Second week running, the hesitant buyer beat the fan

What we learned this week

From the accounts we run

1. 01

   The hesitant buyer beat the fan, again

   On a UK luxury laundry brand, the ads written for the buyer who hesitates on price cleared the target return comfortably, and the angle about the product you keep picking up and putting back came in at nearly double target. The ads written for fragrance lovers, people who already love the category, missed. The numbers are still small, but it is the second week in a row the same pattern showed up.

2. 02

   Static or video? It depends on the account

   On a sleep brand selling in the UK and Australia, statics hit target across more than 60 creatives while UGC video fell just short. On a UK discount beauty and home retailer it was the opposite: video cleared target and statics fell just short. Nobody can tell you which format wins for your brand. Test both, and let your own numbers decide.

3. 03

   A moment still beats a general UGC video

   On a kids' supplement brand, UGC video as a whole missed target across 19 creatives. The ads built around one moment, a mum at bedtime, still cleared it. Same lesson as last week: generic people talking to camera is not a strategy. A specific moment in someone's day is.

4. 04

   If Meta barely spends on an ad, that is an answer too

   For a London supercar hire company, the ads that sold the occasion (the birthday, the milestone) got almost no spend at all. Meta tried them and moved the money elsewhere. The ads aimed at the person who wants to make a statement in London brought leads in at about two thirds of the target cost. An ad that cannot get delivered is telling you something.

Worked this week: UK

The UK ads that reached the most people

Humantra

A customer quote over a row of products

Humantra puts a review in the headline: 'I am never going to live without these little sachets now! My sleep and energy is better.' Below it, six sachets and three ticks: 0g sugar, under 10 calories, 10 vitamins and minerals. A plain static that has run for 106 days and still reached 844k people this week.

844k people reached in 7 days / live 106 days / 1,211 ads live on the account

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Omaze UK

Undersell it, then reveal it

Omaze opens on the Earth from space with the line 'It's just a house in Yorkshire...'. The copy then turns it: its own lake, a tennis court and a guest cottage. Understatement makes people wait for the catch. 940k reached in 7 days.

940k people reached in 7 days / live 15 days / 623 ads live on the account

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The Oodie

Borrow a character people already love

The Oodie dropped a Beetlejuice collection for Halloween: two people in striped dressing gowns under 'Wrapped in Weird'. A licensed character and a seasonal moment do the stopping for you. It reached 1.1M people in its first 3 days.

1.1M people reached in 7 days / live 3 days / 428 ads live on the account

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Nutrition Geeks

Test the claim on camera

Nutrition Geeks opens with a man in bed holding a capsule: 'Apparently, these things knock you out within an hour, so let's test it.' The copy backs it with a real review and the three phrases that came up most across 800+ reviews: better sleep, more energy, less stress. 887k reached in 7 days.

887k people reached in 7 days / live 12 days / 541 ads live on the account

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Worked this week: US

The US ads brands kept paying for

TASTE Flavor Co.

Us vs. Them, in one image

TASTE Flavor Co. puts a generic ranch bottle next to its own: 85 calories against 15, seed oils against avocado oil, added sugar against zero sugar. The buyer does the comparison in two seconds. 31 days live, and the brand has 1,489 ads running.

live 31 days / 1,489 ads live on the account

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Thenolishop

The opposite of urgency

Thenolishop shows one black jumper on a plain background and writes: 'You didn't buy it on impulse. That's rather the point of everything we make. It's still here when you've decided.' No countdown, no discount. For a considered buyer, calm is the persuasion. 34 days live.

live 34 days / 358 ads live on the account

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Respected Roots

Name exactly who it is for

Respected Roots' headline is 'How to Fix Patchy Beards (As Black Man)'. The copy opens by telling him the problem is not genetic, and the image turns the routine into a 90 second clock with three steps. The right man knows in one line that this is for him.

live 10 days / 92 ads live on the account

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Profitminded.Clo

Attitude in the image, offer in the headline

Profitminded.Clo lets the picture sell the brand, a model in a distressed tee with the line 'you gotta be profit minded when you get fly twin', and lets the headline sell the deal: buy 2 tees, your 3rd is free. The copy adds the detail buyers ask about: true to size, drop shoulder, no two distressed the same.

live 10 days / 66 ads live on the account

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