Kat’s original ownership
- Sampler concept, physical box design and operationalization
- Discovery-to-reorder acquisition logic
- Photo-contest, UGC and first-party audience system
- Hickory Smoked line from idea through 2023 Global Pet Expo launch
Email Kat ↗
Case study / Product innovation × social acquisition × subscription growth
Best Bully Sticks
Building a social-to-subscription acquisition engine
Role
Head of Growth, 2020 to 2023
232K+Visible views on one 2022 customer unboxing repost
2021→26Observable product-platform endurance
2Original platforms later combined: sampler + smoked
Executive summary
Turn product-choice friction into a low-risk discovery experience, then connect social participation, first-party audience growth, ecommerce and lifecycle marketing to repeat and subscription behavior.
The challenge
What needed
to change.
Best Bully Sticks offered many unfamiliar chew types. New customers needed an easier way to discover what their dog preferred, while the business needed a more valuable acquisition path than one-and-done promotional traffic.
The insight
The unlock.
The first order could become both product research and content. A guided sampler would help each dog choose a favorite, give pet parents confidence to reorder and naturally create the kind of unboxing and reaction content people wanted to share.
Campaign evidence
See the work
in motion.
Documented launch / November 6, 2021
The finished box, guide and find-your-favorite promise entered the market
Organic UGC / April 29, 2022
A customer unboxing earned 232,644 visible views
Recurring participation + rescue support
Best Teefs turned photo entries into weekly community and cause moments
The ecommerce experience in the wild
A customer photo preserved the original I Love Chew Box landing page
In-market product storytelling
Creator and customer content made the assortment understandable and desirable
Observable durability / 2026
The present team later combined Kat’s sampler and Hickory Smoked platforms
Current-team paid acquisition
Static value creative extends the product platform
Current-team creator video
A native unboxing format carries the discovery experience forward
Product-platform durability
What Kat built. What the company kept building.
The cleanest proof is not a borrowed post-launch revenue number. It is continued organizational investment: two ideas Kat originated were maintained, extended and eventually combined years after she left for ProCaps.
Present-team execution
- 2026 pricing, offer and current assortment
- Current landing page and Meta creative
- Later Hickory Smoked sampler combination
- Ongoing campaign testing and optimization
Independent archive
The receipts
still exist.
Contemporary reporting and industry recognition preserve the campaign, its operating model and its measurable result.
01 / March 28, 2022
FIDO Friendly
Best Bully Sticks’ Sampler Box Offers A Variety Of Sumptuous Chews
Independent coverage described the boxes as back in stock and crowd favorites, documenting the labeled guide and easy reorder behavior.Open original source ↗02 / Current product record
Best Bully Sticks
BBS Sampler Boxes
The current product retains the guided find-your-favorite discovery logic established in the original sampler platform.Open original source ↗03 / Captured August 31, 2026
Meta Ad Library
Current Hickory Smoked sampler acquisition creative
The present team continues to invest in the combined sampler and smoked platforms. Current advertising is not represented as Kat’s execution.Open original source ↗
The value loop
How the idea
compounds.
- 01Choice friction→
- 02Guided trial→
- 03Shareable experience→
- 04Favorite identified→
- 05Repeat and subscription
The outcome creates fuel for the next cycle.
The operating system
From idea
to execution.
- 01
Conceived and designed a physical sampler experience with individually packaged chews and a guide to help customers identify and reorder favorites
- 02
Operationalized the box as a low-friction acquisition product and gateway toward repeat and subscription purchasing
- 03
Built recurring photo contests that generated participation, organic UGC and rescue support
- 04
Connected ViralSweep with Shopify to turn contest activity into identifiable first-party prospects for ecommerce nurturing
- 05
Created the Hickory Smoked product line from idea through commercialization and its 2023 Global Pet Expo debut
- 06
Connected social, paid acquisition, Shopify Plus, Klaviyo, Recharge and retention strategy across the customer journey
Supporting evidence
What the
work shows.
- The November 6, 2021 launch post shows the finished sampler, guide, discovery positioning, gift use case and direct ecommerce CTAs.
- A customer unboxing repost dated April 29, 2022 shows 232,644 visible views, demonstrating the social potential built into the physical experience.
- The March 1, 2022 Best Teefs contest documents a weekly UGC mechanic that awarded $100 to the customer and another $100 to the winner’s chosen rescue.
- FIDO Friendly reported the boxes back in stock and already crowd favorites by March 2022, independently documenting the guide-to-reorder logic.
- In 2026, the present team is advertising a Hickory Smoked sampler—combining two product platforms Kat originated. Current execution is shown only as evidence of durability.
Product innovationGrowth leadershipPackaging and merchandisingSocial acquisitionUGC strategyCause marketingShopify ecommerceLifecycle and subscriptionTrade launchCAC/LTV strategy