How to use AI without making ads feel robotic

Welcome back to another edition of Nice Ads, the only creative strategy newsletter that breaks down three ad creatives each week to make you a better marketer.

This week, we're going to be talking about

• How to use AI to write better scripts.

• The power of niche targeting.

• When to start your Black Friday sales.

Humantra

👉 Watch in full here

This is a video we recently created for one of our clients, which takes the form of a UGC VSL. Across the board, we've seen this type of ad creative perform consistently for all of the brands we work with. However, to make it effective, you need an excellent script.

At Fraggell, we have a couple of exceptionally talented creative strategists who handle most of our scripting. However, we have started using a couple of AI tools to help us refine our scripts.

We found the best way to do this by using a tool called Poppy. This essentially utilises Claude's LLM, but through a different interface that enables us to load its knowledge base with various types of media, including web pages, text documents, and past winning videos, which it can watch and transcribe. This allows us to pair those videos with the data and build upon them to create new creatives, and that's exactly what we did to make this Humantra VSL.

We've already had a couple of winners in this format for the brand, so we allowed Poppy to analyse them. Find the commonalities and summarise that information. The creative strategist then crafted a script and passed it back to Claude to rewrite it using it’s knowledge.

This means that we can leverage all the great things about AI, while also not losing the human touch that makes an ad feel real and relatable.

I don't think I'd ever let an AI loose to make an entire creative. We normally use it as a tool to help us achieve our goals.

If you like the look of this creative, and you want us to do the same for your brand, then apply to work with us here.

Everyone’s chasing AI UGC. Here’s what they’re missing.

It makes sense. AI UGC sounds faster, cheaper, and easier.

But most marketers are jumping on it for the wrong reasons.

After running hundreds of UGC campaigns, I realised something.

When brands complain that “UGC doesn’t work,” it’s usually because of two things:

1. The creators they work with aren’t good enough.

2. Their workflow is too messy to scale properly.

So they turn to AI, spend hours re-prompting to get something half-usable.

But the truth is: real UGC hasn’t lost its edge one bit, and that’s what Youdji was built for.

Top-tier vetted creators across the US, UK, and EU. No subscriptions, no messy processes. Just fast, scalable, authentic content production.

Try Youdji for free and get 20% off your first order with code ‘NICEADS20'.

Liberare

👉 Watch in full here

I think this creative is so incredibly clever on so many levels. The brand claims to have the easiest-to-put-on bra, and they likely already know that a large number of their customer base will be disabled, as the product blends in so well to help that demographic. So they've leaned into that and hired someone with an obvious disability who can put the bra's claims to the test.

This not only helps prove the product's claims but also introduces it to a potentially new demographic that will find great use for the product.

If they were to pair this with Meta's partnership ad feature, I'm sure this would also do wonders for the overall social proof of the video.

Sometimes you just need to think a little bit outside of the box when it comes to your casting and your video ideas.

TLDR:

• Have a bit of fun with your video ads.

• Do your research into new potential customer pools.

Looking for more?

Here are 4 ways I can help you 👇

• Fraggell - Looking for ads that turn scrollers into customers? My performance ad creative agency has delivered high-convert ads to brands like ALOHA, Chomps, and Nailboo… It’s worth your time to apply today to see if you're a good fit.

• The Ad Creative Course - Want to learn how to make converting ad creative yourself? Join over 100 students who are already learning with the help of my course. Grab your place today.

• Sponsor Nice Ads - Reach over 10,000 marketing decision-makers and fill one of our few ad spots available. Join brands like Motion, Triple Whale, and Minisocial by expressing your interest here.

• CreativeOS - Create static ads in seconds with over 800 pre-tested templates for DTC brands. Become a member today and get 50% off your first month.

• Poppy AI is my new go-to for ad creative — saves me hours, sparks better ideas, and just gets how I work. If you make ads, you need to try it. Click here and get $25 off any plan.

• Foreplay - Improve your creative workflow. Save ads, build briefs, and more. Claim a free trial here.

Javvy

Every year, it seems like Black Friday sales start earlier and earlier. One of my favourite coffee brands has already begun its Black Friday pump.

But is this a good thing?

It depends on some brands that can capitalise on the urge we all have for a good deal and launch a Black Friday offer before everyone else. However, you do run the risk of losing the trust of customers. People don't buy because they expect the sale to be on for the rest of the year. After all, you haven't made it feel special.

I'm a big believer that people should only run a Black Friday sale on Black Friday and make it limited to 24 hours. It builds a massive amount of scarcity and can be a great way to grow your email list in the build-up.

But I'm sure that Javvy knows that this works; otherwise, they wouldn't be doing it. Offering a large percentage of your product as well as free gifts is a great Black Friday offer. And I'm sure this ad, along with the many others they have live, has converted tremendously well.

TLDR:

• Do your research into what Black Friday offers your customer wants.

• Build anticipation and scarcity.

That's all for Nice Ads this week. I appreciate the time you've taken to read this newsletter. If you think a friend or a colleague might enjoy this, then be sure to forward it to them.

I've just released a brand-new YouTube video that breaks down my top video formats of the year. You can watch that here.

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