Ridge vs Ekster

Look, I’m old school. Not because I want to but I have to. Here’s what I mean:

I use a wallet that can hold coins because I live in Germany.

Germans STILL love cash and I have to get along with this.

You know how they say when in Rome, do as the Romans do.

But you probably don’t have the same problem.

This week, I wanted to evaluate a famous DTC wallet brand ad. It seems like they’re crushing it. It’s Ridge Wallet. But alone Ridge won’t interesting so I thought, it’s been a while since we did performance battle.

Welcome to the Paid Social Performance Battle

If you missed that newsletter, you can find it here.

Okay, let’s go.

Ridge:

Ridge wallets are simple, functional everyday gear; built to last and ready for anything.

Ekster:

Ekster has trackable wallets, card holders, bags and tech accessories that provide function and style at your fingertips.

For simplicity, we’ll only use wallet products. But how do they position their products?

The Positioning

The one key difference between Ekster and Ridge wallets is the mechanism for card access. Ekster features a quick card access button that fans out your cards in a staggered manner for easy selection.

Ridge uses a band or clip system, requiring you to push and pinch the cards to access them. This fundamental difference shapes the overall user experience and design philosophy of each wallet.

Ekster has become famous for its cascading, or pop-up card mechanism that has taken the world by storm.

Okay, let’s look at some ads now.

Important: For a better appreciation of the ads, I recommend watching the ads first. These ads are hosted on Magicbrief, a great platform that allows me to save ads for inspiration even after the brands have deleted them (they also have a discovery feature where I find good ad concepts to steal).

Ridge Ads that appeal

Ad # 1 – Extreme hooks + extreme personas

This ad has been running for more than 60 days, let’s see why it works:

What immediately stands out:

• Calling “dads.”

• Showing a gunman, so calling out the dads who love guns.

• Within three seconds, they were able to show how they “ditched” their old wallets.

• The video is focused on the “old way vs new way” concept.

• Suggesting man should have a stylish design and how it reflects their personality.

• So much of social proof: use of “my recommended wallet + 50,000+ 5 star reviews.”

• Buy one time but lasts a lifetime. Lifetime guarantee. That’s big.

• 99-day risk-free trial makes it hard not to try.

What we can learn from the ad:

• The hook with killing the old wallet and attracting dads + gun hobbyists. Do you have a persona with a hobby where you can use an extreme hook like this? If so, use it.

• You can always try old vs new way in your ad to make your point.

• They have an irresistible offer:

Ad # 2 – The negative hook

This ad has been running for more than 60 days, let’s see why it works:

What immediately stands out:

• The negative hook simply opens the curiosity loop way better. Even I was interested why he is pissed off.

• Why leather: Ridge is usually anti-leather so it makes a good case to further watch. They made it fancy basically.

• Words focusing on visual: bomb

• Over emphasis on: 80,000+ reviews + 99 day trial and lifetime warranty

What we can learn from this ad:

• Use negative hooks and exploit it in your favor. Although, I am always curious how to switch the negative to a positive. Sometimes, it can feel obvious or lame.

• Iteration: They used existing footage + robotic voice-over. Key learning: You have footage so make as many of these AI robot iterations as possible. They will cost you way less than any original UGC creator videos.

Ad # 3 – Make your prospects feel like a hero, don’t shame them

Last week, I shared how Speechify shamed its customers in one of the ads. You can see the ad here and form your own opinion. But Ridge does the opposite and it seems like it worked out for them.

This ad has been running for more than 60 days, let’s see why it works:

What immediately stands out:

• The hook makes the viewer feel good that if they use the product, they’ll be more organized.

• The headline: This is HOW easy it is to stay organized.

• Again, using the old way vs new way concept.

What we can learn from this ad:

• Make your customers feel good with a hook.

• The thumbnail should support the headline.

After going through many ads, I feel Ridge is doing a couple of things really well:

• They are using the same hooks & footage and testing a LOT of ads with the robotic voice-overs.

• They are focusing on extreme hooks and extreme personas. These are for the early adopters.

• A killer offer: 99-day trial + lifetime warranty + free shipping.

• Okay, now let’s look at the competition aka Ekster.

Thank you to our sponsors who keep this newsletter free to the readers:

The Must Attend 2023 Creative Strategy Summit

🗓 Join the world's largest online gathering of creative strategists. On Oct 26, 2023, DTC leaders from True Classic, Sharma Brands, Jones Road Beauty, and more will attend the 2023 Creative Strategy Summit.

