Stirring demand in the off-season to help achieve new customer growth

Kettle & Fire, a company that makes bone broth & soup, wanted to overcome the seasonal dip in broth sales during the low-demand summer months by finding ways to accelerate category growth and improve ad efficiency.

The brand sought to increase their off-season visibility, acquire new customers, improve and keep their return on ad spend above $5, and build momentum for the peak season.

They combined their performance and awareness tactics across Search, Display and CTV to turn a seasonal slowdown into a summer growth opportunity.

Kettle & Fire began by optimizing search performance during the summer months. They evaluated ad placements and prioritized high-impact opportunities like Stock Up and Homepage. Sponsored Products automatic campaigns helped improve retention through these placements, while manual campaigns focused on strategic unbranded keywords such as “bone broth” in Search in-grid to help capture new customers.

To improve visibility in the mid-funnel, the brand used Sponsored Videos and Sponsored Brands with engaging creatives that highlighted Kettle & Fire’s health-forward messaging. Onsite Display helped them reach contextually relevant audiences to help build brand awareness within the soup and broth category.

Launching CTV campaigns through Walmart DSP and The Trade Desk helped Kettle & Fire extend their reach by engaging offsite audiences. Throughout the campaign, the team regularly optimized bids, targeting and creatives to help maintain cost efficiency and sustain growth. 

Sources: Walmart first-party data, June. 1–Sept. 30, 2025. New-to-brand is an ad-exposed customer who purchases a brand’s product from Walmart's site or app after not purchasing the brand the previous 12 months.