DTC856: Meta Ad Placement Risks, Starburst Ads, and Failed Landing Pages

Good morning, 

Here’s what you’ll find in today’s DTC: 

🔧 The Hidden Risk of Meta’s Ad Expansion
What brands lose when they give up creative control.

🍓 How Starburst’s ‘Little Lad’ Broke the Internet
The weird strategy behind a viral candy ad.

🚨 Daily Tariff Update
Trump issues blanket tariffs. 

❓ Diagnose A Failed Landing Page3 important questions to ask. 

You’re reading this newsletter along with new subscribers from: Nespresso, Stampix, and Lunchbox Mini. 👋

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• Applications from vetted creators in under 48 hours
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• Diverse campaigns from product seeding to UGC and whitelisted ads

 Results? 🌟 

• Quip saw 85% influencer activation with product seeding
• Revolut partnered with 140+ creators, for 350+ UGC assets
• Maty’s Health saw 12x reach with TikTok Spark Ads

📲 Want a $200 bonus for your first campaign? Book a free demo by July 25.

🔧 Why You Should (Maybe) Turn Off Audience Network Placements 

As Meta continues to expand its advertising reach, you may have noticed your brand’s ads appearing on third-party apps like Nextdoor.

This is due to Meta’s Audience Network, which allows partner apps to display Meta ads on their platforms.

While this can help broaden your reach, it also carries risks, especially for brands that care deeply about how and where their ads appear.

Pilothouse highlights a major concern: advertisers have limited control over how creative is displayed in these placements. 

This can lead to brand misrepresentation or ads appearing in inappropriate or irrelevant contexts.

👉 If maintaining brand integrity is a priority, we recommend turning off Audience Network placements.

How to Turn Off Audience Network Placements:

1. Go to Account Settings
   
2. Click on Advertising Settings
   
3. Under Account Controls, select Placement Controls
   
   

4. Deselect the checkbox for Audience Network

Taking this step helps ensure your ads appear in the right context. 

Protect your brand and maximize the impact of your creative!

🤩 What If There Was A Tool That Turned You Into The Most Efficient, Best Version Of Yourself, Instantly? Psst… It’s Already Here

👉 Omnisend is on a mission to cut down your busywork and let AI handle the boring stuff.

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📦 Your Daily Tariff Check-In

Whether it’s a minor tweak or a major shift, we’ll keep you posted on the latest tariff changes—so you’re always in the know. 

July 11, 2025 update:

• 35% Tariffs on Canada
  
  • President Trump announced 35% tariffs on all Canadian imports, effective August 1, 2025, escalating tensions with a key U.S. trading partner.

• 15–20% Blanket Tariffs on Other Trading Partners
  
  • In addition to Canada, the U.S. is preparing 15–20% tariffs on most other trading partners, as stated alongside the Canada announcement.

🎧 From Michelangelo to Candy Ads: Why Artistic Vision Still Wins in 2025

In this episode of Ad-venturous, Aves makes a bold creative case: linking the Sistine Chapel to one of the weirdest yet most beloved ads in modern history: Starburst’s “Berries and Cream” featuring Little Lad. 😂

Through the lens of performance artist Jack Ferver (who played Little Lad), Aves explores how trusting in true artistic vision (not just data) is the real unlock for breakthrough ad creative.

Whether you're building a DTC brand or trying to get people to stop scrolling, the lesson is clear: artistry still matters.

In this episode, we dive into:

• Why "weird" is a strategy and not a liability‍

“You should explore, experiment, and trust in human artistic vision especially at the campaign level.”

• What makes a character like Little Lad go viral—twice
  (Hint: A human performance artist, not a marketing formula)
  
• How Jack Ferver’s theatrical choices turned a throwaway ad into a cultural icon: And why Starburst’s willingness to take a creative swing paid off years later
  
• The ROI of risk-taking in creative

“We need to be comfortable with failure on a small scale if we want to succeed on a big one.”

• Why AI won’t replace human creativity: From Charlie XCX’s BRAT to surrealist painting to TikTok revival—only people can make weird things that work!
  

👉 Listen to the full episode with Aves here.

Struggling to figure out why a landing page isn’t converting? 

Here’s a simple 3-step gut check:

1️⃣ Does the headline promise a desirable outcome?

2️⃣ Does the subhead ease friction or doubts?

3️⃣ Are the first few bullet points focused on benefits, not just features?

Most landing pages miss the mark here, and tightening up these fundamentals can make a measurable impact fast.

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• Amazon is reportedly considering another multi-billion-dollar investment in AI firm Anthropic. 
• AI music company Suno acquires WavTool, a browser-based AI digital audio workstation.

📥 Got a B2B Biz? 

Join dozens of B2B companies finding demand-gen success through our niche community of 150k brand leaders and founders this year. Talk to our team to learn more.

Have you heard our latest podcasts?

• 🚴 Re-acquisition Story: Revel Bikes Founder Buys Back Brand 
• 💡 AKNF 522: How To Strategically Win a 4 Day Prime on Amazon
• 👏 Ad-venturous 9: The Secret Messaging Tool for Creative Strategy
• 💡 TWBERP 40: Scale The Ecosystem, Scale The Brand 
• 💰 How RYSE Used Meta Ads To Raise $10M+ In Equity
• 🚀 AKNF 520: How Pilothouse Tests 30+ Creatives Weekly on Meta  

Don’t forget to rate the DTC Podcast on Apple (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

DTC Newsletter is written by Rebecca Knight and Frances Du. Edited by Eric Dyck.

Please note that items in this newsletter marked with * contain sponsored content.