.png)
Belgium & Netherlands · Fractional CMO since August 2025
From ingredient supplier to lifestyle brand. From guessing to growing.
How Brangels transformed a Belgian fiber-based sugar alternative into a performance-driven consumer brand — delivering enterprise-grade marketing at a fraction of the cost.
+135%
Meta sales growth
+69%
Webshop revenue growth
+29%
Retail lift from brand alone
-73%
Google Ads cost per lead
A great product with no marketing engine
Zusto had genuine scientific differentiation — 65% prebiotic fiber, GI of 22, no laxative warning required. But the brand was operating like a B2B ingredient supplier trapped in a consumer product's body.
What was working
-
Genuine scientific product differentiation
-
Loyal customer base with 60% repeat rate
-
Four retail partners — Colruyt, AVEVE, Delhaize, Carrefour
-
Authentic founder-led brand story
What was broken
-
No dedicated marketing leadership
-
Only 9 static ad creatives — no video
-
Zero retail-specific marketing despite 65% retail revenue
-
No content strategy, no brand voice, no community
-
65% of revenue from retail — zero customer data from it
.png)
Zusto was a B2B ingredient supplier trapped in a premium lifestyle brand's body. Marketing was reactive, fragmented, and founder-dependent.
— The core problem we needed to solve
Fractional CMO. Full impact.
We didn't just advise — we built, operated, and owned the outcomes. Here's how we restructured Zusto's entire marketing operation in six months.
01
Brand Repositioning
Shifted Zusto from "sugar substitute" to "Enjoyment. Beyond Sugar." Using MindGenome synthetic audience research, we tested positioning across four psychological mind-sets before spending a single ad euro. The winning insight: lead with indulgence, not health claims. Health messaging resonated with only one mind-set. Indulgence reached all four.
02
Content Engine — From 9 Ads to 51
Built a four-pillar content strategy (Enjoyment Beyond Sugar, Smart Sweetness, Sweet Switches, Exploring Trends) and established a dedicated brand ambassador partnership producing 120 reels per year. Replaced one-off campaigns with an always-on creative machine.
03
Performance Media Overhaul
Restructured Meta and Google campaigns for efficiency. Lowered Google Ads CPL by 73% while scaling Meta to deliver 125% more orders at lower cost per acquisition. Every euro tracked, every campaign benchmarked.
04
Social App — Built from Scratch, at No Extra Charge
Designed and built a brand-owned customer advocacy app (receipt scanning, UGC rewards, referrals, WooCommerce integration) that solves the "invisible retail customer" problem. Development value: €20K+. Cost to Zusto: €0. Maintenance: €50/month.
05
The Retail Discovery
Restructured Meta and Google campaigns for efficiency. Lowered Google Ads CPL by 73% while scaling Meta to deliver 125% more orders at lower cost per acquisition. Every euro tracked, every campaign benchmarked.
Numbers that speak for themselves
Six months from engagement to platform launch and strategic transformation. Every metric measured, every result verified.
Meta Advertising
+135%
Increase in Meta-attributed sales. More creative output, better targeting, lower cost per acquisition — all simultaneously.
Orders
+61%
More orders year-over-year across all channels.
Webshop Revenue
+69%
D2C webshop growth (Aug–Dec 2025 vs. 2024).
Google Ads Efficiency
-73%
Cost per lead reduced by nearly three-quarters while maintaining volume.
Email Revenue
+52%
Email channel revenue growth in Q3, with 194% spike in August.
Retail Impact
+29%
Retail revenue lift from brand campaigns alone — zero retail-specific spend. Colruyt orders jumped from 2–3 pallets/month to 5. Proof that brand builds retail.
Before and after
Metric
Marketing leadership
Ad creatives
Content strategy
Google Ads CPL
Retail marketing
Customer data from retail
Loyalty / community
Monthly production runs
Before Brangels
Founder doing everything
9 static assets
Ad-hoc posting
€20.87
Zero spend
Zero visibility
None
3 per year
After 6 Months
Fractional CMO + dedicated team
51 creatives including video
4-pillar strategy + brand ambassador
€5.54 (-73%)
29% lift from brand campaigns
Social App with receipt scanning
PWA with points, referrals, UGC rewards
4+ per year (demand-driven acceleration)
Not advice. Infrastructure.
We didn't hand Zusto a strategy document and walk away. We built the systems, created the content, launched the campaigns, and delivered a loyalty platform — all within the retainer.
4-Pillar Content Strategy
Enjoyment Beyond Sugar, Smart Sweetness, Sweet Switches, Exploring Trends. A structured framework replacing ad-hoc posting with consistent brand storytelling across all channels.
Performance Media Architecture
Complete restructuring of Meta and Google campaigns. New audience segmentation, creative testing frameworks, and attribution modeling. Scaled spend while decreasing cost per acquisition.
Brand Ambassador Partnership
120 reels per year from a dedicated creator. Algorithm-friendly content that works for organic reach, paid media, and retail activation simultaneously.
120 reels/year · €200/piece
Zusto Social App — Proprietary Customer Platform
A brand-owned PWA solving the "invisible retail customer" problem. Receipt scanning captures store-level data. UGC rewards turn customers into content creators at €5–7.50 per piece. Birthday vouchers, referral mechanics, and WooCommerce integration — all built and delivered at no additional cost. Comparable platforms charge €50K+ to build or 30–35% ongoing fees.
€20K+ development value · €0 cost to client · €50/month maintenance
MindGenome Research
Synthetic audience testing using Dr. Howard Moskowitz's Mind Genomics methodology. Tested brand positioning across four psychological mind-sets before committing budget. Found that indulgence messaging outperformed health messaging across all segments.
Six months from handshake to transformation
Month 1–2
Foundation
Content strategy built, creative pipeline established, brand voice documented, four-pillar framework deployed.
Month 3
First Results
+92% D2C revenue year-over-year. Content engine running. Brand ambassador producing weekly.
Month 4–5
Acceleration
+125% Meta sales. -73% Google CPL. Email revenue surging. Retail lift becoming visible in the data.
Month 6
Platform Launch
Social App live. 2026 strategy presented and approved. Netherlands market entry in motion. Full transformation complete.
Enterprise-grade marketing. Fraction of the cost.
The fractional CMO model delivers the same strategic capability at 70%+ savings — because you're paying for impact, not overhead.
Traditional Path
Full-time CMO
Agency retainer
Creative agency
Analytics
Total
Brangels Fractional CMO
Strategy + execution
Creative team
Media management
Analytics & reporting
Total
Plus 5% performance bonus on growth above baseline — we win when you win.
The road to €1 million
2026 targets €1M in revenue (+44% growth) through retail expansion, Netherlands market entry, and the infrastructure built in 2025 now operating at full capacity.
2026 Revenue Target
€1M
+44% growth from €693K baseline
New Market
NL
Netherlands launch — paid campaigns activated March 2026
Projected ROI
5.4x
On total marketing investment of €185K
Retail Partners
