Like if you are under eight figures a year, the founder should probably lead all that.

Like the founder is probably the best person to know about the creative strategy.

And it's probably also the biggest lever for the business.

If that person can unlock that next stage of growth, it's going to change everything.

And it's been talked here, it's been talked everywhere.

One ad can change your business and life, a single ad.

You can find all those inspos on Pinterest.

And one good way to start, and that's what we do, but also what the brands who are listening to this can do on their own, which is to really get their head out of the inspiration, the meta library, pretty much.

And try and seek new ways to seek content.

And actually Pinterest is a very good one.

And that's how we were able to provide very creative stuff for Holo and some other brands as well.

It really started there.

Even the top ones, I think this is where some brands need to be a little bit more loose with the like on brand shit, which is the top ad that you have for us is not even our socks.

It's an AI generated version of our compression socks.

And it looks close, it looks like really close.

It's not exactly it, but the actual background that it produced behind it and just like the aesthetic of it and just the way to show the product looks great, obviously is like eye catching, and then it has like a great testimonial on that ad.

There are a few others that have like crazy backgrounds, right, they're like desert backgrounds, insane pattern backgrounds.

Like there's a lot of creativity behind these.

These are definitely not templates like you said that you would just go to Atria or Foreplay or whatever and just rip from somebody else.

These are like net new concepts.

I think that's why they're working.

So I mean, I think I just have to give you kudos for that is like you're bringing new things to the table that aren't just another ad with just like four value props with arrows that every single brand runs, right?

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) And now let's take a listen to the Scalability School Podcast.

Welcome to the Scalability School Podcast.

Special guest today, Simon from Static.

Recording live from France all over the world, not in Wisconsin around, although he did come to Wisconsin, which was pretty unusual.

Unusual.

Europeans in Wisconsin since his war ancestors came.

Yeah, when you were growing up, did you ever dream of traveling to Wisconsin?

Actually, I kind of did.

So on TikTok, you have a whole trend of America's nature kind of thing.

And I was seeing these TikToks of Wisconsin and the state of Washington as well, Wyoming to like a bunch of animals.

And actually, yeah, I was kind of, I kind of wanted to go there to Chicago as well, which I did.

So it was very cool.

Yeah, Appleton's beautiful this time of year.

Great place.

It's gorgeous.

I don't know if I just want to go there.

(laughing) It's just local humor where we make fun of where we're from.

If you don't know Static, Static is an incredible company that really started in Simon, talk just briefly about the company, but it really started doing just Static ads.

And now it's grown.

I mean, you're one of the biggest players in the game.

It's grown significantly and you're getting into video as well.

Yeah.

You know, I mean, you guys have such a dialed in process and you've taken on some of the biggest brands in D2C.

So why don't you show people a little bit about Static, what you guys do?

Yeah, so the story is I used to be a media buyer.

I was buying med ads mostly for e-com brands.

And at the time I thought video ads were amazing, but they took forever to make.

And I was like, okay, what's the quickest way to get your message out there?

And I actually started to design a bunch of static ads myself for my units spend, and they worked pretty well.

And so I called my buddy Jules and I told him, you know, I think we have an opportunity here to create an entire content based on them.

We could deliver that at scale, do a great job, hopefully, you know, work with the right people and go from there.

And so we did and then eventually, and now we're probably shipping like three to 4,000 static ads per month.

And so we're thinking about the next step and which video, video ads and services recently.

That's awesome, dude.

Well, you know, people come to the Scalability School podcast, the tens of listeners that we have to really get into the tactics and the deep understanding of like what's working, right?

So let's just kick it off right away, which is you're obviously building and creating a ton of ads.

And I think one thing you guys have done incredibly well is build this formula that to a degree that seems to work, you have a really good understanding of what converts.

So what are the formats right now?

KRSL, you know, UGC statics and what's being overlooked.

What's working in that realm right now that people can apply right away?

Yeah, so like, so static ads, first of all, static ads, they probably work better in certain settings.

Right?

So like, for example, offer brands, like, you know, AG1 is probably the OG of these offer type brands where you subscribe and save and you get 20% off.

Well, if you can somehow format your brand to be an offer brand based, and I think a lot of them can actually, you're gonna rip with statics because you're gonna be able to drive a lot of traffic at top with video.

And then you can close all that traffic at bottom of funnel with static ads.

We work with a lot of these offer brands and they work well with that.

Also, one thing that's overlooked right now probably would be design variations.

Okay?

I think a lot of brands are still testing for copy tweaks.

And I think it's fine testing them at a point, like if you know your messaging already, you're probably better off going for design variations.

Okay?

So that's probably one thing that's overlooked.

Also, you talked about concepts, right?

I think one thing that brands, you know, not do wrong but could improve is they think of this process backwards in some ways.

So like they open an ad library, they try and see what the concept, you know, a great concept, they see one and they think, okay, how can I fit my brand into this concept inspiration?

