THE CHALLENGE

Sparkling Ice needed a paid social strategy that could do more than just drive short-term performance.

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The brand required a Q1 “lights-on” presence to maintain consistent visibility, while also building toward a scalable, full-funnel system that could drive both retention and acquisition throughout the year.

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This meant balancing:

• Loyalty among existing buyers

• Growth from competitive category audiences

• A seamless connection between awareness and retail action

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MY ROLE

• Led paid social strategy across TikTok, Meta, and Pinterest

• Designed full-funnel architecture spanning awareness → conversion

• Defined audience segmentation, platform roles, and investment allocation

• Built phased activation plan across Q1–Q4

• Introduced commerce and retail integrations (TikTok Search, Pear Commerce)

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THE STRATEGIC APPROACH

Protect & Grow Framework

To address both immediate and long-term goals, I developed a Protect & Grow full-funnel system designed to:

• Protect: Retain and re-engage existing Sparkling Ice buyers

• Grow: Acquire new category users through culturally relevant, discovery-driven media

This was operationalized through a four-stage funnel:

• Ignite Discovery → Drive mass awareness

• Spark Desire → Build cultural relevance and emotional connection

• Drive Preference → Encourage trial and product exploration

• Close & Repeat → Convert and reinforce purchase behavior

This structure ensured that every tactic contributed to both short-term performance and long-term brand growth

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EXECUTION

• PHASE 1: Q1 FOUNDATION​

  • Q1 was designed as a foundational phase, focused on building the infrastructure needed for sustained growth.

  • Key priorities:

    • Maintain always-on visibility (“lights-on” presence)

    • Build retargeting pools (video viewers, engagers, site visitors)

    • Introduce full-funnel activation across platforms

    • Begin testing commerce integrations and intent signals

  • Execution Highlights

    • Always-On Awareness

      • TikTok In-Feed + Spark Ads for continuous discovery

      • Meta (Reels, Stories, Feed) for incremental reach

      • Pinterest for seasonal and search-driven discovery

    • Cultural Bursts

      • TikTok Pulse to align with trending content moments

      • Seasonal Pinterest activations tied to key planning periods

    • Mid-Funnel Engagement

      • Retargeting engaged users with interactive formats (e.g., TikTok add-ons, Meta Reels)

      • Driving deeper product exploration and consideration

    • Commerce Testing

      • TikTok Search Ads to capture high-intent queries

      • Pear Commerce integrations to connect social → retail

  • Q1 ultimately functioned as the data and audience engine for future scaling.

• PHASE 2: Q2–Q3 SCALE

  • Expanding Into a Full Ecosystem

  • Building on Q1’s foundation, the strategy scaled into a multi-layered ecosystem designed to drive sustained growth.

  • Evergreen Full-Funnel Engine

    • Always-on presence across platforms

    • Continuous optimization of audiences and creative

    • Sustained reach + retargeting efficiency

  • Cultural Moments

    • Integration into entertainment and pop culture environments

    • Leveraging seasonal and high-attention moments

    • Driving brand relevance and emotional connection

  • Innovation and Tentpoles

    • Retail-driven activations and partnerships

    • Limited-edition collaborations (e.g., lifestyle and cultural tie-ins)

    • High-impact moments designed to drive trial and conversion

• This phased approach allowed the brand to move from baseline visibility to cultural relevance to retail action over time

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CHANNEL STRATEGY

Each platform was assigned a distinct role within the ecosystem:

• TikTok (45%)
  Primary discovery engine, driving cultural relevance and scalable reach

• Meta (35%)
  Core engagement and retargeting platform, reinforcing messaging and driving action

• Pinterest (20%)
  High-intent discovery platform, capturing users during planning and search-driven moments​

​SCALE OF EXECUTION​

• ~$900K+ planned investment across funnel stages
• 100M+ projected impressions at the awareness level alone
• Multi-platform, full-funnel activation across TikTok, Meta, and Pinterest

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EXPECTED IMPACT

While performance data is not yet available, the strategy was designed to:

• Establish consistent brand visibility through always-on presence

• Increase trial through mid-funnel engagement and retargeting

• Shorten the path to purchase via commerce integrations

• Strengthen the connection between paid social and retail outcomes

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KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Q1 is not just a campaign — it’s infrastructure

  • Builds the audiences and signals that power future performance

• Full-funnel matters

  •  Awareness, consideration, and conversion must work together

• Creative + context drive performance

  • Cultural relevance is as important as targeting

• Social can drive commerce

  • When paired with the right tools, it becomes a true conversion channel