Lessons from Scaling an Artisanal Mezcal Brand with Sensory-Driven Creative
Scaling a DTC alcohol brand isn’t easy with ad restrictions and platform limitations. We tested everything from high-end product shots to UGC, but the real winner was something unexpected—ASMR content. Here’s what we learned, how we cut CAC by 80%, and why this approach worked when nothing else did.
Hey, if you’re reading this, you’re probably in the trenches trying to scale an alcohol brand while dodging platform restrictions and rising CAC. We helped an artisanal mezcal brand crack that problem with an unexpected creative angle—ASMR. Turns out, the sound of pouring mezcal was more powerful than any polished brand ad. Here’s what we learned, what worked, and how we scaled it profitably.
Background
Agua Mágica is a premium mezcal brand rooted in the artisanal traditions of the mezcaleros in Oaxaca, Mexico. Their product is a masterclass in craftsmanship, with the experience extending beyond taste. Everything from the packaging to the brand story is steeped in authenticity.
Initially, their primary sales channel was through distributors, but they wanted to expand into DTC. However, advertising in the alcohol space comes with its own set of roadblocks such as strict regulations, platform restrictions, and limited geographic targeting. Despite these challenges, our team was able to build and scale a profitable DTC growth engine for Agua Mágica using an oddly satisfying creative element that unlocked real growth.
The Challenge
Agua Mágica faced several key obstacles in its DTC expansion:
Advertising Restrictions – As an alcohol brand, they were limited in the types of creative they could run and the audiences they could target.
Market Differentiation – Most competitors relied on highly stylized, polished content, but this wasn’t translating into strong performance in their account for direct-to-consumer acquisition.
Scaling Profitably – Without a proven ad model, spending aggressively could lead to wasted budget rather than sustainable growth.
The Strategy & The Result
Rather than following the industry norm of using only premium, high-production-value creative, we took a different approach. After testing multiple formats including highly stylized product shots, behind-the-scenes footage, and unboxing videos, we discovered a surprising winner: ASMR content.
The sensory experience of pouring, sipping, unwrapping and even tapping the bottle resonated deeply with Agua Mágica’s audience. By leaning into this, we created an ad that:
✅ Reduced CAC by 80% compared to previous ads
✅ Scaled profitably to $50K in ad spend during the peak holiday season
✅ Outperformed traditional high-end product creatives
Winning ASMR Ad Unit
Key Learnings & Takeaways
Go Against the Grain – While competitors relied on polished, brand-heavy content, we found that intimate, sensory-driven ASMR ads outperformed all other creative types. Don’t be afraid to test something new. Even if its not usual for your vertical. We pulled inspo for the ASMR ad from some of our beauty brands who use this content regularly!
Leverage a Strong Creator Network – Instead of lengthy production cycles, we tapped into our network of trusted creators, delivering a winning ad on the first attempt while keeping production costs low. We also managed the storyboarding, scripting and final editing of the assets creating an end-to-end experience for the Agua Mágica team that allowed them to focus on other areas of execution during their busiest time of year.
Automate Performance Tracking – Our internal automated reporting tracker helped us monitor and scale ads in real time, ensuring peak efficiency during the busiest sales period. This is updated automatically every day with no intervention necessary from our team. Imagine, no manual spreadsheets, just the data you need whenever you need it. We also set up automatic alerts to inform us when it was time to go in and cut any non scaling ads. This helped us to minimize wasted ad spend and maximize profit. This is something we plan to release in the near future to the public so stay tuned!
Think About the Product – This seems so simple but what we found was that elements of the bottle design, such as some of the label text being upside down intentionally, as well as the increcacies of the gift box, lended itself to an ad format that was personal and sensory by design. Alcohol brands often stick to a rigid formula in advertising, but audience behavior & product experience dictates creative success, not industry norms.
Final Thoughts
For brands looking to scale DTC in highly regulated industries such as alcohol, the key is process, documentation, and a willingness to experiment. The success of Agua Mágica wasn’t just about a single ad, it was about a repeatable system for testing and scaling breakthrough creatives.
At Genesist Labs, we specialize in breaking through barriers that hold brands back. If you’re looking to scale your DTC growth while navigating a complex advertising landscape, let’s talk.
