Simon Robert

We do static ads : AG1, Jones Road, HexClad, Hollow Socks & 100 more. Book your call to get started 👇

[Simon Robert @Simon__Rob]

Q4 is when brands panic-ship

They hold on to the ad that performed 3 months ago and doesn't anymore, because they're not willing to let it go

So, as promised, we updated the playbook right before Q4 starts: what Q3 data from our accounts actually shows, and what to do about it in Q4 (besides hiring Statiq, wink wink)

free, unlocks on subscribe. Enjoy y'all

https://t.co/nS2UZcKxr5

[Simon Robert @Simon__Rob]

Every ad format winning across 100+ Meta ad accounts right now, in one playbook

- updated every quarter as winners rotate.
- this isn't a youtube guru take on Meta ads. I'm in the accounts. It's just what the data shows.
- free, unlocks on subscribe.

https://t.co/nS2UZcJZBx cheers!

[Simon Robert @Simon__Rob]

Just did my first live candidate assessment like 5 min ago.

We basically hung out for 1h30 and worked together on a project.

In 2027, when the work is agentic, imo only thing that matters is whether two people are comfortable working together.

Rest is just bots using token.

[Simon Robert @Simon__Rob]

I run a 40 people agency. We hired 60 people last 2 years across 5+ countries. We're done with async assessments starting today.

Ran that playbook for years, hired great people with it. It’s over. Every candidate sends back the same output now. The only variable is which model they used. Live conversations only from now on. Street smart or not. Done.

[Simon Robert @Simon__Rob]

@RomanEcom I mean auto is the most visible but to your point, consumer electronics is where it all started. Apple literally trained the entire Chinese economy. Read this a while ago and it blew my mind.

[Simon Robert @Simon__Rob]

Shift happened with the auto industry imo. Chinese cars are better than most European/american equivalent + aesthetically nicer.

A BYD Seal is objectively a nicer looking car than a Tesla. We need to get our shit together otherwise these guys are going to replace us.

[Shaun Eng @shauneng]

He's right. I just met a Chinese seller at Roman Khan's event doing $400M a year.
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His team doesn't even speak English.
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They don't need to. AI writes the ads and they just push volume.
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Last year I visited a billion dollar company in China.

3 floors of nothing but desks and chairs. Everyone works 9am to 11pm, and the boss sits at the same table so nobody slacks.
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They always outworked us. Marketing was the one edge we had left.

AI just took that too.
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And you can't beat their COGS. They're straight from the source.
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It's already happening. A guy in Evolve got outscaled by his own factory. They launched a US brand and copied his ads word for word with a different creator. His CPA almost doubled.
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Selling better was an edge. It was never a moat.
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AI copies your ads in hours. A factory copies your product in days.
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But here's the thing about that $400M seller.

He can sell anything and outcompete almost anyone. He's still been struggling to build a real brand for a long time.
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Because the one thing AI can't copy is the position you own in your customer's head.
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Think greens, you think AG1.
Think water in a can, you think Liquid Death.
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If your category doesn't bring up your brand, you're just another option. And the cheapest option wins.
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Most brands are just another option right now. They've been copy pasting their way to revenue.
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3 ways to own a position they can't copy:
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1) Be different, not better
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Better is easy to copy. A factory can make your product better and cheaper by next month.
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Different isn't.
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Represent makes great gear. But so does Nike, and quality alone was never going to beat them.
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So they built something different: premium athletic for people who run and train, right as running became a craze again. They host their own races and the whole brand lives in that world.
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247, their performance line, grew 55% last year.
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A Chinese brand can copy the look for half the price. To a runner, it's just "the cheap Represent."
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Every copy reminds people who the original is.
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2) Stand for something
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Look at politics. Left wing, right wing, there's fanatics on both sides because it's us vs them. People don't switch sides to save $10.
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Comfrt sells hoodies, such a basic product, and they're on pace to do $1B this year.
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The whole brand is built around anxiety and stress. Hudson, the founder, has been through it himself. He was homeless at 16.
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He meets his best TikTok Shop creators 1 on 1 and tells them the mission. They carry that story into every video, and it's the same story in the ads, the site and the emails.
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That's how they became one of the biggest merchants on TikTok Shop.
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A factory can copy the hoodie. It can't copy why people wear it.
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3) Say no
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Chick-fil-A doesn't sell burgers and closes every Sunday. That's a full day of sales gone, every week.
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It's still the #3 restaurant chain in America.
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Who it's not for is what makes it for someone.
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And a volume seller can't copy that. Their whole model is saying yes to every product and every customer.
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Get these 3 right and when the $400M sellers come for your category, your customers still buy from you.
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Angles are rented. A position is owned.
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The prepared will always win.
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See you on the winning side 🤠

