How Nord secured Original Grain's Q4 and delivered their biggest holiday season ever
Unblocking Growth
Original Grain has spent over a decade building one of the most recognizable names in handcrafted watches. Founded in 2013 by brothers Ryan and Andrew Beltran, the brand turns reclaimed whiskey barrels, exotic hardwoods, and other extraordinary materials into timepieces that have earned 27,000+ five-star reviews and partnerships with icons like Jack Daniel's, Ford Motor Company, and Taylor Guitars. But even established brands hit turbulence. When shifting ad platform dynamics threatened to derail their most important selling season, Original Grain needed a partner who could move fast and think ahead.
High-stakes Gifts
Q4 is make-or-break for any DTC brand, and it's especially high-stakes when your products are a go-to gift purchase. Watches, rings, and accessories live and die by holiday demand. Miss the window, and you're not just losing revenue, you're losing a year's worth of momentum.
Original Grain came to Nord in the middle of Q4, with things not going well. The Meta and Google landscape had shifted, and their existing setup wasn't keeping pace. Performance was slipping at exactly the wrong time, and the clock was ticking on the most critical sales period of the year.
Most agencies would need weeks to onboard, audit, and plan. Original Grain didn't have weeks. They needed someone who could diagnose problems and deploy solutions within hours, not days.
Full restructure
Within 24 hours of engagement, we had Original Grain's account restructured and positioned to scale:
- Rapid account triage and restructuring: We assessed the full Meta and Google account setup on day one, identified what was broken, and rebuilt campaign structures to capitalize on the remaining Q4 window.
- Strategic scaling for peak demand: With a sound structure in place, we pushed spend confidently into the holiday window, ensuring every budget increase was backed by real-time performance data and proven creative.
Ongoing strategic partnership: Beyond the Q4 rescue, we became Original Grain's long-term growth partner. Today, we provide the kind of responsive, hands-on account management that keeps performance compounding well beyond a single quarter.
Tight Execution, Excellent Results
Nord helped Original Grain turn a shaky mid-Q4 start into the biggest holiday season the brand has ever had. We improved their overall contribution margin by nearly 30% year over year, making it one of their largest and most profitable years.
More importantly, the turnaround happened at a pace that most agencies simply can't match. Within 24 hours, Original Grain felt confident they had their account back in position to scale.
As co-founder Andrew Beltran put it, “Nord is a responsive and very capable team. Kody and his team keep a watchful eye on how the account is running today, but also foresee incremental adjustments to land in a better place over longer periods of time.”
Ready to work with the team that turns Q4 emergencies into record-breaking quarters? Let's talk.
2 slots available
Get Started
Standard
Fast design & dev, built for scale
Dedicated creative team
Average 2–3 day turnaround
Ongoing design-to-build support
Fast design & dev, built for scale
Pro
Unlimited tasks, one at time
Slack channel and message
Average 24h turnaround
Ongoing design-to-build support
Branding and dev sprints
Get a free account audit. We’ll dig into what’s working, what’s not, and where the biggest growth opportunities are hiding. If it makes sense to work together, we’ll build a plan and get to work turning your ad spend into real growth.