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In a world increasingly focused on health and fitness, it’s no surprise that the sports nutrition industry is booming. According to Allied Market Research, the market was valued at $43.7 B in 2023 and is projected to reach $78.3 B by 2032. That’s a compound annual growth rate of 6.7%—a clear indicator of the immense potential in this space.
It was against this backdrop that Nestlé decided to move forward with a new supplement designed to boost energy production and endurance at the cellular level. The concept, born at The Accelerator powered by Nestlé, was in its early MVP stages when Bundl stepped in as a partner and co-investor.
Our role? To spearhead the venture’s global launch and successfully scale it into the premium brand it is today.
Read on to go behind the scenes of our joint venture and find out how we partnered with our target audience to shape the value proposition, ensure the right product-market fit, develop a winning marketing strategy, and scale it into a global brand that our customers love.
Prepping a global MVP launch
Our focus during this phase was to refine the existing MVP in preparation for its global launch. To do this, we leveraged several lean validation techniques, including smoke tests, online ads, and in-depth interviews, to learn more about customer needs, identify our target personas, refine our messaging and optimise our pricing strategy. This was done using continuous “design, build, and learn” loops to make quick iterations based on customer insights.
The approach enabled us to gain a deep understanding of what athletes expect and the characteristics they value most in their supplements. Here’s a breakdown of the next steps in the process:
Branding
The market is flooded with generic claims of enhanced performance, so standing out was essential. We tested 15 different branding options, tailoring our approach through smoke tests, testing different online ads, and leveraging the feedback from different user personas to nail down the strongest concept.
This is how we landed on the concept for the initial launch: “XTRACT, the world’s first OLE-based pre-exercise shot specifically designed to help endurance athletes boost their natural potential, reduce fatigue and achieve next-level performance.”
Marketing
Establishing a strong online presence was key. This involved creating the product website, launching targeted online ads, and establishing a social media presence using platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. Our efforts focused on positioning XTRACT as a thriving global community of endurance athletes with a simple mission: to empower athletes from all walks of life to break personal records and unleash their full potential in every training session.
The community aspect was heavily emphasised, with a newsletter, a blog with tips on how to get the most out of training, inspiring athlete stories and a sponsorship program to help aspiring athletes enter known endurance events like the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc, Marathon de Sables and more.
Final product development
The design of XTRACT’s bottle and packaging was developed to appeal directly to our target audience. We took their direct feedback and preferences into account for everything—from the colour scheme to the bottle shape and even the packaging design.
XTRACT's initial launch targeted Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Austria, and we successfully secured over 1500 customers.
From MVP to scale
Taking the venture from MVP to scale involved ramping up our market presence across Europe, enhancing brand trust, and expanding our product line to resonate with the needs of our target audience in new regions. This included a new go-to-market strategy and establishing clear objectives and key results (OKR).
The first step was to update the brand, using customer insights to create our next iteration, which included a new website, messaging, colours, social media, and ads. The venture's name was also changed from XTRACT to OLEUS, with every aspect of the new branding and marketing strategy designed to boost our overall customer experience.
The product line was expanded from our flagship pre-exercise shot to include a recovery shot designed to rebuild depleted muscles and a daily shot designed to build foundational cell health.
The expansion of our product line was a strategic move to address a broader range of target audience needs.
Finally, we were able to launch OLEUS in two new countries: Italy and France.
The results
Our journey from XTRACT to OLEUS has been full of learnings which we continue to leverage to evolve and improve the brand. We’re excited to announce that plans are already in the works to expand to more European countries in the coming months.
Here's a snapshot of the impact since scaling:
- Sales revenue increased by 60%, reflecting strong market acceptance
- Online conversions grew by 36%, highlighting an improved user experience
- Returning customers increased by 29%, showcasing the success of the products and our customer satisfaction efforts
For more details and updates about OLEUS, be sure to check out our case page or visit the OLEUS website.
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