How Create runs ads: riding the creatine wave to retail
Create rode the creatine trend into an accessible form factor, ran the same coach-and-clinician UGC framework as the supplement scalers, and converted online buzz into funding and brick-and-mortar shelves - a ~$100M run.
Scale
~$100M
online + retail
Wedge
Creatine
trend, accessible form
Creative
Coach + MD
raw short-form UGC
Endgame
Retail
funding + shelf placement
How Create actually runs ads
Create sells creatine - the workout supplement that suddenly got popular - in an easy, accessible form.
Their ads use the same recipe as the other big scalers: real-looking videos from fitness coaches and doctors, not polished commercials.
They used all the online subscription money and buzz to raise funding and get into actual stores, which is where the really big growth comes from.
The funnel
Walk the funnel, stage by stage
Click through the four stages to see how the hook, destination, offer and retention chain together.
Trend + authority UGC
Coaches and clinicians explain why creatine matters now, in raw short-form. The hook rides cultural momentum the brand didn't have to manufacture.
Signature move
Coach + MD UGC
Why it works
The four levers behind the scale
Create didn't have to teach the market to want creatine - the trend did that. Their job was to be the most accessible, best-packaged option when the wave hit.
Steal this
The Create playbook
moves you're running
The takeaway
The trend-and-retail variant
Create shows the same creative framework pointed at a culturally pre-sold ingredient, then used as a springboard into retail.
Where Gruns/IM8/Mars optimise the online funnel, Create's lesson is the endgame: convert online buzz into shelf space, where the truly large numbers live.
Sources
What we read to build this
Related Shuttergen reading
Where to go next
The connected pages that compound on this one.
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