8 Street Style Ad Formats & 9 Lessons After Trying Them

What's up, Marketers! This is Aazar.

This newsletter is about leveling up your paid growth marketing skills by analyzing the best brands' paid strategy, tactics, positioning, and value props.

This newsletter is divided into:

• Sharing what I've learned

• Sometimes sharing some other performance marketers’ lessons with you

• And I analyze & compare the best ads on the internet (this issue)

BEST LINKS OF THE WEEK (on popular demand)

My favorite finds

• Harry Dry wrote an ad, and it is a masterpiece

• Why do we love some brands but don’t buy from them?

• A great trojan horse style advertising

• The Grüns origin story: How I came up with a $500M+ brand

• I hired the wrong media buyer, a glorified button pusher

• Meta is investing in ad partners?

• Dropshippers are insane

Street Style Videos are everywhere right now.

You’ve probably seen them: a mic, a stranger on the street, and they ask questions. 

But behind the casual vibe is a very structured way of selling.

One of my friends in the mastermind community said it also crushed in his ad account too:

I’ve been testing these ads for my own campaigns recently. And let me be honest with you:

I messed up quite a few things in the beginning.

The context was off.
The message didn’t land.
And most importantly, I misunderstood how to connect the product with the setting.

But here’s the good news: I’ve learned a LOT since.

This issue is packed with everything I wish I knew before I started shooting.

No theoretical tips. I’ll be sharing real lessons I learned — plus extra wisdom from creators like Hamza, who’s absolutely killing it with these formats (Big thanks to him).

If you’ve been thinking about trying Street Interview Ads, or if you’ve tested a few without seeing results, this edition will save you months of trial and error.

8 Examples of Street Style Ad Formats That Actually Convert

1/ The Undervalued Reveal

Use when your product is more valuable than people assume. Perfect for pricing or feature reveals.

What I learned:

• Start with a guess. It helps in building contrast

• The reaction is the hook

• Keep the reveal casual, not salesy

• Let the person sell it by simply being surprised

Steal this template:
“What do you think this is worth?”
→ Let them guess
→ Reveal
→ Pause for reaction
→ Quiet close

2/ The Curiosity Trigger

Best when your product is unfamiliar, unconventional, or unexpectedly useful.

What I learned:

• Weird, casual hooks beat polished intros

• Let the surprise unfold

• Save the product name until after the intrigue

• Treat it like a discovery, not a pitch

Steal this template:
“Wanna see something wild?”
→ Drop the unusual line
→ Let the moment unfold
→ Bring in the product name naturally

3/ The Effortless 10/10

Use when your product has strong everyday appeal. Again, don’t hard sell, just “yeah, I’d buy this.”

What I learned:

• The less they think, the better the reaction

• Real-life settings sell more than polished ones

• Focus on light and genuine praise

• Ask simple questions — don’t over-script

Steal this template:
“What would you rate this out of 10?”
→ Let them react
→ Keep filming
→ Smile and wrap

4/ The Identity Mirror

For products tied to personality, lifestyle, or relationships, when someone instantly “gets” who it’s for.

What I learned:

• People like to see themselves in the product

• You don’t have to explain the audience — they will

• Relatable setting > direct targeting

• Let them project

Steal this template:
“Who’s this perfect for?”
→ Let them answer
→ Short try-on or use shot
→ Light CTA (optional)

5/ The Gut Reaction

Best for smell, touch, feel — anything where the product hits immediately.

What I learned:

• Lead with the product, not the pitch

• The pause before they react is just as powerful

• Sensory products don’t need explanation — just reactions

• Let the moment speak for itself

Steal this template:
“Smell/Try this. What do you think?”
→ Capture reaction
→ Minimal talking
→ Brand reveal at the end

6/ The Instant Association

When your product makes people instantly think of someone they know — powerful for social proof.

What I learned:

• Ask about people, not just the product

• Social anchors build trust

• Light humor + real answers = high retention

• Keep it conversational

Steal this template:
“What kind of person would use this?”
→ Let them explain
→ Product nod
→ End with a smile

7/ The Emotional Grab

For warm, soft, giftable, or comforting products — where the first touch creates attachment.

What I learned:

• Emotion doesn’t need context — just let it land

• Cute, cozy, or giftable? This is your format

• Let the viewer feel through the person on camera

• Don’t kill the moment with a pitch

Steal this template:
 Start mid-reaction
→ “Can I keep this?”
→ Capture warmth
→ No push, just vibe

8/ The Experience Shift

Use when the demo flips their mindset — from “I have this problem” to “I finally feel better.”