Whereas it should probably be thought the other way around, which is what kind of message do I want to deliver to the world, right?

And then, okay, what's the right concept that feed that?

You know?

So it's not really about our comparative ads working or is a product benefit oriented ad better.

It's really about the process.

It's about, okay, what's my brand?

What's the message that I want to deliver?

And then what's the right concept for that?

So like, yeah, AI concepts are working really well right now.

If you have a weight loss brand, you should probably kind of try and find some concepts where you're showing an overweight person versus an in shape person, right?

That's working really well right now.

It's a very aggressive direct response message, but that's working for sure.

And if it fits your brand's messaging, you should probably use that.

So yeah, more than concepts itself, it's more about actually getting the process right.

And it starts with your brand, not the other way around, which is what I see usually with maybe, you know, seven figure brands-ish, eight, nine figure brands, they kind of get this right.

Yeah, we've talked maybe a couple of times on this podcast and I know Zach has been on other shows where like you've kind of like described the static framework that you use, where you come up with maybe some different ranges of people that you're trying to talk to or you kind of pillar messaging and you use static to kind of prove out those concepts.

Simon, I'm curious, like, what is the average client coming to you asking for?

Like, are they, they kind of know, it seems like you're working with like big brands for the most part.

So like, they come to you with like pretty defined like, hey, we know this works.

We're trying to just do more of this.

So are you taking kind of the core message and helping deliver on just like a wider range of variations within that core message?

Or like, what is the average client asking you for?

Yeah, so like big brands, I mean big brands like eight to nine figure brands, which most of our clients, they usually work in cycles, okay?

So what they do is, let's say a cycle is six weeks, okay?

Six weeks, okay, they're going to use static ads to try and find a new audience, a new funnel, a new offer.

So like, they're going to make dozens of variations, testing a pink color background with a woman oriented message.

And then they're going to try a blue background with a man oriented message.

And they're going to try two funnels out of them.

Like, and the good thing with static is they're super cheap.

I mean, they're cheaper to make than video was they get cheaper clicks and they're easy to reiterate on.

So you can actually stop there.

And once you get some soft and you know, some soft metrics hitting, and then also CPAs that are in line with your target, and it starts scaling, you can then pile up new ad formats on top of that.

So like you have this kind of cycle where brands use us a lot for these.

And then you have the other cycle, which is, I don't know, we have the fourth of July ads offering, coming, and like we need hundreds of ads for that.

And when that happens, it's really about scaling, like a lot of assets.

Eventually, they are not going to make some copy tweaks on them, because like it's the fourth of July offer.

You don't really need that.

I mean, to have so many to copy tweaks, you just need to take the evergreen stuff that's working, probably add an American flag, and you know, spin that across your entire SKU set.

So like, yeah, I think to answer the question, I feel like they work in cycles, cycles of iterations to find new audiences and cycles of optimizing for volume, pushing out a lot of content out there.

Yeah, that's really interesting.

And there's a follow up question, which is maybe for you, but Zach, maybe for you as well.

You mentioned they're using static.

I think this was actually like, so the average person that's listening to this is seven to eight figure range.

And what you said that I think is really applicable to them is they can use statics to find and unlock new concepts in messaging.

And that's like, sounds like half of what you're doing is just like trying to unlock that new thing.

Do you have insight into like how they're identifying like what the concepts should be in the messaging?

Like what is that creative strategy and research process that's kind of like going into determining who should we even try to message to next?

And I have thoughts on this too, and Zach, I'm sure you do too.

But I'm curious if like you have insight into that process.

Yeah, so like, again, you gotta start with your product.

So let's say you're a coffee substitute brand, right?

That's what you sell.

You probably have a product that based on its ingredients that can solve a bunch of issues, right?

And some issues are more appealing towards certain demographic, some others to another demographic.

So like, let's say your brand can solve energy issues, anxiety stuff, you cannot mention it directly that way, but then, you know, anxiety stuff, energy stuff, judge related issues.

And you're like, okay, who's more likely to experience that issue?

And let's do some basic thinking, right?

Probably on meta, if you target gut issues, you should probably target women.

Because, you know, there are more problem aware than men on that particular issue, most likely, okay?

If you're targeting, I don't know, energy or yeah, energy levels, you're probably better off trying to target men for some reasons.

Because overall, you may have more people that are ready to purchase for that issue, okay?

And so once you start layering those ideas, then you can start testing, right?

You can be, okay, what's the messaging?

So like, you can just draft a bunch of headlines on energy, on gut, et cetera.

You try and make them fit to your audience.

Once you have those headlines, like, okay, how can I represent my product best?

And then you put it in a situation where you can start bracing static ads.

So it starts with your product itself and what it solves, then you can draw a bunch of conclusions on which demographics can relate to that.

Then you draft some headlines.

The headline step is actually very important.

And once you have those, you can think about concepting.

And then you launch to production, you don't sound meta, you look at the data and you start over again.

Yeah, that makes a ton of sense.

I promise this will be my last follow-up and I'll let somebody else speak.

