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7-Figure DTC Pet Care Brand
Google Ads · Campaign Architecture · Jan–May 2026

How a pet care brand separated brand demand from new-customer acquisition in Google Ads

A strong headline number can hide what is earning it. Here, brand searches carried the average.

7.16×
Blended ROAS · Jan–May 2026 · Prior baseline not available
24.92× Brand Search ROAS
7.29–7.60× Non-Brand Search Range
5.02–5.08× PMax + Shopping Range
The challenge

Brand-name searches converted at 24.92×, but they sat in the same view as the campaigns finding new customers. One blended figure made it impossible to judge acquisition on its own.

What changed

We rebuilt the account around four roles with separate expectations:

  • Brand search
  • High-intent non-brand search
  • Shopping and Performance Max
  • A dedicated upper-funnel test

Customer purchase data was added to Performance Max as an audience signal.

The result

7.16×blended ROAS
Jan–May 2026

$221K platform-attributed revenue on $30.9K of spend.

By roleBrand search 24.92× on about 8% of spend. Non-brand search 7.29–7.60×. Performance Max and Shopping 5.02–5.08×.

ContextBrand search reflects demand the client already had. The upper-funnel test ran below 1× by design and is judged on its own role.

Scope of work
  • google ads
  • campaign architecture
  • brand search
  • performance max
Jan 1 – May 31, 2026 · All 8 Campaigns
7.16× Blended ROAS
$221K Platform-Attributed Revenue $30.9K Managed Spend
Google Ads campaign dashboard showing 7.16× blended ROAS across 8 campaigns during January to May 2026. Campaign names redacted per client NDA.

Google Ads · Jan 1 – May 31, 2026 · 7.16× blended ROAS · $30,911 managed spend · 8 campaignsCampaign names withheld per client NDA. Conversion value is platform-reported by Google Ads.

The account had strong branded search volume. Brand-name queries were converting at 24.92×, but that existing demand is not the same thing as new-customer acquisition. The two were being measured in the same view, which made non-brand performance harder to diagnose on its own.

We reorganized the account into four roles: branded demand, high-intent non-brand Search, broader product discovery via Shopping and Performance Max, and dedicated upper-funnel testing. Across January–May 2026, eight campaigns generated $221K in platform-attributed revenue from $30.9K in managed spend. Brand Search recorded 24.92×; non-brand Search 7.29–7.60×; PMax + Shopping 5.02–5.08×; the upper-funnel test below 1×, as expected.

The spend level here is lower than many accounts in this portfolio. The patterns are not. Blended ROAS inflated by brand demand, acquisition campaigns measured without isolating their contribution, upper-funnel spend with no clear performance expectation set before it goes live: these appear in accounts at every budget level. The architecture documented here scales.

The brand demand was already there. The rebuild made it measurable separately from acquisition.

Findings

Branded and non-branded demand were measured together

Brand-name searches and broader product or category searches were not separated. These query types convert at very different rates. Combining them made the blended result less useful for diagnosing acquisition performance on its own.

Non-brand campaigns covered different intent levels

Higher-intent product searches and broader category discovery were evaluated within the same structure. Their conversion behavior differed. Separating them so higher-intent Search could be assessed independently made performance easier to read for both.

Upper-funnel activity had no separate measurement frame

There was limited dedicated upper-funnel activity. Google Ads was primarily capturing demand close to conversion, not testing broader reach. We added a dedicated upper-funnel layer and evaluated it separately from Search and Shopping, with no expectation of matching Brand Search on immediate ROAS.

When branded and non-branded demand are mixed together, blended ROAS masks what acquisition is actually doing. The Growth Diagnostic examines where account-level performance is coming from and whether the campaign structure makes that visible.

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Documented Campaign Performance

One blended result, with four campaign roles contributing to it differently

The 7.16× result included campaigns serving different stages of demand. Separating those roles made each one interpretable on its own terms.

Campaign Role
Primary Responsibility
Reported ROAS
Measurement Context
Branded Search
Captures brand-name searches from people searching for the brand directly
24.92×
Highest-intent demand; Jan–May 2026
Core Non-Brand Search
High-intent product and category searches from people not searching by brand name
7.29–7.60×
Range across non-brand Search campaigns, Jan–May 2026
Performance Max + Shopping
Feed-led product discovery across the product range
5.02–5.08×
Range across PMax and Shopping campaigns, Jan–May 2026
Discovery / Upper Funnel
Broader reach and consideration; evaluated separately from conversion-focused campaigns
Below 1×
Immediate platform ROAS; not benchmarked against Brand Search
Account Total  ·  8 Campaigns
Blended result across all campaign roles  ·  Jan–May 2026
7.16×
$221K platform-attributed revenue  ·  $30.9K spend. Brand Search accounts for a structurally higher share.

