Hey creatives.

It’s Chase.

The best creative ideas usually start with a fight.

In this case…

The tension between fame and familiarity. Between using a celebrity to drive clicks and actually using them to tell a story worth remembering.

Fabletics launched an ad with Khloe Kardashian that had all the right ingredients:

Influence, scarcity, style, etc.

But instead of building a narrative around those strengths, the creative takes shortcuts—assuming too much and saying too little.

Today, we’ll break down how even a strong retargeting ad can go flat without the structure of story, clarity, and emotional urgency.

Let’s dig in.

But First…

This Wednesday, September 10th at 10 AM PT…

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This is apart of our brand new Creative Playbook series, launching next week

So if you’re in e-commerce and want to join us for: 

1) What’s driving performance for the top brands we’re working with

2) A full run-through of how you can start prepping for Q4

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A-list faces mean nothing without context.

Yes…

Khloe Kardashian appears in the ad. Her name is in the headline.

But NO value is assigned to her presence.

Here’s the problem:

• It assumes viewers know Khloe.

• It assumes they care about Khloe.

• And worst of all, it assumes that name-drop alone equals desire.

Celebrity is not the story. The product’s emotional connection to that celebrity is. Miss that, and you’ve wasted the opportunity.

If you say “restocked,” show what sold out.

The copy reads: “Restocked and available in new colors.”

But the image doesn’t match the new colors. The visual and the claim are disconnected.

To build urgency, users need to feel what they missed.

Instead, lead with what’s already worked:

• “Chloe’s favorite jacket - sold out 8 times”

• “Back in stock by demand. In new colors.”

Curiosity comes from context.

Retargeting still deserves narrative.

This is a retargeting ad.

It assumes familiarity.

But familiarity should make the creative smarter, not lazier.

What I recommend:

• Highlight the sell-out streak (“restocked after 5 sellouts”)

• Build on prior interest (“The viral jacket you couldn’t get last time…”)

• Drive emotion (“Missed it once? Don’t miss it again.”)

Retargeting is ALL about raising the stakes. Not repeating

VIP offer ≠ VIP experience.

The ad mentions a “New VIP Offer.”

But…

• There’s no framing of what that means.

• No payoff for being VIP.

• No reason to act now.

What if instead it said:

• “Early access for our VIPs”

• “Khloe’s edit. Just for you.”

• “Be first. Not last.”

Good ads make you feel like you earned the status they’re offering. ****

The CTA lacks soul.

“Shop now” is generic. “Restock alert” is better.

But the real opportunity is with something like:

• “See why Khloe sold it out”

• “Yours before it’s gone - again”

• “Style that doesn’t wait”

CTA copy should carry the energy of the offer.

What this teaches us about Creative Discipline

Fabletics has the assets.

For sure.

But discipline is what turns those assets into equity. The kind people remember and that sell FAR beyond the headline.

This ad assumed too much and left resonance on the table.

Disciplined creativity means saying exactly what the customer needs to feel - right when they need to feel it.

Hope this helped.

Until next time,

Chase