It's interesting that you kind of positioned the way that you did.

And I wrote down each of those steps, but like what you said you started with is, you have to think about what problems your product actually solves.

We recorded an episode yesterday, I don't know when these will come out in sequence, where we talked about one of Zach's recent tweets where he kind of ranted.

And one of the first things that he said was, like your product actually has to solve problems because if it doesn't, then it makes it really hard to actually speak about what you usually do.

And so I think that that's a really interesting starting point.

But the other point that I wanted to make is like, the way that this might show up in your ad account is, you've been trying things for several months in a row, and either row as is constantly decreasing or spend is decreasing, but you're kind of like flat and you're stuck.

And so what the solution is to that is, in a creative sense potentially is going back and doing this process that you suggested, which is listing out all the problems that you solved that maybe you're not currently speaking to, and then coming up with a plan to build statics around that messaging.

So it is for anybody that's struggling with maybe plateauing in the ad account.

This is one of those things that you should be doing is just following the exact process that you laid out.

Yeah, 100%.

And if nothing is working, you should probably think of a bigger swing to make.

You can actually change the entire website if you have to.

Once you have the formula of your product, I mean, I say formula because we have a lot of how can ones brands, but once you have your product, you can market it in very different ways.

Even for example, let's take Holo, right?

You guys sell socks.

You can market it for winter activities through the winter and then probably summer activities follow through the summer.

And it's probably two very different demographics.

I mean, I don't know how different they are, but like, you don't mind what I mean?

You can make bigger swing.

You can change the landing page.

And eventually if nothing is working, you could probably have a product that sucks.

I don't know, but like if really nothing is working, you should probably think of re-doing it entirely.

But yeah, you can do a lot of things before setting everything down, of course.

Yeah, I mean, I think going through the process you talked about is huge.

I think that's one of the things that makes you really unique in the space that you have walked so many brands through this successfully and growing and you're being put against other people in the marketplace in terms of ad creators.

And you seem to have a good sense of, you know, the visual cues that signal DR intent to meta, which I think is a big part of it.

What are some of those that you've, and you can even talk about the ones you've integrated for Holo, right?

Because obviously it's six out.

Static has been working in Holo's account, which Zach will speak to.

Yeah, so like the way I'd say we stand out and also the way you can stand out is to be very creative with your stuff.

But like, if you do like everybody else, you go into Foreplay or Atria or whichever, you know, iLibrary tool you're using and you try and fit your brand into an existing concept and that's all you do, you're probably going to struggle.

You kind of need to get your head out of those inspiration library from time to time.

Look at organic things like go to Pinterest, try and find very creative ideas and try and think differently.

I think that's where it starts to kind of have, to kind of provide meta with a different concept than what everyone's doing.

For example, let's say again, let's take the coffee substitute brand because it's a great example, you see it to understand.

You go to Pinterest and you write mushroom, right?

You just do this.

You're going to have so much creativity in front of you to try and take inspiration from.

You can do illustration stuff, very different than what the competition is doing.

No one is doing illustrations on meta right now.

You can also, I don't know, place your product in a forest and having weird mushrooms growing around it, et cetera.

You can find all those inspos on Pinterest.

And one good way to start, and that's what we do, but also what the brands who are listening to this can do on their own, which is to really get their head out of the inspiration, the meta library, pretty much, and try and seek new ways to seek content.

And actually, Pinterest is a very good one.

And that's how we were able to provide very creative stuff for Holo and some other brands as well.

It really starts there.

What are you looking for in Pinterest?

Literally just unique visuals that you don't see in ad accounts otherwise.

It's like you're going there because you know that people on Pinterest are not staring at ad accounts all day trying to recreate and not talk to everybody else.

So you're looking for a unique visual in that, right?

Is that what you're looking for?

Exactly.

You're looking for something unique.

And it's not because it's on Pinterest that it's not going to work.

What you want is a great visual that delivers your message across.

Then you can performance it, right?

You can add a direct response headline if you want.

You can add a bunch of product benefits.

You can slap your offer into it.

It's not because it's on Pinterest that it's not going to work.

You just have to reunite both worlds, right?

And it's the same.

It's actually the same for videos.

I'm not sure if we want to switch to videos right now, but I do have a great example for it.

Simon, I think we should get into the work you guys have been doing for Holo and just talk about that a little bit more because we can actually share some numbers and talk about what's going on and all that good stuff.

For what it's worth, hired static, I think it's been like 30 days at this point.

Is that sound about right?

Maybe a little bit more.

We have definitely found some winning ads, which is awesome.

I mean, we have one ad that alone is spent like nine grand, another one that spent six grand, another one at four.

So I mean, these are individual ads, not like all of the ads.

So we're talking, you know, multiple tens of thousands of dollars in spend from static's work, which is incredible.

And an incredible ROI, especially based on your fee structure and kind of how that's been going.

The metric that we look at also just to like shares like a North Beam one day clicks.

