Ads Review - Dandy Del Mar (Instagram Ads With A Huge Vibe)

All the Instagram Ad best practices say to focus on the products. To call out features. To not get too creative.

Dandy Del Mar broke all those rules.

Dandy Del Mar is a swim and leisurewear company, slinging ads and shipping direct. On the surface, they seem like another 20-something frat bro passion project, looking to scale quick and sell high. But their ad creative suggests a different side to this company.

Take a look at these ads, and I’ll break down why they work despite breaking all the rules. See how long it takes before you start browsing vacation homes in Palm Springs. 

Full Set Commitment 

Dandy Del Mar commits to the creative. They booked a luxe home in the desert, hired a ton of models, put the props and drinks in place, and let the creators run wild. Facebook ads are all about increasing output by making dozens of variations of each ad. The cheaper you can run a shoot, the more profitable things end up being, because you don’t really know which ad creative will work best. So the fact that Dandy Del Mar spent good money on this shoot was a risky move. But in the end, it really paid off. These ads are bewitching, inspiring, and a huge vibe. 

Lifestyle + Product - Distractions = Huge Vibe

Producing Facebook Ads shoots is very different from producing branded content. Facebook Ads are closer to a stats project than an art project, and adding too many creative elements can distract from the products you’re trying to sell. 

Dandy Del Mar knew they couldn’t be too distracting, so they placed their shoot in a great environment that says a lot about what kind of products they’re selling. They also took advantage of their swimwear. There’s nothing else to wear with swimwear, so the real lifestyle actions weren’t distracting. If they were selling watches, for example, too much focus on the entire outfit could detract from the watch, even if the other elements do enhance they creative and the storyline. Dandy Del Mar added lifestyle to their product, and removed the distractions to create this huge vibe. 

Great Copy

Lust For Leisure. 

Boom. 

Dandy Del Mar isn’t selling you on a discount. They’re not telling you what their products are made of. They’re not comparing their products to their competitors’. 

They’re simply connecting their product to a value that many hold, and placing their product as the way to achieve that. 

Ads like these are why I love advertising, because they inspire people to design the lifestyle they want. It’s no secret that people are more likely to follow through on something when they invest in it. Dandy Del Mar is betting that when people invest in leisure through their products, they’ll achieve that lifestyle and keep coming back. (At least for the weekend trips to Palm Springs.) 

Closing

Quality creative works in advertising. It always has and it always will. People can tell the brands are phoning it in and playing it safe. they can tell when an ad follows all the rules. While platforms and best practices change all the time, this remains the same. Great creative always wins the imagination of customers. 


Thanks for reading! Please share this article with a friend.
For more Ads Reviews, click here.
5 Steps To Achieve Your Creative Goals.

Previous
Previous

What A Client Wants

Next
Next

Novelty Vs Consistency