The starting line
Project Papa came to us with a product line and an idea: natural, beeswax-based care for cutting boards, butcher blocks and wood furniture. What it didn't have was any of the things Amazon rewards.
- Brand new brand with zero name recognition
- Amazon only: no website traffic, no retail, no email list
- Zero reviews and zero sales history
- A category full of established household names with thousands of reviews
The first sale landed on February 19, 2026. Everything on this page is measured from that day.
What we did
Built listings that convert
Keyword research on real search volume, titles built around the phrases buyers actually type, and an image stack that answers objections before shoppers ask them. Premium A+ content followed.
Launched PPC with a plan
Discovery campaigns to find what converts, then every winning search term moved into its own exact match campaign to build rank. Waste was negated weekly.
Expanded the line carefully
Once the hero product proved itself, we added sizes and companions: a 16 oz butcher block conditioner, wood polish in 8 and 16 oz, and a pure mineral oil.
Managed the money
Bids were tied to each product's margin, not gut feel, and spend moved to whatever was converting best that month.
Monthly sales since launch
Total Amazon sales (organic + ads) per month, with TACOS (ad spend as a percent of total sales). February covers Feb 19 to 28 only, and October runs through Oct 29.
The wins
Month 2 to month 3, sales jumped 71% as exact match campaigns started earning rank.
Ad spend as a share of sales nearly halved in month 3, even as sales grew. We weren't buying sales anymore, we were building them.
The 8 oz Butcher Block Conditioner turned 23,971 sessions into 8,596 units. More than 1 in 3 visitors bought.
Since April, the brand has done between $21.5K and $26.3K every single month. No spikes and crashes, just a steady business.
As of late October, the conditioners rank #32 in Wood Conditioners, Waxes & Oils, a category full of long-established brands.
Product by product
Feb 19 to Oct 29, 2026. Conversion is units ordered divided by sessions.
PPC performance
For a brand that started with zero reviews, ads did most of the heavy lifting early on, and that was the plan. Every dollar of ad spend has returned about $3.13 in ad sales and $4.81 in total sales. The best stretch was April and May, when TACOS ran at 15%.
Keeping it real: what didn't go to plan
Every case study shows the wins. Here's what we learned the hard way, because that's where the value is.
Ads still drive most of the sales
About 65% of sales are still ad-attributed and 35% are organic. That's normal for a brand this young, but it's the next mountain. Growing organic share is the priority for the next six months.
Not every product is a winner
The walnut catch-all tray converted at just 4%, with ACOS at 55%. Instead of forcing it, we pulled ad spend back and put the money behind the products that were working.
The wood polish slipped in late summer
Targeting competitor brands taught Amazon the wrong relevance, and the polish lost rank on its own core keywords. We rebuilt the campaigns around its real search terms in October, and its conversion rate went from 12% to 21% within a week.
Stockouts cost momentum
The 16 oz butcher block conditioner was out of stock for 17 days and the mineral oil for 16. Every stockout costs rank you have to buy back. Inventory planning is now part of the weekly routine.
TACOS crept up when we pushed
TACOS rose from 15% to the low 20s over the summer, and to 26% in October, as we invested in the polish recovery and new launches. It was a deliberate trade, but we watch it every week.
What's next
- Grow organic share past 40% so the brand needs less ad spend to hold its rank
- Launch the new Wood Wax & Applicator Kit and build its review base with Amazon Vine
- Keep the polish recovery going until it ranks on page one for its own keywords
- Stay in stock on every hero SKU, every week
Want a launch like this, or want to fix an "okay" account?
We work with a small number of brands at a time and run each account like it's our own.
Figures are from Amazon Seller Central and Amazon Ads via AdLabs, Feb 19 to Oct 29, 2026, for Project Papa branded products only. Shared with the client's permission.