In this episode of Brain Driven Brands, Sarah and Nate pull back the curtain on the exact AI prompts they actually use to generate high-performing ad ideas—the ones that don't sound robotic, generic, or like every other brand on the internet.
After revisiting one of the show's most-downloaded episodes, Sarah shares why most AI-written copy fails, how she rebuilt her prompts from first principles, and what happens when you tell AI which psychological mechanisms to use before it writes anything at all.
Together, they live-test these internal prompts on a real brand ad (cowboy boots), exploring how different psychological levers change the creative direction entirely—including:
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First-principles thinking paired with loss aversion
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Quiet status signaling and open loops
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Curiosity-driven hooks and reverse psychology
Instead of asking AI to write headlines or scripts, Sarah shows how to use it to generate raw ad concepts—and why the last 10% (the human part) is where all the money is made.
This episode is part live teardown, part psychology lesson, and part behind-the-scenes look at how six-figure ads are actually born—not from clever wording, but from properly framed ideas.
If you care about better creative, higher prices, and ads that don't feel like ads…this one's for you.
Sarah Makes Nate Cry With a Prompt Episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2cVZ3nIE8YUMAlO6Qm0NFN?si=UWSUywsJTmqoz5bkRVgADw
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CoHost: Nate Lagos
Twitter: https://x.com/natelagosLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natelagos/ Tactical and Practical Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tactical-practical/id1752915534
CoHost: Sarah Levinger
Learn more at: https://www.tetherinsights.io/ Twitter: https://x.com/SarahLevingerLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahlevinger/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarah.levinger/ Watch me on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKwfjt_7PU5N_2fTfHemXXg
