Cloud Ten makes Meta and TikTok ad creative that is briefed from the competitor ads which have survived longest in market, and judged on the profit it produces rather than platform ROAS.
Most creative is a guess
The usual brief starts with a mood board, a brand guideline and someone's favourite ad. Then a batch of concepts goes live, most die in a fortnight, and nobody can say why the survivor survived.
The answer was public all along. Every ad your competitors run sits in the Meta Ad Library with its start date. The ones still live after months are the ones someone keeps paying for. That is the cheapest creative research there is, and almost nobody reads it properly.
How we brief: days in market
Nobody keeps paying to run an ad that loses money. An ad still live after 100 days has been re-approved by the advertiser's own budget every day since launch. We call that days in market, and it is where every brief starts.
- We track the ads in your category and record how long each one stays live. See the ad library and the longest-running ads.
- We read the survivors for the promise they lead with, the objection they answer and the persuasion mechanism doing the work. How we rank competitor ads.
- We write a brief that names the mechanism, the proof and the format, so every concept starts with a reason. Our ad creative brief template shows the shape.
What the survivors look like
We classified 276 long-running static ads across the library by the mechanism doing the work. The ads that look most like advertising die first. The ones that make a concrete point keep running.
| Mechanism | Share of long-running statics | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Feature callout | 24% | Feature callout ads |
| Big claim | 14% | Big claim ads |
| Product hero | 13% | Product hero ads |
| Offer | 11% | Offer ads |
| Comparison | 10% | Comparison ads |
| UGC | 9% | UGC ads |
| Before and after | 8% | Before-and-after ads |
| Social proof | 5% | Social proof ads |
| Lifestyle | 3% |
Comparison ads had the highest median days live of any mechanism, at 96. Lifestyle imagery, the default of most brand-led creative, was 3% of the survivors. The full method and the category breakdown are in what makes ad creative work.
What we make
- Static ads. Feature callouts, comparisons, offers and before-and-afters, in every placement size. Statics are the fastest way to test a message.
- UGC. Creator-led video built around one claim and one objection, scripted from the language buyers already use in reviews.
- Video. Product demos, edited explainers and hook variants for Meta Reels and TikTok.
- AI-assisted variants. Storyboards, scene stills, B-roll, voiceover and hook variations made with AI once the message is proven. More on how we use AI for ad creative.
The format follows the message. A comparison works as a static grid or a talking-head video; the mechanism is what we are testing, not the file type.
How we test and judge creative
A cheap click is not a winning ad. We test concepts against each other on Meta and TikTok, then judge the winners on the money they make: orders at a margin above your break-even ROAS, read on profit on ad spend and blended MER.
- Test distinct mechanisms first, then iterate hooks and formats on the one that wins. The method is in creative testing on Meta.
- Read results on profit with the POAS calculator. Why that matters is in POAS vs ROAS.
- Keep a winner live until its profit falls, not until the team is bored of it. The market rewards ads that run.
The numbers behind it
| DTC brands tracked | 40 |
| Ads tracked | 6,146 |
| Of which video | 3,823 (62%) |
| Brands with an ad live 100+ days | 21 of 40 |
| Longest-running ad | 939 days |
Frequently asked
What does an ad creative agency do?
It decides what your ads should say and show, makes them (statics, video, UGC), and tests them in paid social. Cloud Ten also does the research first: we brief from the competitor ads that have stayed live longest, and judge the results on profit.
Where do your creative ideas come from?
From evidence. We track 6,146 ads across 40 DTC brands and rank them by days in market. The long-runners show which promises, objections and persuasion mechanisms a category rewards. A brief starts there rather than from a mood board.
Do you make UGC and video ads?
Yes. We make static ads, UGC-style video, edited product video and AI-assisted variants. 62% of the ads in our library are video, so most accounts need both, but the format follows the message rather than the other way round.
How do you decide which ads are working?
On profit. A winning ad is one that brings in orders with enough margin to beat your break-even ROAS, read on POAS and blended MER, not the cheapest click or the platform's attributed ROAS.
How many new ads should we test each month?
Enough to give each concept a fair read on your budget. Volume matters less than variety: testing five genuinely different mechanisms teaches you more than fifty versions of one idea.
Do you work with brands outside the UK?
Yes. We are UK-based and work with eCommerce and B2B brands wherever they sell.