When creatives rewrite the game monetization.
Challenge
An action io hybrid casual game on iOS and Android was running parallel workstreams — optimizing monetization on the product side and iterating creatives on the UA side to bring CPI down and IAP rate up.
Solution
Treat creative as a signal-generation layer, not just a cost lever — and run the data far enough to turn that signal into a product recommendation the client could ship.
"Creatives are not just for CPI. They’re the first thing users see from your game — they shape who installs, how they behave, and how they engage with monetization." Operating on that principle, a Black Friday creative test turned into a product-level monetization mechanic.
~48%
CPI Reduction
+50%
D7 ROAS over 2 months post-launch
5 → 20
Creative variants scaled from the winning concept

ABOUT THE CLIENT

Two workstreams, running in parallel

An action io hybrid casual game on iOS and Android, scaling across Meta, Google, and AppLovin. The team was optimizing monetization on the product side and iterating creatives on the UA side to bring CPI down and IAP rate up.

SOLVING ADVERTISING CHALLENGES TOGETHER

A creative that mirrored the core mechanic — turned up

For a Black Friday push, we designed a concept requiring a custom in-game scene: a crowded shop where every object was interactable and characters scrambled to grab and throw items in chaos. We launched five variants, then scaled the winning direction to 20 productions. Cohort analysis on Adjust showed these users engaged with monetization and IAPs at a meaningfully higher rate than any other concept — self-selecting as higher-intent payers. The creative wasn’t winning because of the Black Friday hook; it was winning because users responded to the chaos, freedom, and object interaction.

WHAT WE DID

From UA creative to product mechanic

  • Designed a custom in-game scene as a creative concept, launched five variants, and scaled the winner to 20 across the channel mix.
  • Ran cohort analysis on Adjust to measure downstream monetization and IAP behavior for each creative.
  • Presented the cohort data and recommended a structural change: bring the scenario into the game itself.
  • The client shipped a meta-game — enter the chaotic shop, interact, and unlock objects gated by hard currency available almost exclusively through IAP.

RESULTS THAT EXCEEDED EXPECTATIONS

The outcome

+50% D7 ROAS in two months, sustained CPI reduction (from $2.5 to $1.3), and a lift in retention and playtime — all driven by a meta-game that was first validated as a UA creative. Timeline: ~1.5 months of creative testing, ~1 month for client implementation, and ~2 months of ROAS scale-up.

‍

"Creatives are not just for CPI. They’re the first thing users see from your game — they shape who installs, how they behave, and how they engage with monetization."

— Operating Principle

What is your creative really telling you?

Book a call with our team