What's up, Marketers! This is Aazar. I create and manage ads for DTC & App clients. I've spent over $100 million on ads to share what I've learned with you.
This newsletter is all about giving you ad ideas to find wins and help you scale.
This newsletter includes: My learnings, insights from other performance marketers, and analysis of top internet ads (this issue)
I started in SaaS in 2015 and moved to consumer brands in 2020. I spent years trying to figure out how to make demo ads actually convert. It used to be extremely hard because none of the features gave aha moments, but I found one that could be an inspiration for all of us.
THIS brand keeps showing up in my feed, running demo ads that actually work. They have formats that DTC, app, and service brands can all steal.
The brand is Wisprflow. I use it. I wrote an entire newsletter through it because I prefer talking over writing.
When you analyze their ads, steal one or two formats for your brand. Demo ads are hard to get right. They cracked it.
Here are 8 of their ads worth studying.
Ad #1: The "DEEP insight" Format
Steven Bartlett walks through an airport, responding to his team out loud. The ad shows him using voice in moments where typing was never an option.
Psychology behind this ad:
Authority transfer. Bartlett's credibility becomes the product's credibility.
Aspirational reframe. Working in motion feels like an upgrade, not a workaround.
TBH, as a creative person, I agree. Walking helps while getting ideas, and also taking a shower.
What you can steal:
Show your product fitting into moments your users couldn't use it in before.
Borrow authority from a face your audience already trusts.
Ad #2: The "Skeptic Converts" Format
A woman tries Wispr Flow on camera for the first time. Within seconds she's saying "I don't love AI, but that's actually pretty useful."
Psychology behind this ad:
Real surprise sells harder than scripted enthusiasm. The "wow" is doing the marketing.
A skeptic's endorsement carries more weight than a fan's.
Something I have realized is that adding “skepticism” upfront in the ad makes the ad more believable.
What you can steal:
Cast skeptics, not fans, for your first-reaction ads.
Let the camera catch the moment belief shifts. That's the whole asset.
Ad #3: The "Split-Screen Race" Format
Split screen. One person typing, one talking. The talker is way ahead before the typist finishes his first sentence. 7 seconds total, no script.
Psychology behind this ad:
Visual proof beats any feature claim. Eyes do the convincing.
A 7-second ad about a time-saving app is itself the demo.
What you can steal:
Skip the script when contrast can carry the message on its own.
Match the ad length to the promise. A time-saver shouldn't waste yours.
Tools worth checking out — Atria:
Before, you had to re-explain your audience, your competitors, and your positioning every time you created an ad.
Not anymore.
Here's what's new with Atria AI:
Audience profiles — Define your actual buying scenarios and personas once. Raya matches creative to the right context and the right person automatically.
Competitor tracking — Add brands you compete with. Raya tracks their ad activity so you know what's working in your space without manually checking Ad Library every week.
Brand guidelines that actually work — UVP, tone of voice, preferred words, avoided words, multiple logo variants. Everything that makes your ads sound like you, not a template.
Product profiles (coming soon) — Add your products to your brand once. When you generate scripts or analyze creatives, Raya already knows what you're selling. No re-entering product details.
The best part? Just paste your website URL and Raya extracts it all in seconds.
I've been using this for client accounts. It's basically a creative brief that writes itself.
Ad #4: The “Vivid Demo” Format
She's smashing a keyboard on the table. And then she drops the line: "keyboard is dead, voice is the future." Then she demos it across Slack, GPT, and meetings.
Psychology behind this ad:
Pattern disruption. Smashing a keyboard is impossible to scroll past.
Manifesto framing turns a tool pitch into a movement people want to join.
What you can steal:
Lead with a visual hook so weird the viewer has to know what's happening next.
Show the product across 3+ real contexts. One demo isn't enough.
Ad #5: The “REAL Enemy” Format
"why Siri always gets your name wrong." Wispr Flow then misspells a name, gets corrected, and nails it the next time. The Siri jab handles positioning. The demo handles proof.
Psychology behind this ad:
Universal frustration. Everyone has a Siri-ruined-my-name story.
Showing the fix is more convincing than claiming the feature exists.
What you can steal:
Roast a specific mistake the category leader keeps making. That shared frustration sells for you.
Demo features through real use cases. Skip the feature list.
Ad #6: The "Cultural Insight Hook" Format
Opens with the insight that Indians send more WhatsApp voice notes per person than any country. The pitch: get the speed of a voice note, but the receiver gets clean text. Delivered in Hindi-English, which doubles as an accuracy demo.
Psychology behind this ad:
Cultural specificity feels like the ad was made for you, not at you.
Reframing a habit people already love makes the product feel inevitable.
What you can steal:
A deep insight is the whole ad. Find a behavior people already do but no one is talking about, and your product slots in like a missing piece.
Bake the demo into the format. The Hindi-English delivery proves accuracy without claiming it.
"My posture when I'm typing." She's hunched over a desk. Cut to "My posture when I'm flowing." She's upright, speaking, words appearing on screen.
Psychology behind this ad:
Naming a pain nobody talks about makes the viewer feel seen.
Posture extends the value beyond productivity. Now it's a wellness pitch too.
What you can steal:
Hunt for the small pains nobody in your category has named yet.
Use visual before/after to carry the story. Words are optional.
Bartlett again. This time he holds a function button, says a casual Slack message out loud, and it's ready to send. He closes with: "it never makes a mistake."
Psychology behind this ad:
Repeating the same authority face across ads builds brand association.
A bold claim feels safe to make when the demo is the proof.
What you can steal:
Use the same trusted face across multiple ads to compound recognition.
Pair every bold claim with a live demo. The demo earns you the right to make the claim.
Key Takeaways from Wispr Flow's Ads:
Every ad is a live demo. Wispr Flow shows the product working, while most app brands just describe it.
Insights are the real creative. The best ads started from a human observation, not a brainstorm.
Repeat your authority figure. Bartlett shows up multiple times, and his face starts becoming the brand.
Pick a fight with a name people know. Roasting Siri does more for positioning than 10 feature ads.
Match the format to your promise. A 7-second ad about a time-saving app proves the point in itself.
Let visual contrast carry the message. Split-screens and before-after shots do what scripts can't.
Use skeptics, not fans. Genuine surprise sells harder than scripted excitement.
Use pattern disruption hooks. A smashed keyboard sets up the message before a word is spoken.
Show the product in multiple contexts. One demo feels like marketing. Three feels like proof.
Name a pain nobody else has named. Posture from typing instantly makes the viewer feel seen.
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.
One way I can help you, whenever you are ready:
Looking for a more scalable winning ad? Book a call here. I’m open to more clients now.
