VERB ENERGY

Verb Energy ran an Instagram ad campaign to boost awareness and consideration, and saw 5.3-point higher standard brand awareness when running new video ads with mobile-first creative versus photo ads with motionless creative.

THE STORY
Providing on-the-go energy

Founded in 2018 by a trio of Yale students, Verb Energy offers 90-calorie energy bars with as much caffeine as an espresso. The bars are gluten-free, low in sugar and made with green tea caffeine and all natural ingredients, delivering a steady and jitter-free energy boost.

4.1 points

higher standard ad recall from video than from the old creative

5.3 points

higher standard brand awareness from video than from the old creative

0.05 points

higher brand affinity and consideration from video than from the old creative

We wanted to challenge what we do creatively and reach customers in ways we haven’t before—the “Flip Your Mood” campaign did just that. Our creative was truly elevated and was specifically designed for the platform and was mobile-first. We kept saying, ‘Wow, we actually have commercial-level quality pieces of creative that are built for Instagram.’ It was incredible.
JESSICA MCGLORY, HEAD OF GROWTH, VERB ENERGY
THE GOAL
Reaching new audiences

Verb Energy wanted to run a new, more efficient Instagram ad campaign to reach new audiences, boost awareness of its brand, acquire new customers and increase sales.

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THE SOLUTION

Testing mobile-first creative

Verb Energy had previously run a Facebook photo ad campaign using a product image. Wanting to increase awareness of the brand, the team was eager to try a more engaging approach to its ad creative, and test different iterations to understand what worked best in conveying the Verb brand.

So the team used Instagram best practices for mobile-first creative to build videos with upfront branding, a run-time under 15 seconds and text overlays that made the action understandable with sound off. Labeled “Flip your Mood,” the new video ad campaign used eye-catching color elements and fast-cut movements to depict someone’s whole world flipping upside down—and completely transforming from being run-down and tired to being revived and ready-to-go—after munching on a Verb Energy bar.

The text overlays and messaging focused on how the “espresso-worthy” caffeinated Verb Energy bars are jitter-free, only 90 calories, vegan-friendly and gluten-free, and come in a variety of flavors. Each ad included either a “Try Now” or a “Get Offer” button that linked to the company’s website. The team showed the ads to a broad audience of US adults aged 18 and over, excluding Custom Audiences of current purchasers, website engagers and people already on its customer lists.

Verb Energy used automatic placements to allow Facebook to deliver ads across all Facebook apps and services, based on which placements were most likely to drive the best campaign results at the lowest cost at any given time. And the company also used automatic advanced matching to accurately attribute online sales back to specific purchasers.

The team then tested the results of the new video ad campaign against its old photo ad campaign, and discovered that the fresh storytelling in the new creative definitively performed better.

Verb Energy determined the results of its December 8–31, 2020 campaign using a Facebook brand lift study, which revealed that using video ads with fresh new mobile-first creative drove:

  • 4.1 points higher standard ad recall from video than from the old creative

  • 5.3 points higher standard brand awareness from video than from the old creative

  • 0.05 points higher brand affinity and consideration from video than from the old creative

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Instagram ads have quickly helped to bring in new customers we otherwise wouldn’t be able to reach. We’re constantly looking to grow and want to meet our customers where they’re at, and Instagram allows us to do both. There truly is no other platform like Instagram, and we’ve been thrilled to see the investment in our advertising efforts grow so significantly.
JESSICA MCGLORY, HEAD OF GROWTH, VERB ENERGY