Hey there!

I’m feeling adventurous this week. Up for the adventure to show you some amazing ads to give you actionable insights to build your next winning ad.

Theodore Roosevelt once said, “Comparison is the thief of joy”. Well, it’s true, but not when comparing yourself to other alternatives you’re competing with and it’s generating a helluva lot of money.

That’s why this week I’m breaking down 3 comparison ads I’ve seen pop up when doing research for the brands we’re working with.

I’m a big fan of comparison ads myself, they follow the strategy of battling an enemy. By enemy, I mean competing or alternative products that you frame as the enemy your company is battling. The consumer can choose to join you on that path if they see a fit to battle this enemy together!

HUEL

Love love love the headline. By using the worth battle you instantly get the attention as consumers are drawn to it. It’s one of those words that makes people feel curious, at least I feel curious when seeing it!

Then what Huel does well here is to compare their Mac & Cheeze to a microwavable ready-to-eat meal which mostly is not that good for you to further strengthen the point they’re making.

Then the comparison points are very well displayed, they’re clear which is so so important when doing these kinds of ads. I do think they know what they’re doing here in terms of the order of these points. Starting with prep time is one of the main selling points of their product. Then going into protein where they slam the competition followed by vitamins and being vegan.

Then to finish off strong they showcase how cost-efficient their meals are by saying when people buy Huel they get 21 meals for £2.66 per meal which is cheaper than making Mac & Cheese yourself or buying it ready-to-eat in the supermarket.

Copywriting - 8/10
Visuals - 8/10
Likeliness to convert - 8/10
Overall rating - 8/10

Possible improvement points: I think they could focus a bit more on the ingredients. Traditional Mac & Cheese is known to be not so good for you. If they can make a static ad that focuses on these points, they would be up for success by really making an enemy out of traditional Mac & Cheese and would be able to grab the attention a lot more as it’s more of a no-brainer for people to try Huel.

Possible variations:

1. Headline changes:

   1. Mac & Cheese on Stero*ds

   2. Mac & Cheese without the trash

   3. Mac & Cheese Packed with Protein

2. Flip the comparison so Huel goes on the left and normal Mac & Cheese on the right.

3. Focussing on the ingredients more. I.e. Normal Mac & Cheese: Full of artificial ingredients. Huel Mac & Cheeze: 26 Essential Vitamins & Minerals

Click here to see the full ad.

DEUX

A big fan of these kinds of CPG brands. We work with a couple of them and it’s always a delight making ads for them as usually they have amazing brand colours and it just works so well. Try making ads for a brand that has black and white in their brand colours, it’s 10x as hard to make some good-looking and attention-grabbing ads!

So starting out with the headline, immediately it’s talking about your childhood. A lot of better-for-you brands do this like Magic Spoon which is great as it allows the potential customer to wander back to their childhood and vividly remember the times they had these treats.

This static does something a bit better compared to the previous Huel ad. They go much deeper into the ingredients. They talk about clean ingredients, and how normal Oreos have gluten, palm oil, corn syrup and artificial flavours. A great way of telling the audience why they’re the better choice as it’s presumably one of the main reasons people would buy DEUX.

Copywriting - 8.5/10
Visuals - 8/10
Likeliness to convert - 8.3/10
Overall rating - 8.4/10

Possible improvement points: I think this ad could do a better job at showcasing and highlighting the comparison points, they blend a bit much into the background. While I get the fact that they’re trying to make a visually good ad I think this can be improved to make the ad stand out more in the glimpse of an eye. Apart from that, I think they hit a lot of the points I’d include as well.

Possible variations:

1. The “Other” mention sounds a bit weird. I would change that to “Regular Cookies & Cream”.

2. Headline variations:

   1. Oreos just got an upgrade

   2. Cookies & Cream without the artificial junk

   3. Your childhood favorite minus the artificial ingredients

3. Completely change the colours to something more popping like red.

Click here to see the full ad.

IMMI

IMMI is crushing. I can’t get enough of browsing through their ad library. This ad is strongly focusing on people trying to lose weight and wants to continue eating the foods they love.

They levelled up the way people do comparison ads by making it a bit more dynamic to use a video format. I love the comparison chart here where they fully go in on the nutritional values of regular instant ramen. They ultimately have a way better product which honestly does the selling for them. Their nutritional values beat the competition by miles and showcase that trying IMMI is the ultimate way to lose weight while eating enjoyable ramen that doesn’t taste like shit.

The comparison chart is clear, then is followed by a really cool rotating ramen bowl to show it’s about ramen otherwise it would be hard to identify what they’re actually selling. Obviously, they have ad copy as well to also call out the audience. Then they killed it with the “Slurped by” part which is playful and not as boring as saying “Trusted by” or “Loved by”.

Copywriting - 9/10
Visuals - 8.5/10
Likeliness to convert - 9/10
Overall rating - 9/10

Possible improvement points: There are a lot of things done right with this ad. It just looks like a winner to be honest. The only thing I’d say is to include something about instant ramen in there so people have 2 reference points next to the rotating bowl to identify that the ad is about a better-for-you ramen.

Possible variations:

1. Headline variations

   1. Slurp yourself to a slimmer waistline

   2. Ramen to lose weight, hold on…

   3. Ramen as thin and tasty as your future waistline

2. Add in a review from a customer instead of the publications at the bottom.

3. Make a static image out of it.

Click here to see the full ad.

Well, that is a wrap for this week. I hope this brought you value and gets you excited about what’s to come next week. I’ll be delivering these every Sunday to your inbox at 7 PM CEST.

All the best,

Dennis 💚

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