How an Ashwagandha Sip Found Fitness—by Owning the Pause

CASE STUDY: PRODUCT BRAND OF A WELLNESS BEVERAGE STARTUP

FOCUS: BRAND LAUNCH FAILURE | AUDIENCE: INVESTORS IN SLUGGISH BRANDS

I helped a wellness beverage shift its relevance as a boundary-setting ritual—not just a calming concoction.

The Brand Challenge

The founders had pedigree. They’d exited a successful food-tech venture and re-entered the market with a ready-to-drink calming beverage infused with ashwagandha, tulsi, and other Ayurvedic adaptogens. It was sleekly packaged, D2C-focused, and timed perfectly with the mental health and wellness boom. But while first-month traction came from founder PR and curiosity clicks, the second month brought silence. Repeat orders stagnated. Influencer shoutouts fizzled. The brand wasn’t gaining velocity—and no one could understand why.

Their mistake? They never truly validated the product-market fit. They assumed stress was a problem consumers wanted to drink away. But stress, in India especially, is managed in diverse ways—community, prayer, scrolling, tea breaks. The founders were solving a genuine issue, but with a format that lacked cultural stickiness or habitual grounding. The drink had no context in the user’s day. It wasn’t rejected—it was forgotten.

The Brand Insight

I didn’t start with the product; I started with behaviour. What I saw was that the audience did want calm. But they didn’t want to feel “treated.” They wanted a choice that felt empowering, not medicinal. In Indian culture, a drink with bitter undertones—no matter how natural—is only embraced when it fits into a known moment. This product hadn’t claimed any moment.

The real issue wasn’t lack of need—it was lack of ritual. Without a defined role in the user’s daily rhythm, the drink floated untethered. Calm, in this case, wasn’t enough. People didn’t need an elixir. They needed a cue—something that helped them consciously switch from stress to stillness. When I reframed the problem that way, everything unlocked.

The Big Brand Idea

My breakthrough idea was to stop selling the drink as a solution to stress, and start positioning it as a boundary ritual—a behavioural prompt that marked the end of noise. I renamed the signature variant “Off Mode”, turning it into a symbolic, emotional signal: “I’m done for the day.” Not a chill-out drink. A shutdown cue.

The new brand line became: “Not just calm. Closure.” This tiny pivot—from relief to ritual—gave the product cultural gravity. It now had a time, a place, and a purpose. It was no longer asking consumers to try something new; it was helping them do something familiar—just better.

The Brand New Strategy

I guided the brand to create anchoring moments around end-of-day decompression, aligning everything—from packaging to partnerships—around the theme of digital detox, after-work wind-downs, and reclaiming stillness.

We dropped influencer campaigns aimed at wellness hacks, and instead collaborated with creators who shared “end-of-day” routines. We designed social assets around mood shifts, not ingredients. The drink became the signal, not the star. This repositioning didn’t change the product—but it transformed its role.

10 New Content Directions

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

“Off Mode” Packaging Redesign – A clean, matte-finish label with minimal text and a subtle power-down symbol became a visual trigger for the ritual.
#ShutDownSip Campaign – A UGC-led social challenge where users shared the exact moment they drank the beverage to end their workday.
Wind-Down Routine Reels – Collaborated with productivity influencers to share calming evening routines featuring the product as the closing cue.
Spotify Playlist Tie-In – A 15-minute “Off Mode” music track launched with the drink, reinforcing the ritual with ambient audio.
Email Series: “Your Evenings, Reclaimed” – Bite-sized behavioural nudges on how to end the day intentionally—with the drink as part of the flow.
Popup Shop at Co-Working Cafes – Branded as “The Last Desk Drop,” offering free samples post-6pm with signs reading “You’ve done enough today.”
Glassware Collab – Limited-edition tumblers with gentle prompts like “No more tabs,” bundled with drink subscriptions.
End-of-Day Alarm Integration – Android shortcut users could receive a branded prompt with their 8pm reminder: “Time to go Off Mode.”
Partnered Content with Therapists – Short videos exploring why transition rituals help lower cortisol, lending scientific legitimacy to the ritual.
Visual Storytelling Ads – Instead of showing ingredients, videos showed urban stress, fading into candlelight and quiet, with the drink as the moment of shift.

Results Within 6 Months

41% increase in repeat purchases from existing customers.
Social engagement up 4x with ritual-focused storytelling vs ingredient-led posts.
Subscription signups grew by 27%—most between 6–9pm slots.
Featured by a top productivity podcast as a “daily off switch” worth adopting.

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 Pharma Brand Rewrote Its Prescription—From Cure to Care.“

And if you’re a solo expert looking to sharpen traction, this case study I worked on may resonate: “How a 5-Rupee Street Food Critic Became a Food Folklore Star.“

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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