Anything above a one for us is like a win that usually backs into, and we've done a lot of analysis to say that this is like a two plus NC ROIs if we can get a one on North Beam one day clicks.

I'm looking at a ton of ads that you guys have made for us.

To your point about like inspo and just new ideas, a lot of them are AI based, like you said.

Oh, even the top ones, I think this is where some brands need to be a little bit more loose with the like on brand shit, which is the top ad that you have for us is not even our socks.

It's an AI generated version of our compression socks.

And it looks close.

It looks like really close.

It's not exactly it, but the actual background that it produced behind it and just like the aesthetic of it and just the way to show the product looks great.

Obviously it's like eye catching and then it has like a great testimonial on that ad.

There are a few others that have like crazy backgrounds, right?

Dessert backgrounds, insane pattern backgrounds.

Like there's a lot of creativity behind these.

And these are definitely not templates.

Like you said, that you would just go to Atria or four player or whatever and just rip from somebody else.

These are like net new concepts.

I think that's why they're working.

So, I mean, I think I just have to give you kudos for that is like you're bringing new things to the table that aren't just another ad with just like four value props with arrows that every single brand runs, right?

That everyone tries to copy.

I mean, you have to comment that, you know, the French are known for innovation in design.

Simon, you're kind of on brand with this.

I also assumed that you've only had pastries today just like being French as well.

Close to it.

Yeah.

The one thing I did want to ask you about that I thought was interesting is like, so there's some language that you guys have used in the ads that you've made for us that are just brand new ideas, right?

So we've talked a lot about like getting Inspawn the visual.

I'd love to understand how you're getting Inspawn like the copy that you're using and like the headlines and stuff like that.

So tell us more about how you think about the copy.

Yeah, to be fully honest, I'm not sure if we're going to be able to run that, but you'll let me know.

You guys run, you guys write the copy for us.

Are you aware of that?

Sure, I didn't know that.

No, yeah.

So yeah, I'm not gonna try and bullshit my way into this.

I mean, it's actually not part of our offering and we don't write copy for many reasons, but I also feel like copy actually should be known to the brand.

A few months ago when we started, we tried and do copy services as well.

And I think that's a relevant one.

The truth is our copy was us.

Copy is actually very difficult to write.

And like if you're trying to externalize your entire messaging to any agency, it's probably not gonna work because copy services are, I mean, great copy services should and are very pricey.

And in some extent, you breathe your brand 24 seven and we believe that brand should own that.

And so that's why we actually separated both and we own creative direction.

So like we put out great new ideas and you guys match us with the appropriate copy for that.

Right, that makes a lot of sense.

Yeah, I mean, I think the one thing that I was even mostly trying to get at was then just like the creativity that comes with the copy, right?

So like we have some language here.

It's like torturing your feet is just a big headline.

I've never seen an ad that we've done with that.

But then like the visual that you guys came up with that was AI generated that ties into torturing your feet is just super punchy, right?

It's not a photo that we would just get.

It's not a photo we would get from a customer.

Like I think that's where the special also statics comes in, right?

Cause like, yeah, okay.

If we are writing the copy, which is news to me, I did not know that.

That you guys have full creative freedom though to just like let it rip with that concept, right?

So I think that's-- Exactly.

How are you?

So another question I have then based on that.

So for brands that are, what are the brands that you feel like get the most like spend out of your ads?

Like what are they allowing you to do?

What are they doing?

What are you doing uniquely for them that are the ones that are getting the most volume of spend versus some that you're like, we tried our best but it just didn't work out.

This episode is brought to you by the Foxwell founders membership that Andrew and his wife, Gracie run.

It has been absolutely pivotal for not just the Homestead team but the Easy Street Brands team.

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So definitely would recommend it for anybody that's looking to take it a step deeper, try to get a little bit more knowledge on growth marketing and all the world DTC is.

Yeah, I think one of the most incredible things about it is you can just like open up the Slack group every single day.

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And like every day there's gonna be somebody who just like, because they want to contribute something valuable to the group, you can go learn something every single day and it's gonna be extremely useful.

There's some ballers in there.

They just get like the benefit of learning from that.

Like for the costs, like you couldn't pay them that for their time, but through the membership, like you get access to some incredible people and tons of resources.

Yeah, I mean, I think the biggest resource to me too is like the events that, you know, Foxwell Founders does.

They've been able to do some even in Wisconsin, even in the boring state of Wisconsin, which is pretty awesome.

Getting people together in person and able to have really just like honest conversations of what's going on, what's working for them now, you know, where they're at in their business and knowing that there's gonna be, like Brad said, some real killers in the space in this membership that can help and are willing to take the time and help.

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What are the brands that you feel like get the most spend out of your ads?

Like what are they allowing you to do?

What are they doing?

What are you doing uniquely for them that are the ones that are getting the most volume of spend versus some that you're like, we tried our best, but it just didn't work out?

I mean, again, the creative stuff.

