Acquisition System

Core Strategy

The core of this case was to reorganize iGulu’s PR outreach process from manual searching, judging, writing, and follow-up into a continuously running AI-assisted acquisition workflow.

For a DTC product that requires user understanding and trust, PR is not only about exposure. Its value is to help the brand enter the right content environments and build pre-purchase trust through third-party content.

Different media types should not receive the same brand expression: home brewing media is better for brewing experience and in-depth review, tech media for smart appliance and automation, lifestyle media for home entertaining, and gift guides for unique gift ideas.

System Design Logic

The workflow runs on a clear division of labor: I define the media standards and email standards; Claude handles daily media discovery, contact clue searching, and draft generation; DeepSeek scores email quality; once approved, Claude sends the outreach through the email MCP interface and records the status.

If a contact is missing but the outlet has high media value, the system does not discard it. It exports website, author page, social profile, Muck Rack, LinkedIn, or contact page clues for manual enrichment and follow-up.

Core Strategy

The core of this case was to reorganize iGulu’s creator collaboration from scattered creator discovery and one-time sample sending into a partnership system that can be managed by multiple people, tracked across stages, and operated long term.

iGulu cannot be fully explained through a single short video. It is a smart brewing machine that can extend into beer, mead, cider, kombucha, kefir, white wine, and other beverage categories, while also entering BBQ, pizza night, family gathering, home bar, outdoor camping, gift recommendation, and smart home contexts.

Therefore, creator collaboration should not focus only on follower count. The priority is finding creators whose content scenarios, real audiences, expression ability, and product-value fit can help iGulu build long-term content assets.

System Design Logic

In this system, I built the creator sourcing SOP, reviewed lead quality, judged platform fit, assigned collaboration progress, tracked publishing results, and planned next-stage content directions for creators with long-term potential.

The database is not just an influencer list. It works as a creator collaboration command center. New leads go through checks on content fit, account quality, comment authenticity, platform value, and long-term partnership potential. Approved leads then move into outreach, sample shipment, brewing-cycle follow-up, publishing reminders, performance update, and future collaboration planning.

Core Strategy

The core of this case was not simply running Saudi ads. It was to identify the most executable early-stage growth levers and build an initial regional growth path for the Saudi market.

In a mature new-market growth model, ads, PR, creator partnerships, localized content, user community, after-sales support, repurchase, and referral should work together. However, Saudi had more limitations in PR media, creator collaboration, and localized content expansion, so the European and US acquisition model could not be copied directly.

I started with paid ads because they were more controllable and generated faster feedback. Through market research, interest keyword mapping, local creative reference research, creative-funnel testing, and COD conversion tracking, I built the foundation for early Saudi growth.

System Design Logic

The growth setup started from audience and creative research, then moved into ad funnel construction. Instead of relying on one conversion poster, creatives were divided into four layers: acquisition, interest seeding, education, and conversion.

As cold-traffic growth slowed, the strategy expanded beyond acquisition ads into retargeting, existing customer communication, repurchase reminders, and referral activity, moving Saudi from “paid acquisition only” toward an early model of ads + private domain + repurchase / referral.