What I learned:

• Start with the problem — then shift into feeling

• One person, one time

• The before-after captures emotions

• POV or over-the-shoulder makes it more intimate

Steal this template:
“What’s the issue you usually face with X?”
→ Let them try
→ “How do you feel now?”
→ Quiet, confident ending

Thanks to our partners who support this newsletter.

9 Lessons I Learned After Testing Street Style Ads Myself

1/ Context beats creativity

My biggest mistake was not matching the setting to the product.

I thought I could shoot a clever hook anywhere and get attention. But if you’re selling a car, shoot near cars. If you’re selling coffee, show someone actually drinking it.

Street-style ads work because they feel real. But “real” means it has to look like something you’d naturally see in that setting. Otherwise, it just feels off.

Lesson: The background is part of the ad. Don’t treat it like filler.

2/ The person answering matters more than the person asking

At first, I thought the interviewer needed to carry the energy, ask the right question, build the vibe.
But when I watched what actually made people stop scrolling — it was the reaction.

Facial expression. Tone. Slight surprise. A smile.
That’s what sells the moment.

So if you’re picking someone to be on camera, don’t just chase polished creators. Chase reactors — people who respond naturally and believably.

Bonus tip: If you can show two people in frame, even better. It adds movement, chemistry, and makes it feel more like content.

3/ The absurd makes people stay

Want more watch time?

Don’t just ask interesting questions. Make the moment absurd.

Hamza talks about this: You need something that makes people pause, because it's just slightly off from what they’d normally expect. That’s where curiosity kicks in.

You don’t need to be loud. You just need to be unexpected.

Or simply add “Wait till the end” 😂

4/ Don’t run this like “an ad”

Please for your profitability sake, ask your brand marketer not push all the brand all over it. You need this without the brand colors and logos in it.

Street-style ads feel like little moments from a show. And that’s exactly how they should look.

The second you try to sound “branded” with polished lines and too-clean edits, people scroll.

Your product should feel like it happened to come up in the convo. Not that it was planted.

Run content that looks like content. Not content that tries to sell.

5/ Your question makes or breaks it

You already know this. But it hits differently when you're editing.

If the very first question doesn’t spark something — confusion, curiosity, confrontation — it’s game over.

No one’s waiting for the payoff.

What worked better for me:

• Starting with “Excuse me… Can I ask you something weird?”

• Jump cuts that show emotional shift (from “What?” to “Oh damn.”)

• Text overlays that tease what’s coming

Forget basic questions. Your ad starts with that weird question already. Drop viewers into the tension.

6/ You can’t fake good reactions

This is why most street-style ads flop: they’re staged. And people can tell.

Hamza shared this too — you’ll face rejection when you shoot. Most people won’t react the way you hope. But that’s part of it.

The goal isn’t to script the perfect response. It’s to set up a great moment and let people be people.

You want the kind of response that you couldn’t have written better even if you tried.

Lesson: Your prep is in the question, not the answer. Frame it right, and let the reaction happen.

7/ Create value, not hype

You’d think humor and virality are enough, but no.

Some of the strongest reactions I got came when the person realized the value they were getting.

When they said:
“Wait, this is only $7 a month?”
or
“This feels like something I’d pay $200 for.”

That’s the moment. The “aha.”

So build up to that. Don’t just ask if they like the product, get them to compare it to something expensive, something they used before, or something frustrating they deal with.

You either increase perceived value or decrease perceived risk here.

8/ Don’t ask random people. Ask the right people

People assume that you can ask whoever passes by.

But that approach usually leads to footage with weak emotions and irrelevant reactions.

If your product is for parents, go where parents hang out. If it’s for gym bros, shoot outside gyms.

Better targeting = better footage. It’s that simple.

9/ POV makes it feel real, and that’s everything

If your street-style ad feels staged, people won’t trust it. And nothing kills trust faster than a wide-angle, static shot that feels like a promo.

What changes the game is shifting to a POV-style frame, where the viewer feels like they’re the one asking the question.

It adds intimacy. It adds movement. And it makes the whole video feel like a real interaction.

What works better:

• Holding the camera close but slightly off-angle

• Having the mic visible (it makes the video feel more raw)

• Making sure the interviewee never looks directly into the lens

• Cutting between a close-up and a slightly wider handheld shot to keep motion in-frame

In street-style ads, the perspective is part of the performance. Shoot like you’re part of the convo, not documenting it.

That’s all for this week.

Hope this gives you clarity on what’s working with street-style ads and helps you skip some of the trial and error I went through.

If you end up testing any of these formats, send me what you make. Would love to see it.

Happy Growing with Paid Social,

Aazar Shad

Since this newsletter is free, I do it to follow my curiosity. But I’d love it if you could leave some feedback so I know if I am helping you or not.

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P.S. I am loving this community and knowledge I’m gaining by applying psychology and principles to my ads. It’s offers different value than my community.