic.
Market Opportunity
A premium, formulation-transparent brand that treats the athlete as the expert in the room.
Positioning Strategy
Make the back of the label the hero. Let the front of the tub stay quiet.
Marketing Angle
Lead with formulation transparency, not generic macros. Make the back of the label the hero.
Why this angle
Macro-led creative is invisible in this category. Formulation transparency is the only message a label-reading buyer respects.
Copy Breakdown
Hook and headline, dissected.
The two lines that earn the spend — and the reasoning behind each.
Hook
“I switched after reading the back of the label.”
Reasoning
Implies the buyer made an informed switch — peer behaviour, not influencer endorsement.
Expected Reaction
Pause, flip their own tub mentally, watch the breakdown.
Headline
Built like the people who use it.
Purpose
Earn respect on the PDP by reframing the brand as athlete-built rather than marketer-built.
Messaging Objective
Convert respect into a first-tub purchase.
Creative Direction
The visual language of the campaign.
Visual Style
Tight studio still life with warm rim light, annotated label macros, athlete in natural gym light.
Mood
Disciplined, credible, unflashy.
Brand Perception
A brand engineered by people who actually train.
Creative Goal
Make the formulation feel like the proof, not the marketing.
Creative Gallery
The four-asset variant matrix.
Every campaign ships with four roles covered — so we can isolate which lever actually drove the lift.
Creative 01
Hero Creative
Built different. Fueled better.
Creative 02
Benefit Creative
Clean power. Real results.
Creative 03
Problem / Solution Creative
Not all protein is built the same.
Creative 04
Offer Creative
Everything you need. Nothing you don't.
Alternative Concepts
The four directions we explored before locking the hero.
Each carried a distinct angle, hook, headline and creative direction. The ones we held back are still in the test queue.
The Coach's Pick
A- Angle
- Endorsement-led concept from a strength coach.
- Hook
- “This is the only protein I let my athletes use.”
- Headline
- Trusted under the bar.
- Creative Direction
- Coach interview cut against gym-floor B-roll.
Sourcing Map
B- Angle
- Documentary-style breakdown of where each ingredient is sourced.
- Hook
- “Every ingredient. Every country. On record.”
- Headline
- Sourced like nutrition. Not like marketing.
- Creative Direction
- Map-led graphic motion with raw ingredient B-roll.
Plate Comparison
C- Angle
- Visual macro comparison vs. whole food.
- Hook
- “What 25g of protein actually looks like.”
- Headline
- The cleanest 25g you'll have today.
- Creative Direction
- Top-down plate scenes with macro overlays.
Train, Then Read
D- Angle
- Speak to the moment after a heavy session.
- Hook
- “The shake that earned a spot in my post-lift routine.”
- Headline
- Earned a seat at the table.
- Creative Direction
- Post-session locker-room scene, tight on the scoop and tub.
Why This Campaign Works
The strategic argument, in four parts.
Psychology
Label-readers respond to peers, not to brands. The hook positions the asset as a peer recommendation in disguise.
Positioning
Formulation transparency justifies a premium price without ever naming the price.
Customer Motivation
The buyer wants to be the most informed person in their gym, not the loudest.
Creative Strategy
Use the label macro cold to earn trust, then retarget with the athlete narrative to close.
Key Learnings
What this project taught us.
- Macro-pan opener on the ingredient panel outperformed athlete openers on first-purchase CAC.
- Removing pricing from the hero asset lifted PDP visit quality (longer sessions, more cart adds).
- Athlete-led variants performed better in retargeting than in cold prospecting.
