D2C Diaries

🚨🚀 If you're a brand spending £100K/month, we'll run your ads. Apply for your growth roadmap: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0s7Jtp0

AI UGC has come on leaps and bounds. In this episode Loukas breaks down the exact workflow he's using right now to generate hyper-realistic UGC style ads, without booking a creator, running a shoot, or spending a fortune on production.

We cover the full tech stack: Claude for prompt writing, Sora 2 for hook footage, ElevenLabs for voice cloning, ChatGPT for subject consistency, Nano Banana for B-roll generation and Kling for bringing static images to life.

Then Olly and Loukas go deep on Claude skills, recursive self-improvement loops, and how they're using AI to grade scripts, review landing page congruency and build self-improving creative workflows across the agency.

Comment PROMPT below and we'll send you the Claude template we use to generate Sora 2 prompts.

Read Sarah's article here: https://x.com/SarahLevinger/status/2021281038895546761

Recursive self improvement loop: https://x.com/vibemarketer_/status/2019435524532904205?s=46 

Follow Olly: https://linktr.ee/ollyhudson
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Follow Loukas: https://shorturl.at/TRI8B / https://x.com/LoukasHambi
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🚨🚀 If you're a brand spending £100K/month, we'll run your ads. Apply for your growth roadmap: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0rNf_N0

For this episode, we’re joined by a Meta Creative Strategist working directly with some of the most disruptive brands on the platform. This is someone inside the system, helping fast-scaling brands rethink how they approach creative, performance, and growth.

We unpack how the algorithm actually works in 2026 and why so many brands are still optimising for an outdated version of Meta. From the shift away from interrupting attention toward earning it, to Andromeda acting like a “super intelligent librarian” that reads the entire book rather than judging the cover, this conversation reframes how creative is interpreted at scale.

We dive into why small iterative tweaks stop unlocking growth, how creative diversity fuels learning, and what really separates the top 1% of brands from everyone else. We also explore the real role of partnership ads, why identity changes how the algorithm understands your message, and where brands are over-relying on AI instead of strengthening creative judgment.

If you run Meta ads, lead a DTC brand, or oversee creative strategy, this episode will likely challenge a few assumptions you didn’t realise you were making.

You can download our 2026 Partnership Ads Guide here: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0rNfZb0

Read our Meta campaign study here: https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/creative-customers/1942172

This episode is sponsored by Foreplay. Start your free trial here: https://tinyurl.com/msm5ak8c

Follow Maxime: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxime-menant/
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Follow Loukas: https://shorturl.at/TRI8B / https://x.com/LoukasHambi
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From the team behind Soar With Us and Hambi Media: http://www.soarwithus.co/

In this episode, we break down Meta’s latest algorithm updates — including UTIs and the next phase of Andromeda and what they actually mean for reach, creative strategy, and performance.

We explore why Meta is moving away from engagement-led optimisation toward interest alignment, how organic content is increasingly training paid delivery, and why generic, broad hooks are losing effectiveness. The conversation digs into creative diversity, persona depth, and how brands should rethink both organic and paid as part of the same system.

We also share how we’re experimenting with Claude Skills, Co-worker, and Claude Code inside our creative strategy team, moving from prompt engineering to codified inputs, context-driven workflows, and structured delegation.

This is a practical, operator-level discussion on how platforms are changing, how strategy needs to evolve, and where AI genuinely creates leverage without the hype.

Read Olly's Meta GEM article here: https://x.com/oliverwhudson/status/2016142894504047008

You can download Olly's Partnership ads guide here: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0rw5St0

Follow Olly: https://linktr.ee/ollyhudson
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In this episode, we break down what’s actually driving Meta performance right now and why the brands scaling in 2026 aren’t chasing more creative, but building smarter systems around personas and AI.

We go deep into how top-performing accounts are reusing existing assets, structuring creative by persona, and using AI to unlock speed, diversity, and incremental reach... without burning teams out or inflating creative costs.

We also cover what’s next for high-production creative, why emotional authenticity still beats AI in key moments, and how founders and teams should be thinking about context, not prompts, as AI becomes embedded in everyday work.

If you’re a founder, head of growth, or creative leader trying to scale Meta in a world where targeting is gone and AI is everywhere, this episode will reset how you think about creative strategy.

Deep research AI guide here: https://kylepoyar.substack.com/p/deep-research-for-gtm?r=10j51v&utm_medium=ios&triedRedirect=true

From the team behind Soar With Us and Hambi Media: http://www.soarwithus.co/

🚨🚀 If you're a brand spending £100K/month, we'll run your ads. Apply for your growth roadmap: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0rls0q0

00:00 Intro
01:15 Creative formats we're using right now
11:20 Next evolution of AI generated content
15:30 Creative testing strategy (ABO vs. CBO vs. ASC)
17:40 Criteria for deeming a scalable ad
19:40 ASC by persona scaling campaigns
22:40 The "Bidcap Graveyard" hack
24:20 Exclusions in ad setup
25:50 Intentional persona mapping
30:50 Post-purchase surveys for purchase triggers
34:10 AI-powered customer interviews 
35:20 Do not turn off winning ads
36:50 Importance of AI experimentation
39:00 Claude Skills and Co-worker
42:15 Context engineering over prompt engineering
44:20 Building a Claude Skill for script writing
51:45 The rise of vibe coding

Follow Olly: https://linktr.ee/ollyhudson
Follow Joe: https://linktr.ee/joe_marston
Follow Loukas: https://shorturl.at/TRI8B / https://x.com/LoukasHambi
Follow Liam: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liam-dean-a11a43152/
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How we’re solving the biggest hiring bottleneck in DTC (and why Meta’s backing it). There’s a shortage of world-class creative strategists and it’s slowing down growth for agencies and brands alike.

You can apply for the incubator here: Apply here: https://apply.workable.com/soar-with-us/j/F587A37B6F/

You can find more information on the opportunity here: https://www.notion.so/soarwithus/Are-you-ready-to-launch-your-career-in-performance-marketing-2e611884e3c980589a44cb0d73c6bfb8

In this episode, Olly and Loukas break down how Soar/Hambi are solving the problem from the inside out… by launching the UK’s first Creative Strategist Incubator.

Whether you're hiring for this role or trying to be the hire, this episode covers:

— Why great creative strategists are so hard to find (and even harder to train)
— The exact soft skills to screen for if you're hiring
— How we built a system to turn generalists into high-performance strategists fast
— What Meta told us about upcoming creative similarity changes and why they're backing this programme
— Who this is for, how to apply, and what’s actually included

Applications for the first 5-person cohort are now open.This is not a junior marketing role.

This is the MBA for creative strategy. 

Apply here: https://apply.workable.com/soar-with-us/j/F587A37B6F/

Chris’s newsletter (featured in the episode): https://copychris.substack.com/

Timestamps: 
00:00 Intro
01:16 The shortage of great creative strategists
03:50 What makes a great CS: baseline traits + transferable skills
07:53 Incubator announcement
12:01 9–12 month pathway to Creative Strategist role
14:51 Why CS is hard to train
15:56 Training method + modules
21:48 Scriptwriting focus: train hardest first
27:58 Gold Standard scorecard
34:18 Why people leave companies: managers, progression, culture
45:24 What’s next: course content + apply link
From the team behind Soar With Us and Hambi Media: www.soarwithus.co

Follow Loukas on socials: 
LinkedIn: https://shorturl.at/TRI8B 
Twitter: https://x.com/LoukasHambi

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LinkedIn: https://shorturl.at/kPrqO 
Twitter: https://x.com/oliverwhudson
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