Chapter 1
Where it started
Barkwell makes natural dental chews for dogs from a short list of plant ingredients, with no plastics or fillers. It sells through its own online store, either as a single bag or as a subscription that ships every month.
The team is three people: two founders who handle product and customer service, and a part-timer who packs orders. One founder also manages the Meta account in the evenings.
Chapter 2
The problem nobody had time for
Every Barkwell ad showed the bag photographed on a white table, with the ingredient list as the first line of text. A packet gives a scrolling dog owner nothing to look at, and the click rate stayed low.
The subscription was the bigger missed chance. It cost less per chew and kept customers coming back, yet the ads only ever quoted the one-off price, so most buyers had no idea a cheaper monthly option was available.
The founders knew their customers loved the product. Their inbox was full of dog photos, but turning those into ads took evenings nobody had.
Chapter 3
What we made
We delivered 24 ads over four weeks, six in each Monday drop. Barkwell sent us customer photos it had permission to use and a handful of phone clips of the founders' own dogs, and every ad was built around one idea.
The ten second chew
The first drop compared openings. Some ads began on a dog lying down with a chew between its paws, others on an owner holding up a bag, and two kept the old packet look as a control. The dog-first openings held viewers longer, so later drops kept that start.
Fresh breath test
The second drop focused on the offer. We tested a subscriber discount on the first box as a line of caption, as a closing card, and as a separate static aimed at people who had already watched a clip. Week three brought owner reactions: short close-ups of someone noticing fresher breath after a week, in their words.
Your first box, less
Barkwell approved every ad before launch, and the founder uploaded each drop into the existing campaigns. Every clip was cut for vertical and square placements, with captions on screen.
Week by week
- Week 1Barkwell shared customer dog photos and phone clips, and the first drop set dog-led openings against the packet shots.
- Week 2Chew-in-action clips led, so the second drop tried three ways to present the subscriber discount.
- Week 3New breeds and sizes joined the winning clip format, alongside owner reactions filmed after a week of use.
- Week 4The offer static ran as a follow-up to viewers of the dog clips, and the packet ads were paused.
The turning point
The ten second chew
It opened on a dog settling down with a chew and getting to work, so viewers saw the product doing its job before any claim was made. The subscriber discount at the end gave owners a simple next step.
Chapter 4
What changed
Purchases rose 104% compared with the four weeks before, counted from Barkwell's own store orders. More of those orders were subscriptions than in any earlier month.
The chew-in-action clips did most of the work at the top of the account. The offer static rarely won a cold audience on its own, but as a follow-up it turned interested viewers into subscribers.
The clearest lesson was simple: people buy dog chews for their dog, so the dog belongs in the first second of the ad. Once viewers saw a dog like theirs enjoying the chew, the ingredients became a reason to trust the brand.
+104%
Purchases
- Ads delivered
- 24
- Period
- 4 weeks
Measured in Barkwell's own store orders, compared with the four weeks before.
Chapter 5
What happens next
The next drops test puppy and senior dog angles, since owners worry about teething or gum health.
The ten second chew stays in rotation with new dogs every week, so the account always has a fresh version ready before viewers tire of the current one.
Sound familiar?
- Your ads show the product clearly, yet nobody stops scrolling for a packet.
- Your customers send you photos of their dogs all the time, and none of them reach your ads.
- Your subscription is the better deal, but most buyers never notice it exists.
Your version of this story
If you sell something people buy for a pet, your version begins with the ads you run today. Send them over, and your free review points out where attention drops and suggests three ideas led by the animal rather than the pack. Go ahead and six new ads arrive each Monday, every one testing a single idea, so the weekly numbers tell you which moment makes owners buy.
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