TikTok Ads success story · Drive-thru beverage chain with over 300 locations

How 7 Brew lifted ad recall 26.9% with Spark Ads and creator-style video.

Name: Overtop Media Digital Marketing
Address: 933 Louise Ave Suite 101-18, Charlotte, NC, 28204, US
Telephone: (704) 237-0707
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7 Brew ran its first major media campaign on TikTok, in summer, on modest budgets. Native-looking video, Spark Ads and broad targeting across more than 300 zip codes raised ad recall and awareness and tripled its follower growth.

Business: 7 Brew
Market: United States, 300+ zip codes
Goal: Brand awareness and a bigger following in local markets

Two glasses of iced coffee with swirls of cream on a dark table scattered with coffee beans

The results.

The ad recall and awareness lifts come from a Brand Lift Study. TikTok adds that the ad recall lift was 16.4% higher, and the awareness lift 1.7% greater, than industry benchmarks.

26.9%lift in ad recall (Brand Lift Study)
6%lift in brand awareness (Brand Lift Study)
3xfollower growth across all campaign objectives
57,953+new followers

Reported in a TikTok case study published January 8, 2025. The campaign ran during a summer; TikTok did not state the year, the spend or the study design.

The challenge.

7 Brew is a drive-thru drink chain founded in 2017 that grew to over 300 locations. It wanted to be known in each new town it entered and to build a following it could keep talking to.

Budgets were modest, this was its first major media campaign, and it launched in summer, which the company describes as a slow season for its category.

Make 25+ videosTrends, creator and customer clips, behind the scenes.
Boost the best postsSpark Ads keep the native look and the engagement.
Blend two objectivesReach plus focused view across 300+ zip codes.
Read the liftBrand Lift Study: 26.9% ad recall lift.

What they did.

Spark Ads · Creator and customer video · Reach and focused view objectives · Zip code targeting

Many styles, one test: More than 25 videos tried different ideas: a nostalgic trend, customer and creator content, and behind-the-scenes clips of the most popular drinks.
Real posts as ads: Spark Ads turned organic posts into paid ads, so the ads looked like the rest of the feed and engagement counted on the original posts.
Two objectives together: Reach spread the message widely while focused view paid for people who actually watched, a mix the brand called a smart blend.
Broad targeting, local footprint: The campaign used zip code targeting for more than 300 zip codes around its stores, with a broad food and beverage interest layer, and left the rest to the For You feed.

Why it worked.

Our read on the decisions behind the numbers, and what any business can take from them.

It looked like TikTok: Creator and customer video felt native to the feed, so people watched instead of scrolling past. Average watch time reached 29.48 seconds per user and 6.17 seconds per view.
Testing found the message: Running many styles at once showed which ideas people responded to, without betting a small budget on one commercial.
Followers outlast the campaign: Spark Ads build the account, not just the ad. More than 57,953 new followers can be reached again for free with every new post.
Local where it counts: Zip codes around the stores kept spend near people who could drive through, while broad interests let TikTok find the right viewers inside those areas.

How we would run this play for your business.

You do not need a national budget to use the same ideas. This is how Overtop Media Digital Marketing puts them to work in our tiktok ads management.

Post first, then pay: We help you post short, honest videos from your own shop and staff, then put budget behind the posts that are already working as Spark Ads.
Local creators, booked directly: For more variety we book the best local creators directly, with no agency markup. Stock footage only fills gaps; your own videos always come first.
Around your locations: Our TikTok ads management targets the zip codes around each location, in Charlotte first and in any market you serve, and grows the following you will use for every launch.
Measure awareness properly: When the budget allows, we run lift studies from TikTok’s measurement solutions so you know whether people remember you, not just whether they watched.