CASE STUDY ·

HealthyCell

AppLovin Ads

HealthyCell needed proof that a new channel adds real demand.

( The Actual Brief )

Every DTC brand asks the same question when diversifying off Meta: is a new channel adding real demand, or just re-splitting the same customers under a different name. HealthyCell ran the test directly. Flixr built creative natively for AppLovin Ads and put it head to head against the brand's existing repurposed Meta assets, to find out for real.

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CLIENT

HealthyCell

VERTICAL

DTC, Supplements

CHANNEL

AppLovin Ads

FORMAT

Native, 9:16

( About The Client )

A direct-to-consumer supplement brand built around MICROGEL, a pill-free, gel-based delivery format designed for people who have trouble swallowing pills, roughly 40% of Americans by the brand's own estimate. The pitch is absorption and ease of use, a functional, considered purchase.

3

Native concepts tested

100%

Native casting, real performers

( Part of the same system trusted across DTC )

The Challenge

The System In Motion

Native Production

New demand, or the same demand twice

Two things worth separating clearly: who HealthyCell is as a brand, and what they actually needed from Flixr.

( The Challenge )

THE BRAND

HealthyCell sells a science claim: pill-free MICROGEL delivery built specifically for people who struggle to swallow pills. That's a functional, considered purchase, driven by whether it actually works for the buyer.

THE CHALLENGE

All of HealthyCell's creative on AppLovin Ads was repurposed from Meta assets, nothing built specifically for the channel. The brand needed to diversify spend away from Meta, but had a real, unanswered question first: would AppLovin Ads actually bring in new demand, or just split the same customers Meta was already reaching.

Three native concepts, one clear test

Rather than guess whether AppLovin Ads could add real demand, Flixr built three native concepts spanning three products in HealthyCell's range, Bioactive Multi, Heart & Vascular Health, and Glucose Support, each testing a different hook, to run against HealthyCell's existing repurposed Meta creative. Each concept below is one of those three bets.

( The System in Motion )

Replaced 14 Pills and Takes 2 Seconds

Cell-Level Decisions

Future Me Is Glad I Did This

Built natively for the channel

Flixr built three native concepts for the channel. Each leads with a specific, concrete claim: pill-replacement, a decision-making angle, and habit integration. That's a direct, product-forward approach, produced for AppLovin Ads from the ground up.

( Native Production )

The two AppLovin ad interface examples on file show two different registers: one lifestyle, no product shot, no specific claim; the other leading hard with the numbers, MicroGel replacing pills and outperforming alternatives, stated outright. That range, soft framing versus a hard product claim, is exactly what a bake-off is built to test: which register actually earns the click.

Every DTC brand asks this before shifting budget to a new channel: is this actually new demand, or the same customers reallocated. HealthyCell's bake-off answers it with data. The three native AppLovin Ads concepts, together, outperformed the brand's repurposed Meta baseline on both interaction and purchase, meaning the channel added demand of its own.

That's the argument for treating AppLovin Ads as a genuine diversification move.

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Frequently Asked ( questions )

Book A Call

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What is AppLovin Ads?

AppLovin is a mobile ad network best known for scaling mobile games. AppLovin Ads is its native ad platform, recently rebranded from its former name, Axon. It's increasingly available to DTC brands as a new acquisition channel alongside Meta and TikTok.

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What's a creative bake-off, and why does it prove incrementality?

A bake-off runs creative sets against each other under the same conditions, at the same time, on the same channel, here, one repurposed baseline against three native concepts. If the native concepts were just reaching the same Meta audience, they'd perform similarly to the baseline. When they clearly outperform it, that's evidence the channel is reaching people the old creative wasn't, real incremental demand, not the same customers counted twice.

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How long did the bake-off run?

Add the actual test window and sample size.

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What's actually included in the Creative Velocity system?

Concept and scripting, native production (casting, talent, filming), launch, and a performance readout with a roadmap for what's next. It is not a batch of videos handed off with no read on why they worked.

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Does this apply to other DTC brands worried about cannibalizing Meta spend?

HealthyCell is the proof point. Any brand asking whether a new channel adds real demand or just reallocates existing customers can run the same bake-off: existing creative against native creative, on the same channel, at the same time. The comparison is what answers the question, not a guess based on platform reach alone.

We’ll use this call to:

Learn about your business and goals.
We audit your creative system to identify bottlenecks, missed signals, and opportunities to accelerate learning.
Explore how Flixr can support your creative needs.
Answer any questions you have.

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