PPC Commentary
Flavour range · Electrolytes · Magnesium · August 2026 (vs July 2026)
August was the final month of active management before the agreed pause. Advertising was wound back to its efficient, brand-led core and the Peach Magnesium launch was stood down. Revenue eased from July's high, and the account hands over static and running inside its target.
A planned wind-down ahead of the pause
down 22% vs July
from 9.6% in July
full month 54%, target 30%
share of revenue, steady
August was the final month of active management before the agreed pause, and the figures follow the shape of a planned wind-down. Managed revenue eased to £7,263, down 22% on July's £9,327. The decline came from lower traffic rather than weaker conversion: sessions fell 21% (from 2,990 to 2,364) while the catalogue's conversion rate held at 21.4%, close to July's 22.6%. Shoppers who arrived still bought at a similar rate, and there were fewer of them as the paid discovery push was retired and late-summer demand softened.
The focus in August was efficiency. Advertising was reduced to the campaigns that convert (brand defence, the Mixed 4-Pack bundle, the flavour range and electrolytes), and the loss-making Peach Magnesium launch spend was stood down over the course of the month. Across the full month the blended ACOS was 54%, held up by the launch spend in early August. By the final week, once the wind-down had taken effect, the live account was running at a 26% ACOS, and that final-week run-rate is the state the account is handed over in. It is now static and ready for Spruce to self-manage.
Revenue fell across the range, with magnesium the exception
| August 2026 | Revenue | MoM | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mixed 4-Pack Bundle | £3,027 | -26% | flat |
| Flavour range (singles & multipacks) | £2,448 | -26% | -36% |
| Electrolytes (7 & 28-sachet) | £1,292 | -16% | +7% |
| Peach Magnesium | £495 | +20% | new |
| Managed total | £7,263 | -22% | -9% |
The decline was spread across the catalogue. The Mixed 4-Pack bundle, at 42% of revenue, fell 26% to £3,027; the flavour range fell 26%; and electrolytes held up best at 16% down. Each core range came off July's high, consistent with softer late-summer demand and the retirement of the paid discovery that had been lifting traffic. Peach Magnesium was the exception, up 20% to £495, and it rose on organic traffic rather than ads: its sessions grew from 407 to 545 even as its ad spend was cut, which indicates the demand is present and the constraint sits with the listing (section 07).
Set against a year ago, the picture is steadier. Total revenue is down 9% on August 2025 (£8,022), a milder fall than the month-on-month figure suggests, because July 2026 was an unusually strong month. The bundle is flat year-on-year and electrolytes are up 7%. The flavour range is down 36%, reflecting both a narrower multipack lineup than last year and softer sales on the core flavours, and Peach Magnesium is new since last August, so it has no prior-year comparison.
The paid and organic balance barely moved. Advertising was attributed to 23% of revenue in August against 24% in July, leaving roughly three-quarters of sales coming from organic and brand-driven demand in both months. This is an organic-led account, where advertising supplements demand rather than creating it, which is why reducing the ad spend lowered reach without harming the wider business.
Spend held flat while efficiency fell
incl. SB & SD
includes launch spend
vs £0.87 non-brand
54% of total, now removed
Total ad spend was broadly flat month-on-month at £929 (July: £891), and less efficient, with full-month blended ACOS at 54% against July's 40%. The spend was concentrated in Peach Magnesium discovery and auto-targeting that did not convert, which raised the average before the wind-down took full effect. The 26% exit run-rate describes the account being handed over, and the 54% reflects the full month it took to reach that point.
Brand defence carried the paid returns
Branded terms took £182 of spend and returned £1,048, an ACOS of 17%, or £5.75 back for every £1. This is efficient, though it protects shoppers already searching for Spruce rather than winning new ones. It is best read as the base the account stands on, and not as a sign that paid acquisition is working.
Non-branded acquisition ran at a loss
Non-branded terms took £739 of spend, 80% of the tracked total, and returned £639, a 116% ACOS, or £0.87 back per £1. Almost all of this was the magnesium launch reaching for new demand it could not yet convert. Standing it down is what brought the exit ACOS back to target.
Branded vs non-branded: brand defence returned £5.75 per £1 while non-branded acquisition returned £0.87. In a growth month, some loss-making acquisition is worth accepting to win new customers; in a wind-down month it is not, which is why the non-branded spend was retired.
