SUNGOD Creator Performance Programme

The challenge

Culture and product cred without a performance engine behind creator spend

SUNGOD sat at the intersection of lifestyle and sport — talent generated aesthetic content but paid teams lacked whitelisted assets and consistent vetting criteria.

Organic posts spiked and faded; there was no roster discipline, usage-rights workflow or shared scorecard between partnerships and performance.

Leadership needed proof that creator spend could drive qualified reach and engagement within seasonal windows — not vanity impressions alone.

No creator tier system aligned to purchase intent (sport performance vs lifestyle)
Delayed whitelisting killed test windows during peak retail
Brand creative fatigue on Meta while creator winners went unscaled

The objective

Partner the right creators and scale winners for reach, engagement and payback

Stand up creator performance marketing: vet creators, partner for authenticity, and scale the right voices for maximum reach and engagement.

Hit efficiency targets on paid social while growing new-customer contribution from creator-led creative within two campaign cycles.

The solution

Vetting, briefing, whitelisting and weekly performance governance

DZIR audited historical creator posts, audience overlap and paid performance — then defined conversion-oriented creator tiers and offer architecture.

Production ran in two-week sprints: brief, shoot, legal clearance for whitelisting, immediate platform tests with kill/scale rules and retargeting on winners.

Step 1: Creator casting and vetting by intent

Creators mapped to sport performance, outdoor adventure and lifestyle edit segments — each with expected engagement bands and offer sensitivity.

Vetting included audience authenticity, past brand partnerships and willingness to grant paid usage windows upfront.

Step 2: Briefs, rights and production rhythm

Single-CTA briefs with UTMs and codes per asset; legal pack standardised whitelisting permissions across Meta and TikTok.

Sprint cadence kept fresh assets entering tests every fortnight during peak season.

Step 3: Whitelisting tests and scale

Top organic performers moved to whitelisted prospecting within 72 hours; retargeting layers engaged viewers who watched creator hooks.

Pre-registered KPIs and minimum spend per cell protected budget from premature scale decisions.

Business impact

Efficient reach, stronger engagement and a repeatable creator revenue model

+186%

Engagement rate on creator-led ads vs static brand creative

4.1×

ROAS on top creator whitelisting sets vs legacy assets

−34%

Blended CPA after scaling winning creator units

Engagement and paid efficiency lifted together

Creator-led ads delivered nearly triple the engagement rate of static brand units — improving quality scores and downstream conversion.

Blended CPA fell after winners replaced fatigued brand creative in prospecting.

ROAS and reach scaled on proven talent

Best whitelisting sets achieved multi-fold ROAS versus legacy assets at comparable spend levels.

Qualified reach expanded in lifestyle and sport audiences aligned to SUNGOD's positioning.

Operating model partnerships and performance could share

One backlog prioritised by revenue and engagement signal — reducing internal friction and speeding decisions.

Documented playbook enabled the next seasonal drop without rebuilding process from scratch.

* Programme results vary by sector, offer and market conditions. Metrics reflect client-approved reporting periods.

SUNGOD — creator-led growth for lifestyle and sport