Watch this video on YouTube In a recent PPC Live podcast episode, Dean Kadi, Head of Paid Growth at One Link Media, described a real client scenario where a brand pushed to swap out top-performing Meta ads for heavily branded creatives — even though the data clearly showed the existing approach was working extremely well. The conversation underscores the common friction between agency expertise and client preferences, while sharing practical takeaways on communication, experimentation, tracking, and why data must remain the primary driver of PPC decisions. The campaign was already delivering outstanding results Dean Kadi and his team at One Link Media had developed a highly effective Meta ads strategy for premium woodworking brand Rubio Monocoat using user-generated content (UGC). By systematically testing different creators, hooks, formats, and messaging angles, they lifted the account’s ROAS from roughly 2.1x to a steady 3x–4x. Their experiments showed that the strongest purchase motivator wasn’t the wide range of colours, but the promise that customers only needed a single coat, saving a lot of time and effort. The client asked to stop all winning ads Despite this strong performance, the client suddenly requested that all successful UGC ads be turned off and replaced with highly branded static and video creatives. While the new ads looked sleek and professional, they didn’t feel native to the Meta environment — a key factor for engagement and conversions. The shift wasn’t driven by poor results, but by the client’s preference for more traditional brand-led advertising. The risky assumption behind the new direction The client’s revised creative strategy was built on the assumption that…