Prior Experience.
Two engagements that inform how we approach Zolv: a ground-up brand and commerce build, and a digital growth and partnership architecture for a nationally scaled beverage brand.
Brand to Commerce
Ecosystem.
Kinzie Foods launched with no existing brand, audience, digital presence, or marketing infrastructure. The engagement covered everything from initial strategy through product identity, ecommerce build, content production, and ongoing campaign execution.
This was a bootstrapped project. Every decision was made with budget constraints and implementation in mind.
The core challenge: build a brand system capable of supporting customer acquisition, trust, and retention in a competitive consumer category, starting from zero.
Strategy before design.
Before any creative work began, we established the strategic foundation that would guide every subsequent decision. Brand purpose, audience definition, product positioning, competitive landscape, and voice.
Brand purpose · Customer motivations · Audience personas · Lifestyle alignment · Product positioning
Competitive landscape · Voice and tone · Shared values between customer and company
- Defined reason to exist in category
- Audience clarity before any asset is made
- Positioning framework for all future decisions
Brand system development.
Visual identity built to scale across products, campaigns, retail, and customer touchpoints. The goal was a system, not just a logo.
- Logo system
- Brand identity
- Typography
- Packaging direction
- Label architecture
- Product naming
- Flavor differentiation
- Brand standards
Production and tangible assets.
Strategy translated into production-ready assets. Labels, packaging files, photography direction, marketing collateral, and launch materials.
- Product labels
- Packaging production files
- Photography direction
- Marketing collateral
- Content systems
- Launch materials
Commerce and acquisition systems.
As the brand moved toward launch, we built the customer acquisition and retention infrastructure. Shopify storefront, TikTok Shop integration, email acquisition, lifecycle campaigns, and conversion-focused user flows.
Shopify storefront · TikTok Shop integration · Conversion-focused user flows
Email acquisition · Lifecycle campaigns · Seasonal promotions
- Shopify storefront
- Customer journey mapping
- Email acquisition
- Promotional campaigns
- Social content planning
- TikTok Shop integration
- Product storytelling
- Launch content
- Seasonal campaigns
- Conversion-focused user flows
Adapting to real constraints.
Shipping economics created a profitability and conversion problem. Customer order patterns meant shipping costs were eating into margins and suppressing purchase frequency.
We built a customer-facing solution: bundle creation, free shipping thresholds, and supporting campaign assets. The logistics issue became a promotional mechanic that improved both unit economics and customer experience.
- Bundle creation
- Free shipping thresholds
- Promotional campaigns
- Supporting creative assets
- Messaging adjustments
A logistics constraint turned into a campaign that improved customer experience and supported the underlying business objective.
Content at scale.
A content ecosystem built to support multiple channels and customer touchpoints across the full purchase journey.
- Studio photography
- Lifestyle photography
- Product photography
- Customer reaction content
- Brand storytelling films
- Social campaign videos
- Seasonal promotions
- Super Bowl themed content
- Product education content
- Conversion-focused creative
Full launch ecosystem delivered.
Kinzie went to market with a complete brand identity, product packaging, ecommerce infrastructure, customer acquisition systems, retention systems, and a full content and photography library.
Shared conditions.
The deliverables differ. The process is the same.
How Audacity was formed.
Kinzie was the first project Corey Jones and Jordan Verroi worked on together. Building it clarified the relationship between brand strategy, creative execution, growth systems, and customer acquisition.
That collaboration led to the formation of Audacity Culture. The same integrated approach we used on Kinzie is the framework behind every engagement we take on.
Brand strategy. Creative execution. Growth systems. Customer acquisition. Unified under one operational structure from day one.
Early Investor.
Founding Operator.
Growth Architecture.
Invested personal capital and served as an early operating partner from the ground up. Worked directly with the founders across strategy, ecommerce, operations, sales enablement, distribution, marketing, partnerships, hiring, and media.
This case study covers the digital growth architecture: the systems, channels, and partnerships that supported Owen's expansion from startup to nationally distributed platform.
Owen's grew from a hospitality-first startup to 50,000+ accounts, 20,000+ retail locations, and projected sales exceeding one million cases annually.
Building the infrastructure.
In the early years, Owen's had no digital infrastructure. We built it: website, digital presence, social accounts and strategy, direct-to-consumer ordering program, and Amazon marketplace operations.
Developed the direct-to-consumer ordering program and ecommerce infrastructure, enabling Owen's to sell outside of on-premise channels for the first time.
Launched and scaled Amazon marketplace operations, creating a second commerce channel that became critical during the COVID pivot period.
- Website and digital presence
- Social media accounts and strategy
- DTC ordering program
- Ecommerce infrastructure
- Amazon marketplace launch
- Sales materials and pitch decks
- Investor presentations
- Hiring and team development
COVID pivot and digital acceleration.
Nearly half of Owen's revenue was tied to on-premise channels when COVID hit. The digital infrastructure built in the prior years became the company's primary growth channel during the shutdown.
Brands with digital infrastructure built before they needed it were the ones that grew during the shutdown. Owen's was one of them.
- Accelerated DTC ecommerce
- Expanded Amazon sales
- Accelerated digital marketing
- New retail distribution
- Maintained growth through industry shutdown
Barstool Sports and the Transfusion.
Supported growth initiatives surrounding the Barstool partnership. The engagement covered podcast sponsorship, social, video, events, PGA Championship and Ryder Cup integration, and Barstool media properties.
Official Cocktail Mixer of Barstool Sports. Presenting Sponsor of Fore Play Podcast. PGA Championship and Ryder Cup activation. 53M+ impressions.
The co-branded Transfusion Mix became one of Owen's flagship products and a primary driver of national brand awareness.
Live Nation and national activation.
By 2024, Owen's had secured a partnership with Live Nation and expanded into concerts, festivals, sports properties, and experiential marketing at scale.
- 98+ venues
- 766,000+ attendees reached
- Nearly 100M impressions via Live Nation
- Festival programming and brand activations
National platform.
Owen's is now a nationally distributed beverage platform with retail presence, sports partnerships, and a projected case volume reflecting sustained compound growth.
- Official Mixer of the PGA Tour Transfusion Program
- Official Mixer of the PBA Tour
- Live Nation activations nationwide
- Southern Glazer's national distribution
Production quality.
Connor Reilly is our embedded studio and media production partner. His work spans automotive, hospitality, lifestyle, and luxury consumer brand campaigns across Land Rover, Lamborghini, Equinox Hotel, and others.
For Zolv, Connor leads product photography, lifestyle photography, campaign visuals, and motion assets from day one. Selected work below shows the production register we apply to every shoot.
Product photography · Lifestyle photography · Launch visuals · Motion assets · Studio and location production · Editorial visual storytelling
The Kinzie engagement and the Owen's growth work represent the two primary capabilities Audacity brings to Zolv: ground-up brand and commerce architecture, and scalable digital growth systems. Connor's production portfolio represents the visual standard applied across all of it.