Like the ones that are willing to try very creative concepts, creative ideas, not only layout, you gotta think outside of layouts.

So like you gotta think outside of, okay, this is an ugly ad, this is a comparative ad.

This doesn't really matter.

It's really about the main idea that you're trying to deliver.

And if the brand is fine with trying out new ideas, new settings, they're probably going to perform better with us, that's one thing.

Then, and it's kind of a global branding decision, but you should probably frame your brand as an offer brand.

Even, I mean, probably any brand, any product can become an offer, actually, that's what I think.

And your statics are gonna work better if you can have an offer behind it.

If you're just selling a product and it doesn't really have an offer, it doesn't have to be a bobo or a percentage offer, subscribe and save, but it has to have this twist where you're more entitled to buy.

And your statics are gonna work better eventually also.

So two things, you're willing to try creative ideas and you're able to frame your brand into an offer environment.

That's probably the two answers that I have for this.

And then your testing metrics, your testing metrics.

Sorry, sorry, for example, I think the best way to test statics right now and to find the most performance out of your set of static ads is to brief net new concepts.

So like different stuff, let's say you brief five per week, five net new concepts, very different.

And then within each concept, you do variations of targeting different demographics.

So you'd have one concept, three demographic, so three different design variations.

And then you can also have three different headline variation, one per variation.

So you end up with a set that has a lot of different concepts, each of them has design variations and appropriate copy.

And this is how you can really test at scale new agencies, but also find winners, work on evergreen and keep the ball right.

And you're putting, just to be clear as an answer, how do you suggest people test this?

I mean, a lot of people that are coming to you are probably spending a decent amount, but are you suggesting that they just throw it all in a new ASC or in the existing or, I mean, it depends on the buyers, I suppose, in the accountant situation, maybe you're letting them decide that.

Definitely depends on the buyer.

I'm an ABO guy, but I would run my tests with ABO on an ABO setup.

So like, for example, you'd have either you have all net new concepts, no variations, competing within each other in a single ABO ad sets, so like three to five net new concepts competing within each other.

That is if you have a logo jet, low is different between brands, but like if you spend less than 100K a per month on meta, you're probably better off working on bigger swings.

So like don't spend money and time figuring out variations.

Just spend money and time on getting those net new concepts and make them compete within each other.

If you have more money to spend, you can probably dilute that ad spend across multiple ABOs and try and deep dive a little more.

And if you have more money, if you're spending above 100K per month on meta, you can have one ABO per concept and that ABO includes all the variations.

And then you have a third way, which is less preferred to me, but if your account works with an AAC setup, you can actually do that, is you can use the big boy, the big boy setup, having a lot of variations and put it all in an AAC and you know, hope something sticks.

Okay, that's the third way.

Personally, I prefer testing ABO because I feel like it's also a mindset shift.

Okay, when I test ABO, static spends money on ads as well.

So I know and I test ABO as well.

When I spend money on an ABO setup, it's actually a lot of money, right?

You're spending a lot of money behind it.

And so if it doesn't work, next time you go into the account, you're gonna be more thoughtful about your testing.

You're gonna think twice, right?

If you put everything into an AAC with a low budget and if you're a small brand and you're starting out spending less than 100k per month, it may not be so much worth it to do this.

Because if it doesn't work, you're not really going to know what didn't work and it's not gonna be a huge loss for you.

So you'll be like, "Meh, that didn't work." So that's why I like ABO because it forces me to be good.

It's pretty much that.

Yeah, I mean, there's so many different ways to think about it, but I generally agree with you.

I think it's tough.

I mean, especially if you have a lower budget, which I think a lot of people live in, especially that are listening to this podcast, right?

So a follow up, another question I have, you're exposed to a lot of creative strategists and a lot of creative strategy process within different organizations.

I think that one of the things that every brand is trying to figure out right now is how do we make the process?

So you talked about like, here's how you develop different personas, get inspiration from different places.

How do you make the process of doing creative strategy briefing faster and better?

Because I think there's a big hang up in a lot of that, that brands don't have, the owners are doing it themselves.

Or they're, you know what I mean?

They're trying to find a CS that they're doing this or the agency is doing it.

And the agencies do varying jobs, like jobs of varying degrees of good jobs of this.

And so I'm just curious, you're exposed to a lot.

What are those that are doing it really successfully?

What are they doing?

And let's just focus on the ones that aren't the biggest brands in the world, because clearly like the ridges and everybody, they're gonna have like 10 CS people.

100%.

Actually, so maybe controversial, but like if you are under eight figures a year, the founder should probably lead all that.

Like the founder is probably the best person to know about the creative strategy.

And it's probably also the biggest lever for the business.

If that person can unlock that next stage of growth, it's going to change everything.

And it's been talked here, it's been talked everywhere.

One ad can change your business and life, a single ad.

So like you're probably better off working on this yourself, honestly.

If you try and hire yourself out of this, at this stage, sorry, you're not gonna have the money to hire the best, probably.