🎙 With speakers like:

• Paige Decker (VP of Growth, True Classic)

• Ari Murray (CGO, Sharma Brands & Founder, Go-to-Millions)

• Jess Bachman (Creative Strategy Director, FireTeam)

• And more!

🎨 You'll learn the art (from the best in the biz):

• True Classic’s Creative Formula

• The most predictable path to advertising profitability.

• How to build a team culture of rapid results and high outputs.

🔬 And the science (to fly high in Q4):

• Deep dives into creative-led growth

• Models and rock-solid metrics

• Advanced creative analysis

The summit is hosted by your friends at Motion—the creative analytics platform used by DTC brands like Vuori, True Classic, The Farmer’s Dog, HexClad, and hundreds more.

👉Get your free ticket here 👈 (I’m gonna join too)

Ekster Ads that appeal

Ad # 1 – Single image scroll stopper

If you sell a premium product, then definitely try this. I’ve seen this also working for Hexlcad as well. The Ekster team has been running such ads in different formats and styles but with the same headline.

What immediately stands out:

• The headline: Creating an analogy makes it easier for prospects to scroll, stop, and take action.

• The features point ad, but done well.

• Shocking feature: 15 cards.

What we can learn from this ad:

This is an analogy ad. Analogies work by creating imagery in the viewers' minds that makes an abstract concept become more tangible.

I think brands use analogy way too little in their copywriting but if you want to do this, keep these points in mind:

1. Build on what your customers already know (and like)

2. Align your business with something your customer already holds in high esteem. It should improve the perceived value.

Ad # 2 – The most relatable problem

What immediately stands out:

• The hook exemplifies and amplifies the problem that we’ve had with zippers.

• They have solar-powered chargers too. WOW!

• They key feature: Click-card access button.

• Different hook with same video iteration.

• Not forcing to “click” somewhere.

What we can learn from this ad:

• Find the most relatable hook that your audience might be sharing in the reviews and customer interviews.

Ad # 3 – Hit the status symbol

What immediately stands out:

• The verbal hook: Only the “top Gs” have a wallet

• The BMW status symbol signal.

• “The Sherlock Holmes of Wallets” – again, the use of analogy.

• Not this but this – Loved how they threw old wallet away.

• It’s just a product demo.

What we can learn from this ad:

• Calling out your best persona always worked.

• Signaling: When you understand your customers well, you can align with many brands they are already using. I will be using this tactic for sure.

That’s all from Ekster.

Here’s the TL;DR:

• Idea # 1: Use your persona’s hobbies in your ads to sub-segment them.

• Idea # 2: Use extreme hooks – Killing with a gun, axe, hammer or throwing.

• Idea # 3: Signaling – Can you signal your customers with premium brands in your hook?

• Idea # 4: Analogy – If you’re a premium brand, connect your brand with the premium brand. Example: The Rolls Royce of Pans and The Tesla of Wallets.

• Idea # 5: Focus one feature hook that is the most relatable.

• Idea # 6 – Have a killer offer: 99 days trial + lifetime warranty + free shipping.

Now it’s your time to decide

Let me know which brand’s ad you liked the most.

Respond to this email and cast your vote for a chance to win!

The prize (worth 1068€):

• Paid Social, yearly mastermind subscription (299€)

• 300€/hour for a free call with me

• One-time entire marketing audit for your brand (469€)

The Performers’ Recommendations

Some tools and insights I found lately.

• This ChatGPT plugin helped me convert Amazon's thousands of reviews into concrete value props and benefits within minutes. Video here.

• This tool helped me find and save ads in minutes. It also helps me find inspiration, and create briefs and “winning” ads from other brands in seconds. Check out Magicbrief.

• This tool helps me send server-to-server data and track my Shopify ad account clients’ data properly. My 3 favorite features: AI-based predictive audiences (their pixel sends data back to Meta to find the better audience), CLV insights and cohorts analysis, and

  unified omni-channel reporting. Check out Admetrics.

One insight from The Performers’ group:

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.

Four ways I can help you, whenever you are ready:

• Work with me to get you growth from paid marketing. Book a call here. I’m open to more clients now.

• Promote yourself to 11,000+ highly qualified paid marketers by sponsoring this newsletter. Book a call to advertise.

• Level up your paid marketing by joining my community where we share the latest tactics and get nuanced paid marketing questions answered here (we are now 60+ but there is a waitlist to join).

• If you’re struggling to set up your Facebook pixel, Google Ads, Google Analytics, and Tag Manager. We can help. Book a call here.