CASE STUDY #2
Modern Retrofits — Creating Demand in a Category That Didn't Exist
How we used AI-driven visuals, cloning, and funnel strategy to educate a market with no benchmarks, no competitors, and a long sales cycle.
The Context
Modern Retrofits is a B2B home improvement / home services company serving large properties — typically facilities with 50 to 100+ toilets.
Led by Elizabeth Mesegue, the company specializes in retrofitting existing toilets to dramatically reduce water usage and cost.
Here's the challenge:
- There are no direct competitors
- The category is unfamiliar
- The buyer (property managers, facility operators) has never heard of this solution
- The sales cycle ranges from several months to a year or more
Even though the value proposition is compelling — clients don't pay upfront and only pay from realized savings — it still requires education, trust, and repetition.
This wasn't a 'conversion-first' problem.
It was a category creation problem.
The Challenge
Modern Retrofits faced three core obstacles:
1. No Market Benchmarks
There was nothing to reference. No competitors to study. No familiar language to borrow. No proven ad angles to copy.
Everything had to be built from scratch.
2. A Skeptical, Over-Pitched Audience
Property managers and facility operators are constantly approached with 'save money' claims, efficiency promises, and over-promising vendors. Even legitimate offers are often ignored.
Standing out required visual interruption, not just messaging.
3. A Long, High-Trust Sales Cycle
This wasn't impulse-driven. The solution required education, repetition, multiple touchpoints, and visual storytelling to make the problem feel real.
Traditional production would have been too slow, too expensive, and too limiting to explore ideas freely.
Why This Was Hard
Category creation is fundamentally different from performance marketing.
There's no playbook to follow. No keywords to bid on. No competitor ads to reference.
The buyers don't even know they're looking for this solution.
On top of that:
- Traditional video production would have taken weeks per asset
- Testing bold creative ideas would have been cost-prohibitive
- The sales cycle required sustained presence, not just one-off campaigns
- Every piece of content had to educate before it could convert
This required a fundamentally different approach — one where speed, experimentation, and visual storytelling could operate at scale.
Our Approach
This project required end-to-end system thinking, not just ad creation. We worked with Elizabeth to build the funnel, the messaging, the visual language, and the long-term content strategy.
Foundation & Funnel
We created a new website and survey-based funnel designed to qualify interest, educate before selling, and segment buyers based on awareness and readiness. This ensured that traffic wasn't wasted — it was filtered.
AI-Driven Visual Interruption
We used over-the-top AI-generated visuals to dramatize the problem — senior citizens being hit by waves of water, money visually 'flushed away'. These weren't literal. They were metaphors designed to stop the scroll.
Founder Cloning & Multi-Format Execution
We cloned Elizabeth and integrated her directly into ads and videos, maintaining consistent presence. We created vertical, square, and horizontal video ads, image-based ads, and social content — all designed to educate first and convert later.
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Expanding the System
As the campaign matured, we expanded beyond ads:
Video Sales Letter (VSL)
Elizabeth speaking directly to the viewer with AI-generated visuals and animations supporting the narrative, designed to explain what this is and why it matters.
Webinar Strategy (In Progress)
Looking ahead to 2026, we're building a 45–60 minute on-demand webinar fed by social media and paid campaigns. Designed to fully educate, address objections, and shorten the trust gap.
This aligns with the reality of the sales cycle instead of fighting it.
The Outcome
Rather than forcing short-term conversions, this system achieved something more important:
- A clear, repeatable education funnel
- Visual differentiation in a crowded 'save money' landscape
- The ability to explain a new category without relying on competitors
- Scalable content without constant filming
- A long-term path to authority and trust
Modern Retrofits now has a visual language unique to their category, a scalable video system, and a funnel that matches how their buyers actually decide.
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Why This Case Study Matters
This project proves something critical:
AI isn't just about speed — it's about making the invisible visible.
When there's no benchmark, no awareness, and no existing category, AI-enabled visuals and systems allow you to create understanding, build trust, educate at scale, and move complex buyers over time.
Traditional production simply can't do this efficiently because it would be too cost prohibitive.