Or the best, they won't work with you, because maybe they work on a percentage of ad spend.

And if you spend less than 100K per month, they may not look at you like an interesting class.

That's the truth, right?

So what I think is if you're under eight figures revenue, you should probably figure it out yourself.

Like as a founder, you built this product, you know why it works.

You should probably work on it.

A great example of that.

Let's say you wanna make a bunch of videos.

But by the way, founder-led videos are crushing right now.

They are doing amazing across the gals.

I saw this guy, Zach from Hollow, I saw an ad from them.

It was like really, it was cool.

It was really interesting.

So yes, but yes, founder-led videos are actually super helpful for sure.

Yeah, so my answer is you should probably do it yourself.

And yeah, stop thinking about the brand and the message you wanna put across.

And I actually have a great example for this.

I think Andrew, you're into golfing, aren't you?

Probably.

I'm terrible.

I'm not good at it.

No, okay.

You're not good at it.

No, but I mean I know about it.

I'm terrible as well.

Yeah, I'm terrible as well.

But I've seen golf courses.

Let's say you have a golfing brand.

Like you said Gears or whatever.

All right.

Love it.

And you're like, you wanna try and find a new video concept.

The way you shouldn't go about it is open an ad library and try and find a good concept.

That's not the way.

You should probably think about, okay, where does the conversation happen for my audience?

Is it on the green?

Maybe.

Maybe it's a great idea.

You could start with that.

But maybe you can also find some better stuff.

Maybe great conversation about golfing happen at the Glove House restaurant.

At the restaurant, they're all sitting together after golfing and they have an hour long conversation about golf.

Can I recreate that setting?

Can I do it myself?

Can I put a bunch of people talking about golf together in a restaurant, giving them mics, recording that and have an hour long of raw content about my golfing brand?

That's the kind of ideas probably only a founder can find because if they hire an agency for that, they will never have the budget for it.

But they can probably find a way to be scrappy about it and deliver themselves.

So that's kind of the way to go.

Don't try and find the concept to fit to your brand messaging, but think about your brand.

Where does the conversation happen?

And then create concept around that.

And the more organic it looks and feels, obviously, the better it's going to go.

And then you can spin up B-rolls on top of that conversation and introduce your products and show it in action and have a bunch of weird video footage going on and create an action ad.

And that could rip or not.

And then you move to the next thing.

So what's your core creative stack that you guys are using, right?

Figma, Adobe, and where do people lose efficiency and the file handoffs and all this kind of stuff?

I think working with a partner.

Yeah.

So our stack is mainly Adobe and Figma for putting things together.

Adobe is for product composition, so mixing backgrounds and product making sure it's beautiful and it's well-lit and it's well-integrated.

And Figma is for displaying copy and receiving client feedback.

So like, feedback is for scaling copy and assets.

And Adobe is for core design production.

One thing about this, you're better off having everything in one place.

And we use Adobe a lot, and especially Adobe Firefly.

They are AI-generated, creative tool built in.

And it's great.

And it's really good.

Same thing for assets libraries.

We use Freepeak.

We use Envato.

Freepeak AI is actually amazing.

No one is talking about it.

I feel like in our industry, everyone is chasing the next thing when it comes to tools and whatnot.

But the old players are doing very good at this.

And so we try and limit the number of tools we use to make sure we stay efficient.

I'm actually messing around a lot.

I've been messing around with Jiminy this week.

And it's amazing.

You can create some really cool stuff.

And we do use it for hooks, for example, for hook generations.

It's great, but it's very slow.

And it definitely slows you down.

So you really need to find that balance between speeds and new.

And I try to find the right balance.

Adobe Enigma is the perfect setup.

And then you can add some tools on the sites.

So let's switch over to talking about video.

And let's talk about what you're seeing.

Obviously, you've been getting into this.

I mean, a company's name's Static, so I don't know what you're going to read.

But your static's in motion or something?

I don't know.

Just brainstorming here.

But I think there's-- I'd be curious about the systems, the production techniques, the hook frameworks that you utilize to scale and not just look good, utilizing the video what you guys are doing that's really killing it.

Yeah, before you answer that, why video?

I mean, you kind of alluded to it earlier.

Statics are great for testing and getting some insight.

But ultimately, it's probably the scale.

So I guess what led to that before you do that?

Sorry, Andrew.

Cut you off.

Yeah, so the thought process behind this was, I guess, an average client at Static probably spends 30%, 40% max on their ad spend on static ads.

And I love static ads for all the reasons that we stated before-- super cheap, cheap clicks, ability to iterate, some decent performance, et cetera, et cetera.

But to achieve true scale, you probably need some video formats as well in the metrics.

So for us, it was the natural next step into the process.

And we were able to find a nice offer that is very similar to Static in which we still have some kind of inputs in footage selection, for example.

But we still give brands the ability to direct the scene, if I may.

They still preference in some capacities.

For example, if they want to use a certain type of talking head or a roll, they can still do it.

And they can still tell us about it.

