Ethical Corporate Espionge

Howdy readers 🥰

That’s crazy… who could’ve taught him that?

In this newsletter, you’ll find:

💪 Ethical Corporate Espionage: How to Turn Competitors’ Customers Into Your Secret Sales Force

🚀 Google Supercharges Demand Gen Campaigns

✅ Ad of the Day

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💪 Ethical Corporate Espionage: How to Turn Competitors’ Customers Into Your Secret Sales Force

The Problem: Your Competitors’ Audiences Are Your Biggest Untapped Asset

Your competitors spend millions acquiring customers. Meanwhile, 73% of those customers are dissatisfied but too lazy to switch brands. They’re sitting ducks—if you know how to weaponize their discontent.

The Intel Goldmine: What Competitors’ Customers Know (That You Don’t)

• Abandoned Cart Screenshots: Reveal which products nearly won them over.
• Loyalty Program Perks: Expose rewards your rivals use to trap customers.
• DM Promotions: Uncover discount strategies and pain points (“We’ll price-match!”).

The Playbook: Ethical Espionage 101

Step 1: Launch a “Competitor Intel Bounty” Program

Offer rewards (cash, free products) for screenshots of:

• Competitor abandoned carts
• Loyalty program tiers/offers
• Customer service complaints
• Exclusive DM discounts

Example: A skincare brand offered $20 store credit for screenshots of competitors’ post-purchase surveys. They discovered 42% of rivals’ customers hated “slow shipping,” then ran ads touting “Same-day delivery? We’ve got it.”

Step 2: Recruit Double Agents via Insense

Most brands stalk competitors’ followers manually. Smart brands use Insense’s hyper-specific creator filters to:

1. Search creators by niche hashtags (e.g., #[CompetitorBrand]Review, #[CompetitorBrand]Haul).
2. Target creators with audiences that overlap demographically with your ideal profile (e.g., “women aged 25-34 interested in sustainable fashion”).

Step 3: Weaponize Defector UGC

Turn stolen intel into hyper-targeted ads:

• Abandoned Cart Intel: Run retargeting ads with defector testimonials: “I almost bought [Competitor]… until I saw this.”
• Loyalty Perks: Hijack rivals’ rewards: “Why earn points when you can get [BENEFIT] upfront?”
• Price-Matching: Use screenshots of competitors’ DMs to offer “Switch & Save” deals.

The Rules of Engagement (Stay Ethical)

✅ Do:

• Reward customers for publicly available intel (DMs, carts, loyalty perks).
• Use insights to improve your own CX, not to copy competitors.

🚫 Don’t:

• Ask for private data (passwords, personal info).
• Badmouth competitors—let defectors do the talking.

The Bottom Line

Your competitors’ customers are already one bad experience away from jumping ship. By ethically mining their discontent and amplifying it through hyper-aligned creators (courtesy of Insense), you’re not stealing customers—you’re liberating them.

🚀 Google Supercharges Demand Gen Campaigns
Insights from Google

Google is rolling out major enhancements to its Demand Gen campaigns, making them more powerful for advertisers. With improved ad placements, AI-powered creative tools, and deeper product discovery, this update positions Demand Gen as a serious competitor to paid social platforms.

The Breakdown:

• Expanded Ad Placements & Control – Advertisers can now choose where their Demand Gen ads appear, including exclusive placements on YouTube Shorts, Discover, and Gmail.
  
• AI-Driven Creative Enhancements – Google is launching vertical 9:16 image ads for YouTube Shorts, automated video shortening for optimized placements, and improved creative workflows, making ad creation smoother and more engaging.
  
• Retail-Focused Features – Product feeds will now integrate seamlessly with Demand Gen, allowing users to browse full product details within ads and check local availability, enhancing online and in-store shopping experiences.
  
• Smarter Reporting & Measurement – New reporting columns in Google Ads will help advertisers compare Demand Gen performance with paid social campaigns, with view-through conversions providing better cross-platform measurement.

Google is replacing Video Action campaigns by July 2025, making Demand Gen the future of performance ads. With 90% global reach, 3M+ sites via Google Display Network (GDN), and view-through conversions, advertisers who transition early will have a competitive edge.

🎥 Ad of the Day

What Works:

The bold "CUSTOMIZE NOW!" grabs immediate attention and encourages action. It's direct and effective for an ad targeting businesses and gift buyers.

The bullet points focus on practical benefits: quick turnaround, premium customization, and a useful product. These points cater to both B2B and B2C audiences.

This ad positions the Ice Shaker as a premium, practical gift while emphasizing customization, which is a growing trend in corporate gifting. It effectively balances functionality with personalization, appealing to both utility and emotional resonance.

What Could be Better:

The ad lacks a visual demonstration of how the engraving/customization might look across different designs.

Broader Insights:

By focusing on gifts that "customers and employees will use," the ad directly appeals to businesses looking for practical yet memorable giveaways.

Mentioning the "3-5 business days" turnaround creates a sense of urgency and reliability, especially for last-minute corporate gifting needs, positioning Ice Shaker as a dependable solution.

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