Background
Lumin Skincare competes in crowded DTC men's grooming with performance marketing as primary growth lever. Creative fatigue was accelerating as ad costs rose industry-wide.
The challenge
Lumin relied on a small set of aging ad creatives. Performance declined quarter over quarter, and the internal team could not test fast enough to find new winners before CPA targets broke.
Our approach
NexisBlue introduced a high-velocity testing system:
- Modular concept frameworks—problem, solution, proof, offer—mixed and matched weekly
- UGC storytelling templates with diverse creator demographics
- Motion variations segmented by audience pain points (acne, aging, simplicity)
- Automated reporting flagging statistical winners for scale
Creative refresh cycles moved from weeks to days with clear kill/scale rules.
Media coordination
Media buyers received new asset batches every Monday with test budgets pre-allocated. Winners entered scaling campaigns by Thursday when significance allowed.
The results
- 56% lower CPA within 90 days
- 12 new winning concepts identified monthly on average
- Creative refresh cycle reduced from weeks to days
- ROAS improved 31% on Meta and TikTok combined
Key learnings
DTC brands win on testing velocity. Systems beat inspiration—Lumin's turnaround came from process, not one breakthrough ad.