But we still have an input on the B roll side of things and footage selection, which is, I think, the great compromise between the brands seek net new raw content.

They create a huge library of content.

They upload that into their video library.

They keep on seeking new reels.

And on our end, we scale that production.

And so you have a kind of a party setup, which works really well.

Yeah, I'm thinking about an example, literally, right now, where we've had footage for a client for probably months.

I know because I actually filmed part of it because I happen to have the product.

And we just added a couple of headlines to it.

And all of a sudden, it's ripping.

And we, like, months ago did nothing as is.

And I feel like a lot of brands build this insane library and just don't do a great job of continuing to go through it, which is one of the core things that we do.

It sounds like what you guys do is just like, how can we repurpose this a million times over?

I think the trap that you can fall into with doing that, though, is you just make these mini iterations that aren't actually meaningful.

And I know I'm really diverting away from Andrew's original question.

So I'm sorry.

Is there one when you think about iterations specifically for video content?

Are you pushing brands to say, cool, you've got all this footage.

But we shouldn't just be changing the headline.

We need to be thinking about, here's the visual hook that's currently working on this video.

And I'm kind of alluding to the framework that we use, where it's like, the average person that's actually watched this, there's only 25% of people that have stopped and watched this in the first three seconds.

So we changed the visual hook in a very meaningful way that's still relevant for the rest of the video.

That gives us a whole basically net new ad.

Like, how are you coaching people through what to focus on when iterating on videos, if at all?

Yeah.

So the way we're coaching them is brands-- so they work in cycles as well, just like prosthetics, actually.

They should be seeking intentionally new B-rolls all the time.

OK?

It's actually-- you have to breathe B-rolls intentionally, just to make sure everyone-- we're on the same page here-- a B-roll is a supporting footage.

That means it's usually not someone talking, but it's a product in use or something weird happening with your product.

Like, again, if you're in the coffee space, you can just take a white T-shirt and spill coffee all over it.

You can check a Monster Energy.

You can be very creative with those B-rolls.

And if you are intentionally briefing them, you can create a huge library of them.

Because they are actually very cheap to get from the creators, you can also do them yourself-- a lot of them.

Right?

And so you do a bit every month, and you already have a lot to work with.

And you create new angles out of them.

So I don't know.

I'm taking my coffee, and I'm drinking it, and I'm making a weird grimace space of like, because it's beer, and it's not good.

And then it gives you the jitters, the coffee, so you check the Monster Energy, and then you're traveling.

You can be very creative with that, and it's very cheap to do.

And you have to be intentional with them.

So I'm like, hey, guys, please brief new B-rolls every month and do this consistently.

And then you have the A-roll talking heads, which is much harder to get, and it's also more expensive.

So how do you think about it?

You should be-- again, if we take the thought process that I introduced before with the golfing example, if you think about your brand and you're like, OK, where does the conversation happen, and you uncover a bunch of settings, a bunch of situations, then you have to think about, OK, can I do this myself?

OK, yes, I can do it myself, so I can get some A-roll going on.

Can a creator do it?

Yeah, OK, they can do it, so I'm going to hire some creators.

And then should I hire an agency for that?

So for example, if you think the conversation happened in the street, and you want to have street interviews footage, chances are you cannot really make that happen with a creator.

Chances are you're not going to go there yourself, OK?

So probably you're better off hiring an agency for that.

So yeah, you should think about A-roll content in cycles.

So probably every two or three months, you get an increase of new A-roll content of people talking, OK?

And then every month, you get new results.

And if you do that consistently, every quarter, you're going to have new content to make.

And you don't even need to think about what's my next angle, because it's going to be there anyway.

You're going to have so much content, it's going to be there.

And the tools out there right now, the video library tools, they allow you to tag automatically the content too.

So you can just open the library, you can hire someone for it, or you can do it yourself.

But you can open the library, put some clips together, use AI for hooks, and keep on spinning new video ads all the time.

And you're actually making big swings.

It's not because you go only B-rolls and AI voice solver that it cannot work.

It can actually work very, very well.

I've seen six figures ad spend on AI voice solver, simple script, and a bunch of B-rolls on the back end.

And this is life changing for a brand, life changing.

And everybody can do this very easily with a bunch of B-rolls.

So yeah, the answer is be consistent and intentional with how you brief B-rolls.

And then think about the messaging that you want to put across, and try and get new role talking head content every month.

And then you'll be good to go.

Yeah, I mean, I think a big theme of this podcast is really from you is what you've seen in terms of-- obviously, you have a visibility into massive ton of accounts.

And what's working for them, they're telling you, you're guiding a lot of this process, obviously, for them in building their ads.

And a lot of it is utilize the creation of a lot of B-roll, and have that, and have also the same thing with statics.

Like have more, and think outside the box.

And you can be the one in charge of that.

You don't necessarily have to do these incredibly polished pieces, which is good.

I think another thing you talked about with video is hire agencies to get the specific content, street interviews, organic style, podcast style.

