True Classic vs Fresh Clean Threads

This week I wanted to analyze brands that have little or no differentiation. These brands do not have any real competitive edge, in my opinion. Today it is all about t-shirts - the brands are called “Fresh Clean Threads” and “True Classic”.
There could be a difference and I only found this: Fresh Clean Threads offer something unique with their proprietary “StratuSoft fabric” (I think they made it up - StratuSoft is a super-soft, breathable, and custom fabric that we use to make our tees) while True Classic Tee simply says theirs is 60% cotton/40% polyester blend.

Important: For a better understanding of the ads, I recommend watching the ads first. These ads are hosted on Foreplay (it helps me to save ads for inspiration even if the brands delete them). They also have a discovery feature where I find good ad concepts to steal.

The Positioning

True Classic is a brand of clothing that offers basic, high-quality t-shirts for men and women. The brand also emphasizes a focus on comfort, fit, and durability, with a commitment to using only the best materials and production methods. Overall, the positioning of True Classic Clothing is to provide customers with high-quality, sustainable, and versatile basics that they can wear for years to come.

Fresh Clean Threads is dedicated to helping guys look and feel great in their t-shirts without spending a fortune.

The big idea of both Fresh Clean Tees and True Classic Tees is pretty simple for both brands:

• High-quality shirts.

• Incredible comfort.

• Great fit – for dad bods and beyond.

• A great value – around $20.

• Classics that stand the test of time.

Let’s dive in.

Ads that appeal

We only evaluate ads older than 30 days to see if they perform well. Let’s start with Fresh Clean first.

Fresh Clean Threads

Ad # 1 - The Secret to Looking Sexy

Let’s look at the script before evaluating it:

What immediately stands out:

• They are using the split-screen to hook the viewer.

• The persona is very clear — thicker guys and they make the pain super obvious for thicker guys.

• Multiple creator mashups.

• USP: Best-fitting and comfortable.

• What they are selling is the selfish desire to look good without breaking the bank.

What can we steal from this ad?

• Get deeper to relate with your persona with the script and visuals.

• Selling one BIG idea only: best-fit tees.

Here’s an excerpt about the BIG idea from the famous copywriter, Gary Halbert:

Most of their ads are similar but I loved how they make their first 1.5-3 seconds work with different scroll-stopper headlines and visuals.
This means instead of having different thumbnails, run different versions of ads.

Thumbnail # 1 - My wife calls these “category term” product

Thumbnail # 2 - How to do X under $X

3 - Thumbnail # 3 - Hate x? Try this (product)!

But there are two more ads that have given me good hooks ideas and I wanted to share them with you.

Ad # 2 - Live experiment ad (TikTok Style)

What we can learn from this ad?

• If you are confident about your product, run a live (real or fake) experiment and show the value of your product.

• Make it look native to Facebook/TikTok.

• Add urgency to your ad “hurry these sell out fast” with a code.

• Still selling one BIG idea: very tight on the biceps.

Ad # 3 - Pain is nice but fear cuts deep

What we can learn from this ad?

• Make it super obvious with your hook for viewers to feel the same pain.

• Headline, nothing fancy but hits home: A man’s biggest fear came true…

• If your before and after trying the product are game-changing — always use videos, not just static images.

That’s all from Fresh Clean Threads. Let’s check True Classic now.

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True Classic

Ad # 1 - Us vs Them 

What we can learn from this ad?

• No script and still explain within a few seconds how True Classic is better than the enemy (baggy t-shirts).

• Headline: Most (product) suck. So we made a better (product)…

• Show, not tell.

• Hitting real needs: look and feel better.

Ad # 2 - Features call out ad

What we can learn from this ad

• Add three to four features that truly make sense.

• Instead of prospecting, features call is great for retargeting because they’re offering 50% off.

So some of the True Classic ads were very similar to Fresh Clean Threads. I found out that True Classic also sells jeans and their ads are also performing well. So, I added the jeans ad as an exception to my analysis.

Ad # 3 - Ad with a little humor (the jeans ad)

What we can learn from this ad?

• Cute dogs are a hack to get attention.

• Focus on “what’s wrong with your life?” and connect it with your product.

• They focused on one problem “stiffness” and address objections to the price with the quality, too.

(Writer’s personal opinion: How the hell this lame ad is still giving profitable results is unbelievable!)

So how do you sell undifferentiated brands on Facebook?

• Slightly better is good enough. In the Tees brand, “StratuSoft fabric” does the job. Don’t fight the competitor, fight the common enemy i.e. baggy t-shirts in their case.

• Focus on the persona's pain instead of unique features and relate deeply such as the problems of thicker guys. It should emotionally resonate.

• Pain is nice but fear is awesome. I realized from their ads, you can always relate to the deeper issues and people will forget how different you are.

• One USP is enough. Both brands are focusing on “fit tees”. You don’t need a genius idea, you only need one big idea.

• Your enemy isn’t other brands it’s the customers’ life before trying your product.

• Show, don’t tell — Videos with powerful before and after tell better stories.

Bonus from Adbox

I’m collaborating with folks from the Adbox team to deliver new ads breakdown from their highly curated library.

Alphabet

In terms of the creative, the first thing that makes it a winning ad is the hook. The movement of the pointer grabs the attention of the viewer, and the close up of the click on “Women” makes it immediately clear who this ad is targeting.

This type of ad works great as a MOF and BOF because by showing the purchasing process online, you are basically telling your customer “Hey! you can get this product right now, look how simple it is. It serves as the final nudge they need to get into action.

The screen recording of the website is also a great way to showcase the features of the product, in this case they show the different colors available.

From there the quick shots of the product and model, followed by the simple CTA makes for a pretty cool and performance-driven framework that you can easily replicate. You just need a screen recording of your online purchasing process, and a quick shot of the product itself.

You convey, value, push the viewer to follow the process and buy your product, and you can make many iterations at an affordable price to see what works best!

See you next time!

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