[Simon Robert @Simon__Rob]

@BeauchampAndrew i will

[Simon Robert @Simon__Rob]

@zachmstuck these guys are moving

[Simon Robert @Simon__Rob]

2 AI video ad formats nobody’s running yet. Steal them:

1. The arena (men, 30-ish)

- Fantasy: he’s watched Gladiator too many times
- Best for: hair growth, fitness, supplements, grooming
- Scene: Maximus mid-fight, his helmet falls off, receding hairline. The crowd goes quiet.
- Payoff: the product. Next fight, helmet off on purpose, full head of hair, the crowd roars.

2. The period piece (women, 25–35)

- Fantasy: she’s watched Pride and Prejudice too many times
- Best for: haircare, skincare, supplements
- Scene: the proposal in the rain, and all she can think about is her frizzy, rain-soaked hair
- Payoff: the product. Same rain, she’s not thinking about it. Her hair? Flawless.

Brief the world before the story.

[Simon Robert @Simon__Rob]

Whoever wrote that Penrose AI song redemption arc video ad is an absolute genius

[Simon Robert @Simon__Rob]

If you sell anything that ends up in a fridge, film your ad in the grocery store.

Especially if you’re targeting Southern moms: she does the grocery store run every other week, buys the family pack because she’s feeding everyone in the fam, and has a chest freezer in the garage.

What she’s afraid of isn’t spending money. It’s wasting it.

So your ad’s job is to catch her right there in the aisle, before she checks out, and make her feel that loss before it happens.

If your product looks good, even better. She’s not chasing designer bags. She wants the nice version of what she uses every day.

Cast every age: grandma, mom, the daughter in her first apartment. Three generations, same kitchen problem.

Show two places: the aisle where she buys it and the freezer where it ends up.

[Simon Robert @Simon__Rob]

@orenmeetsworld 💪💪

[Simon Robert @Simon__Rob]

Found this in r/beyondthebump: a mom posting a photo of a single plastic tag barb with the caption “bane of my life.”

That’s a free ad angle for any baby clothing brand. Reddit is an infinite native statics inspiration source at this point. Nobody’s using it.

[Simon Robert @Simon__Rob]

The new Birkin is a $50 bottle of olive oil.

If you want to target upper-class late Gen Z and millennial women with your ads, this is who you’re talking to.

- She wants to launch her own brand someday.

- Her ring tracks her sleep.

- Her groceries are her luxury items. Poppi in the fridge and the Graza bottle is on the counter, both where guests can see them. Tonight she’ll post a story of her Caesar salad and a Diet Coke, with the Graza in frame.

- In her AirPods, Shelby Sapp is talking about making your own money.

Thirty years ago, this woman wanted Prada shoes, a Birkin, and high-end makeup. Now, when times feel uncertain, people stop buying big luxuries and spend on small ones.

And small luxuries run out. A bottle of olive oil lasts weeks, and then she comes back for another one.

So if you sell a good she uses every day, stop making ads that look like ads. Make them look like her Instagram story: her fav online girl + your product on her counter, in her real kitchen, making alfredo pasta.

[Simon Robert @Simon__Rob]

Dutch boys really figured out how to sell shit online - another one this morning 8 figs in 7 months used to be a random engineer, somehow went into anti aging rabbit hole and rips

[Simon Robert @Simon__Rob]

@joshsuggss good luck - difficult shit

[Simon Robert @Simon__Rob]

I run a 40 people agency. We hired 60 people last 2 years across 5+ countries. We're done with async assessments starting today.

Ran that playbook for years, hired great people with it. It’s over. Every candidate sends back the same output now. The only variable is which model they used. Live conversations only from now on. Street smart or not. Done.

[Simon Robert @Simon__Rob]

@jules_lmr_ less go

[Simon Robert @Simon__Rob]

guys I'm so back

[Simon Robert @Simon__Rob]

@alexgoughcooper @jacob_posel Lets go

[Simon Robert @Simon__Rob]

@RobertPaidAds @BeauchampAndrew @jules_lmr_ @freddythegerman lets go

[Simon Robert @Simon__Rob]

Last minute news: we locked in a 2-month trip to Finland in the middle of winter with the boys. goal is to work 16-hour days, drill holes in the lake, and catch a fish or two. LFG

[Simon Robert @Simon__Rob]

@lukethorburg @joshsuggss you never hugged me like that