Don't purchase finished ads only with agencies or creators.

Make sure it includes-- 100%.

100%.

Close celebrity author figures into whitelisting deals.

Seek tons of hooks.

And then your video production process, video library of A and B-rolls, plus script, plus AI fit, voiceover, plus editor and static.

The last one is the one I want to ask about, which is Batpiece.

So they have A and B-roll stuff, the script generally, and then you guys are putting it together.

That's really the magic.

Or like, how does that process work to make something really great for folks?

Yeah, we're putting it together.

Once we have everything, we pretty much have-- we have video editors who are kind of strategist as well.

They wouldn't write copy.

They wouldn't write the script, but they can understand what performs, how to transition clips properly, and where should clips go, which is-- it's like basic, but it's how you put together and how that performs.

OK?

So yeah, that's pretty much it.

It's really about seeking the content, being intentional, and then either you brief it specifically to an editor that you hire in the house or you hire someone like us to do the job for you.

It's pretty much about that.

And when it comes to authority figures, you guys have been talking about whitelisting already quite a lot, but I feel like authority figures are a different kind of edits, usually.

It's more organic.

It looks more organic, at least.

And you probably need to be less heavy on the editing when it comes to whitelisting.

OK?

So you'd probably give more freedom to the authority figure that's working for you.

You'd probably give them more freedom, because they know their audience.

So yes, it's going unpaid, but it's a different kind of video editing setting.

It's a different thing.

One thing I'll say is I think we should transition into the final episode of the-- or the final segment of the podcast, which we always get into, which is beefs.

And we all have different opinions about this.

I want to ask Zach a question as it relates to the working with you guys.

Zach, obviously, you have your own internal creative teams.

Then you have a team like Static coming in and doing stuff.

What are the beefs that you have in terms of what others have done and how they produce creative and make it great, versus what Static has done and what the difference is there?

I think it mostly comes down to just creativity and new ideas, right?

So it's just hiring an agency to just repeat the same playbook over and over again.

And maybe we've kind of talked about this as just-- there's no point, right?

I mean, you've kind of buried a concept.

Like, if we have-- we had one concept that would always work.

We hired a few creative agencies early on, and they would just take that concept and iterate on just that one and apply it to other things.

And it didn't move the needle, right?

So I think the one thing that Static's done is they take-- they take bigger swings on the visual, on the just overall aesthetic of these ads, and don't just take templates and rerun it.

So my beef usually comes down to just almost laziness and trying to templatize creative, right?

I think that that's where some of these-- there's other things out there where you can buy 50 templates and just run those for your brand.

It's less about the template, as Simon has said.

Historically, I agree with him entirely there.

And it's more about the concept and the creativity that goes in that's going to actually get the attention of someone while they're scrolling.

That's my perspective on it.

Yeah, I mean, I think, Simon, my beef that I hear a lot in creative strategy discussions is, well, I wanted to create new stuff, and so I went to the ad library to look at what my competitors were doing.

And you've obviously talked about that.

And that's not necessarily a bad thing to get a baseline, but it's also like you're building off of others' ideas, and you're not necessarily thinking creatively on your own, which I think has been a big theme of what you guys do, which is really special.

And it's clearly something that sets you apart.

My beef is like the original.

That's an important point, because if you think about how people interact with ads, like if I go to Hollow's website right now, my feed and my store replacements and my reels for the next seven days are going to be socks competitors.

And if your ads look the exact same because you stole from each other, it's probably not going to do anything.

Like, it's really hard to break through when I see the comparison ad, but the exact same visual side by side.

So yeah, that's a point worth thinking deeply about.

Yeah, 100%.

Awesome.

Well, Simon, I'm so glad to have you, man.

Thank you for being here.

And I do want to say, as a, you know, just a transparent nature, Static and Simon has sponsored this episode.

However, we only take sponsors from those places and vendors and people that we work with who drive results across brands that we've seen.

I've seen it personally in Foxxl Founder Members.

Simon doing great work and his team doing great work at Static, obviously Zach seeing it with Hollow.

Brad is cheap, so he doesn't have any money.

I've referred, I know, I've referred people.

I've now referred people.

He's actually, yeah, that's true.

He's a big referral guy.

Big referral guy.

Have to get back to you on that.

Yeah, the reality is that Brad is smarter than Zach and I both.

So that just, I mean, we're at the end of the podcast, but that's the truth.

So if you, you know, we just want to be transparent about that, but you know, we stand behind the work that you guys are doing and obviously, we appreciate the partnership.

And yeah, if you have questions on any of this, you can obviously hit Simon on X is a good place.

You can also reach out to Andrew at Foxxldigital.com.

I'm happy to connect you with Simon.

And I'm sure there's some sort of special deal for podcast listeners that they'll cook up for you guys.

100%.

So I appreciate it, Simon, and thanks for being here, guys.

Thank you guys for having me.

Hope you enjoyed it and you had value from it and I'm happy to answer any questions you guys have.

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