Campaign-level ROAS figures are not interchangeable. These campaigns served different forms of demand. A lower reported ROAS does not mean a campaign was underperforming against its role.

Account Structure

From a blended view to defined campaign roles

The rebuild did not create the client’s brand demand. It separated campaign responsibilities so branded demand, acquisition, product discovery, and upper-funnel investment could each be evaluated on its own terms.

Before
Mixed performance view: demand types not separated
Brand-name searches
Included in blended  ·  High conversion rate
High-intent product searches
No separate measurement  ·  Variable conversion rate
Broader category demand
No separate view  ·  Lower conversion rate
Upper-funnel / discovery
Not present  ·  No dedicated structure
All demand types → one blended account result
7.16×  blended, unreadable by role

Different forms of demand were difficult to evaluate independently.

After
Clearer campaign responsibilities
Brand Demand
Branded Search
Captures brand-name searches
24.92×
High-Intent Acquisition
Core Non-Brand Search
Product and category demand
7.29–7.60×
Broader Product Discovery
Performance Max + Shopping
Feed-led and broader product coverage
5.02–5.08×
Upper-Funnel Testing
Discovery
Broader reach and consideration
Below 1×

What changed

Isolated Brand Search

We separated Brand Search so branded demand could be measured and managed independently from broader product and category searches. Non-brand performance became legible on its own.

Separated non-brand Search by intent

Higher-intent product and category searches were split from broader discovery so each could be evaluated against relevant expectations. Bidding settings were reviewed against the conversion behavior of each group.

Added customer purchase data as Performance Max audience signals

Verified customer purchase data was added as an audience signal in Performance Max. Audience signals guide Google’s machine learning but do not restrict targeting to the uploaded list. Brand and query controls were used to reduce overlap between Performance Max and Search.

Launched a dedicated upper-funnel test

Discovery activity was launched separately from Search and Shopping to test broader reach. Its immediate platform ROAS was below 1×. It was evaluated on a broader set of indicators, not held to Brand Search benchmarks.

Set expectations by campaign role

Each campaign was reviewed against its role and available conversion volume. Brand Search, acquisition, product discovery, and upper-funnel activity were judged against what each was built to do. No single shared ROAS target applied.

Worth Stating Clearly

We did not create the brand equity behind the 24.92× Brand Search result. That demand belonged to the client.

Our work was to give it a clearer campaign responsibility so it could be measured separately. Acquisition activity could then be evaluated without a blended number obscuring the picture.

Documented Account Performance

Documented account performance with campaign-level visibility

The account numbers are in the screenshot above. What the restructure added was a way to read them by role rather than as one undifferentiated result.

Campaign Role ROAS Share of Spend & Revenue Context
Brand Demand Branded Search 24.92× ≈8% of spend
≈26% of revenue
Existing customers searching by brand name. High conversion rate reflects pre-existing demand, not acquisition cost.
High-Intent Acquisition Core Non-Brand Search 7.29–7.60× ≈50% of spend
≈51% of revenue
High-intent product and category searches; evaluated independently from branded demand. Jan–May 2026.
Broader Product Discovery Performance Max + Shopping 5.02–5.08× ≈30% of spend
≈22% of revenue
Range across PMax and Shopping campaigns. Customer Match signal applied to PMax at launch.
Upper-Funnel Testing Discovery / Consideration Below 1× ≈12% of spend
≈1% of revenue
Not benchmarked against Brand Search. Evaluated on reach and downstream indicators, not immediate platform ROAS.
Account Total  ·  All 8 Campaigns Blended (Jan–May 2026) 7.16× $30.9K managed spend $221K platform-attributed revenue. Blended figure includes Brand Search, which converts at a structurally higher rate than acquisition campaigns.

The value of the rebuild was not a cleaner account diagram. It was knowing how much of the result came from existing brand demand, how much from new-customer acquisition, and which campaigns were doing what. Each could then be managed accordingly.

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Phil Chan Co-Founder & Head of Paid Acquisition MESAscale
View on LinkedIn
About the strategist

Phil has more than a decade of paid-media experience across agency, enterprise, and ecommerce. Most of that time was spent in senior account leadership, directing multi-channel portfolios at seven-figure monthly scale. That context shapes how he approaches individual accounts: not campaign by campaign, but as a system.

Through MESAscale, he works with established ecommerce brands on Google, Meta, and YouTube. His focus is account architecture: where spend is being lost, where cross-channel coordination is breaking down, and which structural changes compound over time.

10+ Years in Paid Media Enterprise + Ecommerce Google · Meta · YouTube

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