How a Hair Oil Brand Promised Growth But Never Grew Itself

CASE STUDY: PRODUCT BRAND OF A HAIRCARE OIL COMPANY

FOCUS: BRAND BURN RATE | AUDIENCE: INVESTORS IN SLUGGISH BRANDS

I helped a haircare oil brand that had sky-high clickthrough rates—but no conversions or brand growth to match.

The Brand Challenge

The brand in question had built an attractive D2C proposition—a sleekly bottled ayurvedic hair oil, positioned for urban men dealing with premature hair loss. Its ingredients were well-formulated, and its packaging looked contemporary. The marketing campaign centred on a powerful hook: “Visible hair growth in just 4 weeks.” Rolled out through reels, influencer collaborations, and a heavy performance media budget, the campaign delivered what most early-stage investors love to see: high CTR, low CPC, and exceptional digital engagement.

But just beneath the surface, the brand was bleeding. Despite the phenomenal clickthrough rates, users were not buying. There were no conversions, no adds-to-cart, no lift in brand engagement. The landing page was underwhelming, the differentiation unclear, and the product story nearly invisible. For the investors funding this performance push, the situation was frustrating. Their dollars had bought reach, not revenue. They were staring at campaign dashboards filled with activity—but with no business traction, no buyer belief, and no brand growth to justify the burn.

The Brand Insight

While the surface-level metrics suggested interest, what the numbers hid was a deeper void—there was no trust-building infrastructure behind the campaign. The product claim was bold, but there was no reason to believe it. The landing page offered no clear ingredient story, no user journey, no expert assurance. The promise of 4-week growth simply floated without support. For a consumer market already flooded with hair oil promises, this campaign had added just one more shout to the noise, rather than carving a credible space for itself.

Even more telling was the absence of emotional or scientific anchors. Users clicked on the ads because they were well-edited and perfectly optimised—but they left as quickly as they arrived. The brand had confused visibility for viability. It had treated the campaign as the brand itself, rather than an invitation to engage with something deeper. And for investors, this meant that every rupee spent was achieving awareness but zero conversion—a dangerous loop of vanity metrics and actual decline.

The Big Brand Idea

The breakthrough came when I proposed that the brand stop chasing frictionless performance and instead build frictionless belief. I reframed the product—not as a miracle oil that works in 4 weeks, but as part of a 90-day care ritual grounded in both ayurveda and contemporary scalp science. Instead of pushing urgency, we chose to build conviction. That meant creating a storyline that unpacked each ingredient, explained the oiling method, and reframed the experience of use as a long-term act of self-investment.

Rather than spend more on reach, we invested in depth and differentiation. The new positioning focused on “slow regrowth, real results.” We layered the product promise with expert explainers, user-guided journeys, and subtle proof points. The aim was to shift from campaign attention to conversion gravity. The product remained the same—but the lens through which it was seen changed dramatically. And that was enough to stop the burn and start the traction.

The Brand New Strategy

I rewired the entire communication funnel—moving away from isolated ad creatives toward an interconnected narrative that buyers could flow through. First, I replaced the high-click reels with education-led visual stories: “How scalp health rebuilds hair strength.” I created a three-touch funnel: awareness, trust, and intent. Each part of the user journey was supported by new assets—ingredient explainers, doctor videos, and real customer experiences that didn’t oversell, but over-clarified.

Next, I rebuilt the landing experience. I added a progress-based buyer guide: “What to expect in 30, 60, and 90 days.” This gave the brand a distinct tone—measured, knowledgeable, and emotionally calming. The checkout process was simplified, and we added post-purchase content to keep buyers engaged. The campaign no longer ended at the click—it began there. For investors, the biggest shift was this: ad spend became efficient again, not just effective. Performance improved not because of more traffic, but because the brand got somewhere meaningful to go.

10 New Content Directions

Here are 10 strategic ideas developed (and several executed) to support the new brand direction:

“Scalp Stories” Instagram Series – Real users share weekly check-ins over 90 days with subtle brand placement.
Doctor-Led Ingredient Explainers – Short videos decoding how herbs like bhringraj and amla work on the follicle.
Interactive Oil Ritual Quiz – Visitors answered questions to receive a custom 90-day oiling calendar by email.
UGC Challenge: “Roots in Progress” – Buyers post selfies showing changes over time to win loyalty rewards.
Mid-Funnel Retargeting Ads – Educational videos shown only to those who clicked but didn’t convert.
New Landing Page Format – Included ingredient index, timeline expectations, customer video, and brand voice layer.
Amazon A+ Content – Enhanced product listings with trust signals, customer photos, and certification mentions.
Email Funnel Rebuild – Week-by-week trust-building emails that map product journey with scalp expectations.
Festival Campaigns Focused on Gifting – Bundles sold for Diwali with the narrative “care over cure.”
YouTube Mini-Documentary – 3-minute film following three users over their 90-day experience with the product.

Results Within 6 Months

Landing page conversion rate grew from 0.6% to 4.1%.
Repeat purchase intent jumped to 36% by day 90.
Customer acquisition cost dropped 41% with the same media spend.
Investors saw measurable uplift in revenue attribution per click—not just CTR.

CONFIDENTIALITY CAVEAT: This case study represents a confidential engagement. For privacy, specific brand identifiers, campaign names, and project phases have been withheld. It has been shared with permission while preserving client discretion.

Extra Tip for Broader Perspective

If you’re brand owner or manager seeking stronger brand performance, here’s a case study that could interest you: “How a Shiny Cookware Brand Lost Its Heat in Small Towns.“

And if you’re a solo expert looking to sharpen traction, this case study I worked on may resonate: “She Treated Hidden Trauma—Until SEO Helped Her To Be Seen.“

Take your brand from stuck to full throttle − with one bold strategic shift

"One BIG IDEA can turn brand stagnation into unstoppable movement. Spots are limited each week—book your breakthrough session now."

Shobha Ponnappa

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