Overview

We helped a European functional mushroom brand utilizing a new active ingredient (muscimol) set up its operational structure from scratch and enter the highly competitive, heavily regulated US wellness market.

Brand Launch & Operations

The client approached us with a product already selling in Ukraine, a UK entity, and an established brand strategy. The launch niche sat at the intersection of three high-risk areas: a novel ingredient, a regulatory "gray area," and sudden ad platform restrictions right before kickoff. With no existing US infrastructure, we took over the entire stack: registered a US corporate entity, secured the necessary regulatory paperwork, set up contract manufacturing in Florida, and launched local fulfillment.

Art Direction & Funnel Architecture

To adapt the brand for US performance marketing, we utilized an Inverted Workflow: funnel architects mapped out page structures and logic based on heatmaps and hook performance before design work even began. We built a multichannel architecture of 6 funnels (including landing pages and native advertorial pre-landers). When ad networks tightened their policies, we instantly restructured the logic and adapted the content to meet the new restrictions.

Payment Orchestration & Compliance

The biggest challenge in this category was merchant processing, as traditional banks do not support muscimol. To solve this, we implemented a Compliance-as-Marketing approach: rewriting copy to speak the language of wellness rather than making medical claims, and making lab certificates publicly accessible. This simultaneously satisfied payment processor requirements and boosted consumer trust. In parallel, we built a complex payment architecture, launching multiple backup integration tracks with high-risk providers.