The Weekly Sharpener #89 - Creative Cuts

Hey Fam 👋,

Welcome to the Creative Cuts Edition of the Weekly Sharpener where you'll get three of our favorite ads in the game 🔥.

We're going to discuss why they work or don't with the goal that you'll have some actionable takeaways on how to improve your creatives and grow your business. 🚀

Pencil - Creative AI

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This week we have two amazing co-pilots, Cherene Aubert (Head of Growth @Bobbie) and Kenny Smithnanic (Head of E-Commerce @Mint Mobile) they bring the 💣🥵. 

You can either check out the full episode below  if you want to spend some time really digging into creative with us or read the TLDL below!

Also in this episode, we go through the landing pages that the ads lead to, and breakdown that experience, so we can figure how to convert more customers!  Be sure to check it out 👇

Away 🧳 

Hook -> Not sure if there is a hook here. 

Trust -> The brand seems to be leaning on brand affinity - aka you already know who we are and should trust us. This can work, but how many brands does everyone actually know? 

Benefits ->  No real benefits are communicated - "Skip the baggage claim" - isn't unique and doesn't feel like something that I am thinking about when I buy luggage. 

CTA's -> None here, except on the add unit. 

What I would change: I would make this more human.

Idea 1

• Person in the video

• Packing their bag - talking about how easy it is to fit all my clothes

• Zip up the bag, talk about how sleek it is, even thought it's stuffed.

• Throw it over the shoulder and walk out the door.

Idea 2

• Someone walking out of the airport with the bag on

• They go into the bathroom, go into a stall and change

• We see them unpack and repack the bag.

• They get into a car and head out to take on the world.

• VO - "I'm in a new city and need to change quick, Away makes it easy to travel how I want."

There are dozens more - the main learning here is, to meet your customers where they are, these ideas aren't meant to lessen the brand but enhance the viewer's ability to see themselves using the product. 

The original ad doesn't do that. 

Brightland 🫒 

Note: all these assets are beautiful and I would click on this ad because I am in market. 

Hook -> They use the beauty of their packaging to cut through with some copy "Garlic Meet Olives (Thank us later). 

The packaging is eye-catching to be sure. But not sure what we are supposed to take from the first line - I'm a little confused by it at the start. 

Trust -> They have two 5-star reviews in the middle of the ad, reminding us that the packaging looks good and people love this olive oil. 

Benefits ->  They don't go heavy on text that has benefits but they show us a couple of options for recipes that can 

CTA's -> I've been seeing this more recently, where the CTA is an unclickable website callout + "find your new favorite olive oil flavor" 

Not strong but present. 

What I would change: 

• Hook should be stronger. The image of the avocado toast being covered in olive oil + reading "We're playing matchmaker with your taste buds"

• Focus on one review and let it cross two scenes or make one scene longer so we can read it and the impact lands.

• Have a stronger CTA that reminds me how beneficial this Olive Oil will be to my life.

Dig this ad, a few tweaks and 🔥

All Well Beauty 💄

Hook -> The thumbnail itself is really strong. 

That is also where the hook starts, it's a bit visceral because it's brown, the person's face is already covered and she is applying the final touches. 

"Say goodbye to dull + dry skin" That is something that resonates and people are desperate to get ride of. 

Trust -> "Clinically proven" is the copy that's used to cut through here, however, it's not in the ad itself but the written copy for the ad. 

This part could be stronger but also doesn't feel like the ad needs it necessarily. 

Benefits ->  

• ✌️ dry/dull skin

• brightens + lightens

• glowing skin in 1 use

These aren't terribly different when you see them written out here but feel meaningful when you see someone's face behind them using the product at the same time. 

CTA's -> Shop Now - what I liked here was combining this with a smiling face of a satisfied user. Osmosis is a funny thing - 10k+ reviews on an amazon listing, you trust it. 

Smiling face of a user - the product must be good. Don't forget that word of mouth can be captured in your ads as well through micro-moments like this one. 

What I would change: 

• I would have added something about the "clinically proven" in the ad, but I truly don't have many notes, if I was in market, I would click. It was simple and effective!

Want to see those ads in all of their glory, sound, and all? Check out the full ads on Ad Library here. 

That's it for this week's edition of The Weekly Sharpener - Creative Cuts. Let us know if there are brands you think we should be looking at. Until next time! 

All my best,

Chase

PS - ICYMI 🤖 - here is our most recent episode of ADD CREATIVE 👇