Zero-return spend: £500 of the £929, or 54% of all ad spend, landed on search terms that produced no sales, mostly magnesium discovery terms ('magnesium glycinate drink sachets', 'magnesium sachets', 'magnesium drink instead of alcohol') plus two competitor-ASIN targets. This was launch spend rather than routine long-tail testing, and it is what the negations and pauses removed. At the exit run-rate it is gone.
ACOS improved through the month
Efficiency improved week by week as the wind-down took effect. Early August still carried the full magnesium launch, holding blended ACOS in the 40s and 50s. By the final full week the live account ran at £66 of spend into £255 of sales, a 26% ACOS at 3.9 ROAS, with 15% click-conversion. Each week of paused discovery and applied negations lowered the average, and the account exits the month at its most efficient point.
Which search terms worked
The terms that worked were the ones the brand owns ('spruce water flavouring', 'spruce electrolyte', 'spruce'), converting efficiently into the flavour and electrolyte range. These are held in brand defence.
The terms that did not work were the magnesium head and mid-tail searches ('magnesium glycinate drink sachets', 'magnesium sachets', the sleep and competitor-ASIN targets), which took clicks and returned nothing. The converting terms ('magnesium sachets for sleep', where the listing shows) were consolidated to exact match at controlled bids, and the rest were negated or paused. Scaling was not justified while the listing cannot convert the traffic (section 07).
Efficient winners and one weak campaign
The account carries 119 campaigns, 46 of them live with spend in August, an average of roughly £0.65 per campaign per day. That is fragmented for an account this size. Consolidating it is worthwhile, but it is a growth-phase task rather than a wind-down one, so it has been left in place and flagged for when active management resumes.
Best performer
SPR | SP | Mixed 4 Pack | Auto | Loose Match. £3.13 of spend into £219.90 of sales, a 1% ACOS and 70x ROAS across 12 orders. A small budget at a high return, and the most efficient spend in the account. Brand defence on electrolytes (£99.70 of spend into £273.97 of sales, 36% ACOS, 20 orders) provided the volume.
Weakest with real spend
SPR | SP | Peach Magnesium | B0GK22LNR7 | Auto | Substitutes. £138.66 of spend into £149.03 of sales, a 93% ACOS at 1.07 ROAS, the account's largest single spender for close to break-even. It was moved to Down Only bidding and had three competitor ASINs negated. A second weak campaign, Electrolytes Auto Loose Match (£62.88 of spend into £26.97 of sales, 233% ACOS), corrected as its spend fell. Both are noted for the handover.
All live campaigns run on conservative Down Only bidding, and no automated rules are active. The account is static and will not change on its own.
The catalogue converts well, with one exception
Mixed 4-Pack Bundle (B0CLPCLDLF)
The largest product in the account, with £3,027 of revenue (42% of the total) from 759 sessions, a 15.8% session conversion rate and a 98% Buy Box. It holds both the organic revenue and the account's best ad ROAS. Keeping it in stock is the priority.
Electrolytes 28-sachet (B0DRCHWT7K)
£842 of revenue, second-highest in the catalogue, from only 44 sessions, a 73% conversion rate at a 100% Buy Box. It converts very well and receives little traffic. This is a demand-generation opportunity for when growth resumes rather than a wind-down action.
Peach Magnesium (B0GK22LNR7): the constraint is the listing
Revenue rose 20% to £495 on growing organic traffic (545 sessions, the second most-visited product), yet it converts at 11.4%, below the 15% level at which more ad spend is justified, and below it in July too (14.5%). The Buy Box is 100%, so this is a listing and discoverability issue rather than a price or availability one. The demand is arriving and not converting. In line with our own rule, we do not recommend additional ad spend on a product converting below 15%. The action is the listing, set out in the brief already prepared with the exact search-query data, and advertising should re-engage once the page converts the traffic it already receives.
The rest of the range converts well: Lime & Mint at 46%, Black Cherry 36%, Pineapple & Grapefruit 35%, Raspberry & Elderflower 29% and Electrolytes 7-sachet 20%, all at 97% or higher Buy Box. The catalogue is healthy, and the main action available is the magnesium listing.