Beer Desks, The Golden Key & Generative Fill Hack | AD&P No 2

As we all muddle over conspiracies, wait for the tea to spill and the Netflix dramatization to drop - for me it was a stark moment of reflection.

The question of bootstrap or raise capital is one that every founder struggles with, I know it keeps me up at night.

Foreplay has been fully bootstrapped since day 1 and we are incredibly lucky for that.

It means we can build what our customers want, in a way that feels right for us (and hopefully you fuck with it too).

That being said, it wouldn’t be possible without you, our customers.

Whether you just learned about us, or you have been riding with us for 2 years … thank you.

I can’t imagine having something I care so much about being ripped from my hands, but I can’t wait to see what Sam does next.

With that, Here’s what we’re getting into this week

• Deodorant that needs a key
• Stella Artois builds desks? (yes the beer)
• Making a thump-stop ad in 2 clicks with Generative Fill

The key to no more BO??

Becoming a part of your customer's daily routine is hard. Especially when you are a consumable product that literally disappears after they use it.

When they drink the last drop, swipe the final swipe or squeeze the last blob they are flooded with contemplation…

• “Should I re-order? “
• “Maybe I should try X brand?”

How do you crush these objections and keep your customers in a deep love affair with your product?

Pair your consumable product with a physical accessory.

This is what AKT Deodorant does with their gold key, and it kills not 1, not 2 but 3 birds with a single stone…

1. It makes their product more delightful to use.
2. Leaves your customer with something to remember you by.
3. Increases your first order value by offering a kit or intro offer.

Another DTC example of this is Athletic Greens with their unique shaker bottle and storage vessel.

This strategy could also be a juicy opportunity for a brand collaboration. Imagine Liquid Death partnering with The Crusher which Segway's nicely into one of the most unique brand collaborations I’v seen this year.

Transformer x Stella Artois Table & Desk

The most beautiful babies are born of form and function. I never saw a modular table company teaming up with a beer brand, but here we are.

Transformer Table, a DTC modular furniture company hooked up with Stella to build a dining table that transforms into the ultimate workstation.

The tagline?

“Pour life back into dinner and Make Time for the Life Artois”

“The campaign, created by agency Anomaly Toronto, defies how work and home life have blended into one and aims to flip that on its head.”

Although the copy feels a bit superfluous and far-reaching … the product is so sick it gets my seal of approval … Adds to Cart

I originally discovered this through an Instagram ad, so I ran to Meta Ad Library to save them all with Foreplay.

Here are the ads they are currently running 👉🏼 Stella x Transformer Table Ad Board which are incredibly polished. But what if you don’t have the time or budget to produce tv-quality commercials?

Easy Breezy Generative Fill

Rolling into BFCM we hope you have all the ad creative you need to scale and cash in … but I came across a top-tier use case for generative fill that could work for most brands.

ikonick posted this loop to Instagram and my wow … it stopped my thumb in its tracks. I love this as an ad concept for a three reasons.

1) Amazing pattern interrupt in your feed
2) Showcases the product front & center
3) Overcomes any objections about how it may look in variable spaces

If you are running ads for any art, furniture, or even fashion, this is something worth trying. All you need is a static lifestyle image or video of your product + Photoshop.

⏯️ Here’s a tutorial on how you can achieve this effect with a few clicks.

That’s all I got for this week. As always if you have any feedback or stories I should include in future issues replay to this email.

Until next time, stay hungry and get creative!

Cheers,

More info from the main gig, and my other side side gig:

• Foreplay’s mobile app is out of beta and available for public download
‍• DTW Episode 2 is out and ready for your earholes