At a recent dinner at Freemans, Upscale and AppLovin brought together founders and operators across fashion, beauty, food and wellness. Several themes kept returning: creative variety, patience with learning and a better understanding of the ad experience.
These were conversations about what operators were seeing in their accounts. They are useful starting points for a brand’s next test, rather than universal rules for every advertiser.
Give different shoppers different reasons to care
One repeated theme was the role creative plays in reaching the right audience. A product can solve different problems for different shoppers, and a single ad rarely communicates all of them clearly.
Build a set of genuinely different ideas. A product demonstration, a founder explanation and an objection-led story can each give the viewer a different entry point. Changing only the opening line may leave the underlying message unchanged.
The useful planning question is which persona and promise each creative is testing.
Keep decisions understandable
On campaign management, the discussion leaned toward consolidation and giving campaigns enough time to learn. Operators discussed campaign types and the relationship between acquisition goals, budget and creative refreshes.
The practical lesson is to avoid making so many small changes that the team cannot explain which change affected the result. Choose the structure appropriate to your current account and objective, then document your decisions.
Watch the creative as the customer will
AppLovin’s gaming background shapes the viewing experience. The dinner discussion emphasized full-screen storytelling and the need for an ad that communicates on mute.
Before launch, watch the cut on a phone without sound. Check whether the product, benefit, objection and offer remain clear. Then watch with sound to inspect narration and music.
Make interaction part of the story
Playables generated some of the most questions. Operators discussed experiences such as selecting a shade, building a bundle or interacting with a product idea before visiting the store.
The strongest concept connects that interaction to the product the viewer just saw. It gives the shopper a useful reason to continue.
Thanks to Julian Reiche, Daniel Sim and Gareth Domingo for co-hosting, and to the operators who shared their experience.