What We Learned From Creating a $100K Ad for a Best-Selling Baby Monitor Brand
Scaling a DTC brand isn’t just about increasing ad spend. It’s about making every dollar work harder. In this case study, we break down how we helped a best-selling baby monitor brand turn a UGC ad into a high-performing asset that spent over $100K profitably while cutting CAC by 60%. We’ll cover the strategy, execution, and key insights that made this campaign a success, along with the tools we used to keep performance strong over time.
Hey, if you’re reading this, chances are you’re deep in the trenches running paid ads, constantly looking for ways to scale without blowing up your CAC. I recently broke down how we helped Nanit, a VC-backed baby monitor brand, turn a UGC ad into a money-printing machine. The insights here might just help you do the same.
Client Overview
Nanit, a best-selling baby monitor startup, approached us just before raising their Series C. Their challenge? They needed high-performing ads that could scale profitably, ensuring they could maximize growth while keeping acquisition costs in check. A tall order for most, but exactly the type of challenge we thrive on at Genesist Labs.
Our Approach
To meet this ambitious goal, we went all in:
Storyboarding & Concepting: We crafted multiple ad concepts designed to resonate with new parents, leveraging emotional storytelling and product benefits.
Creator & Talent Sourcing: We lined up a network of vetted creators, ensuring we had the right on-camera talent for authentic UGC (user-generated content).
Production Excellence: We sent our film crew to NYC to capture high-quality footage, ensuring we had all the assets needed to execute a flawless final product.
The Results
The campaign was a massive success: ✅ We created a UGC asset that stayed active in Nanit’s ad account for months. ✅ The ad spent over $100K profitably. ✅ We cut their CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) by over 60%.
While this was a clear win, we also walked away with some key takeaways that continue to shape how we approach high-growth brands.
Our winning UGC ad created for Nanit
Key Lessons Learned
1. Creative Execution is Only as Strong as Your Processes & SOPs
It’s nearly impossible to produce consistently high-performing ad creative if you don’t have a repeatable process. For us, this means:
Building a network of in-house talent & trusted creators.
Working with vetted professionals who get it right the first time.
Streamlining post-production so edits happen at lightning speed.
The faster we get creative into ad accounts, the faster we can optimize and scale spend. This is the difference between winning and burning cash.
2. Sweat the Small Stuff
Great ad creative doesn’t happen by accident—it happens by obsessing over details. For Nanit, this meant:
Ensuring the right messaging and hooks were front-loaded.
Making sure every shot felt natural, not overly produced.
Testing multiple variations of voiceovers, captions, and CTA placements.
The small optimizations add up to big wins in performance.
3. Pace Matters
When scaling paid media aggressively, your creative velocity needs to match your spend. If you’re not producing fresh creative fast enough, ad fatigue will destroy your ROI. We built out a cadence of testing and iteration, ensuring that new assets were lined up before existing ones wore out.
We relied on some key execution tools to ensure this happened smoothly.
Creative OS - a game changer for quickly testing new angles to scale into with video content.
GetAds - when we needed variations of ads we created done quickly, we turned to GetAds to facilitate the execution the right way the first time.
Creative Reporting - Our automated creative reporting imported daily campaign data from Meta where we then used our custom ad naming conventions to quickly analyze what aspect of the ad unit was working or not. This allowed our team to iterate fast and scale focusing in on the key parameters that turned a good ad into a great one. Stay tuned for our automated creative reporting template that we will soon be releasing to the public.
4. UGC Done Right Can Print Money
One of the biggest unlocks in this campaign was nailing UGC storytelling. Too often, brands think of UGC as casual, off-the-cuff content. In reality, the best UGC ads feel native yet structured. They tell a compelling story, highlight clear product benefits, and drive conversions. Our high-production-value UGC approach turned into an asset that kept scaling month after month.
One unconventional tool we used to hone our storytelling skills was the Storyteller tactics deck from PipDecks. This creative system has been invaluable in helping us create unique mini stories in our work that has translated to wins for our clients.
Final Thoughts
This project reinforced what we already knew: when you combine strong creative strategy, an airtight production process, and a commitment to testing and iteration, the results speak for themselves.
Want to see what we can do for your brand? Let’s talk.