We buy intent.
The rest buy channels.
A two-week performance and go-to-market sprint. Flat $16,000, one account at a time.
Warnings
Read before purchaseMost budget pays for demand it didn’t create
Last click hands the credit to whoever was standing closest to the purchase.
Branded search always posts a beautiful CAC, because the person already knew your name. Something else put it there. Optimise on last click and you defund the layer that fills the top — then spend a quarter wondering why capture volume fell off a cliff.
The Record
Where the method has been runWhere the 4× held
| Category | Accounts |
|---|---|
| Streaming & FilmOpening weekend is decided long before the first ad runs. | Sony · Peacock · Disney · Starzplay |
| AutomotiveThe credit lands three tiers from where the demand was made. | Toyota |
| Coffee & RetailNobody is in-market for coffee. They are in a routine. | Starbucks |
| Consumer ElectronicsThe decision happens on a spec sheet you do not own. | LG |
| SportswearThe drop is the receipt. The demand was built months earlier. | Adidas |
| Luxury FashionNobody cross-shops. Desire has no comparison layer. | Rick Owens |
| Web3A wallet is not a customer. Ninety days tells you who was. | NEAR Foundation · SushiSwap |
| Live SportNew city, new funnel. Only a following survives the calendar. | SailGP |
| Architecture & EducationOne decision a year, and the person choosing is not the person paying. | SCI-Arc |
| Health & DTCWhat you are permitted to say is the strategy. | SKO CompoundsFull suite |
| Urbanism & PropertyFour hundred people matter. Reach is a rounding error. | Build CitiesFull suite |
* Engagements at Ballast and prior agencies of record
Marks shown are the property of their respective owners
Serving Suggestion
SKO Compounds — creative pipeline
The Sprint
One price, one window$16,000Two-week sprint
One price. One window. One account at a time.
Next opening released to the waitlist first
Map the demand
Existing demand split from demand that has to be created, and the intent layers named for your category.
Match the layer
Creative, offer and placement built per layer, including the incentive that gives someone a reason to act now.
Stand up measurement
Each layer gets its own metric. Capture on incrementality, latent on lift, lifecycle on repeat rate.
Hand over the number
One number per business goal, reconciled against the ledger rather than against what the platforms claim.
Ballast vs. an agency
Same problem, different billIntent Layers
Four states of demandIn-Market
Actively looking for what you sell, right now.
- We run
- Branded search, shopping, retargeting
- Measured on
- Incrementality — not last click
- Serves
- Revenue this month
Comparing
Knows the problem, weighing you against the alternatives.
- We run
- Non-brand search, comparison placements, conquesting
- Measured on
- New-customer CAC
- Serves
- Share of category
Latent
Has the problem. Isn’t looking yet, and won’t search for you.
- We run
- Paid social, creator, video
- Measured on
- Lift in branded search and direct
- Serves
- Next quarter’s pipeline
Lapsed
Bought once and stopped. The cheapest demand you already own.
- We run
- Lifecycle, win-back, suppression
- Measured on
- Repeat rate and LTV
- Serves
- Margin
Promotions
Incentive designAnyone can buy the impression.
We build the reason to act.
Proof of MemoriesNEAR × SailGP
Nobody sets up a wallet because you asked them to.
- Tap the NFT. The wallet exists.
- Take a picture at the event.
- It joins the grid. Every wallet, every X account, one wall.
- It mints behind you. Redeem it at the bar.
Platform CodesSKO Compounds
A different code per platform, so the offer is the attribution. What the dashboard cannot see, the redemption can.