Steal ad ideas like an artist


Read in your browser ↗

Hey! Every new idea is just a mix of old ideas.

Here are my three rules for “stealing” ads ethically:

Rule #1: Never steal from your neighbor

Instead of copying my competitors, I draw inspiration from other industries.

For example, if I need a B2B idea, I’ll try to find it in a B2C ad library, like Lurzer’s Archive

Rule #2: Limit yourself to 30 minutes

Ad inspiration quickly turns into procrastination.

So I browse ads for half an hour, then get to work.

Rule #3: Steal one element, not the whole piece

My client, AppsFlyer, wanted to target large companies that have outgrown their current mobile attribution tools.

So, while looking for inspiration, I found these two ads:

The fishbowl simply caught my eye.

And the big man in the small box reminded me of AppsFlyer's target audience: enterprise teams locked into software built for startups.

Next, I googled “big fish in a small tank” and found this:

And here’s the final ad:


You made it! 🕺

Reply to this email if you enjoyed it.
I’ll write back, pinky swear ;)

Talk soon,
​Shlomo​

P.S. If your B2B ads need a creative boost, check out my course, Boring Products, Fun Ads.

Samuel Green​

Copywriting Lead @ Artlist

"Our creative team did the course together to sharpen our skills and get some inspiration for fresh ideas.
I'm not a huge fan of video courses, but this one was extremely well put together, well-structured, and entertaining!
We particularly enjoyed the prompt templates for AI tools to help the creative process.
Shlomo was also very available for questions during and after the course and there is an extremely comprehensive handbook which we are using for reference having finished all the videos."

The Creative Marketer

Learn how to brainstorm brilliant ads and copy | You’ll get one practical recipe every two weeks | Free bonus: get 25 creative marketing cheatsheets when you sign up.

Read more from The Creative Marketer

Read in your browser↗ Hey! Constantly coming up with new ads is hard... But a technique I learned from Pablo Rochat makes it easier. Credit: Nicer Tuesdays I call it Square Storming. And here's how I used it to come up with 100+ ads for my client, AppsFlyer: SPONSOR I use Senja to collect, organize, and share testimonials from my course students: And when I advise startups, Senja is the first tool I recommend, because nothing boosts conversions faster than social proof. SPONSOR Step 1: I...

Read in your browser ↗ Hey! Legal restrictions often kill good ads. But sometimes, they inspire genius ideas, like this: Here's another one from this campaign: The Recipe I call these “Legal Loophole Ads,” and I think there are two main ways to come up with them: 1. Complain about your legal restrictions I also love this classic from 1985: 2. Find a way around your legal restrictions And another great example: Budweiser couldn’t use photos of rock stars drinking Bud because of copyright. So...

Read in your browser ↗ Hey! Typographic ads are the perfect mix of copy and design. Because Typography turns plain copy into expressive visuals. So here are six techniques I use to create Typographic ads. 1. Replace letters with images 2. Turn words into shapes Small caption (right ad:) “See danger before it happens. Audi Cornering Lights.” Ad for mental health hotline. I had the pleasure of writing copy for this Coke campaign. Two stories, in two languages, form the shape of a bottle....