Ad Creative Budgets: The 10% Rule Most Brands Ignore | Matthew Gattozzi

Most brands say creative is the biggest lever they have, then spend almost nothing on it. Matthew Gattozzi's answer is that the P&L already tells you the truth.Matthew spent over a decade in ballet and danced professionally with Ballet Austin. A back injury ended it at 21. He took the standard that came with it and built Goodo Studios, a creative studio producing ads for e-commerce brands.Spend roughly 10% of ad spend on creative production, sliding down as you scale.Work out how many new ads you actually need, which is almost always fewer than you think.Then make those ads different from each other, not just more of them.In this episode:- The P&L test that exposes what a brand actually prioritises- The 10% rule for creative production budgets, and when it slides to 5% and 1%- The math for how many new ads you need each month- Why "make me 60 ads" reliably gets you 60 versions of the same ad- Why diversity beats volume, and why more follows different- What a plateau in the ad account usually says about decisions made months earlier- Why he stays tool agnostic across cinema cameras, creators and statics- The standard he brought from ballet: "we do not tolerate mistakes"- Rapid fire: the best ad he saw this year, an underrated copywriting book, and his hottest takeChapters:00:00 "I've never met somebody overspending on creative"00:46 Why this episode starts with ballet01:01 A decade of ballet, ended by a back injury at 2102:53 The gap between camera people and advertising people03:38 Building Goodo Studios04:48 Losing an identity, not just a career05:43 Eight years sober08:09 Harmony beats balance10:59 What ballet taught him about creative standards16:45 Is there such a thing as a perfect ad?18:17 "We do not tolerate mistakes"19:39 When the client disagrees with the creative22:30 Lo-fi versus high production24:41 Tool agnostic: only winning ads count26:13 The P&L test for what a brand really prioritises27:40 The $100K example: cut ad spend, fund creative30:08 "I've never met somebody overspending on creative"30:31 Two brands, two decisions, two outcomes39:15 The 10% rule, and when it slides to 5% and 1%43:15 Why plateaus are an under-investment problem44:10 Diversity or just quantity45:39 Why "make me 60 ads" gets you 60 of the same ad48:25 Focus on different, and more takes care of itself49:34 The math for how many new ads you actually need51:27 Twenty thought-out ads beat sixty guesses52:16 Rapid fire: best ad, best book, hottest take58:07 Where to find MatthewConnect with Matthew:X: https://x.com/matthewgattozziLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewgattozzi/Goodo Studios: https://www.goodostudios.comNewsletter, weekly: https://www.goodostudios.com/newsletterEcom Growth Insider is the podcast for e-commerce founders who want to scale profitably. Subscribe for episodes on paid media, CRO, offer strategy, and the operating systems behind brands that actually grow.More episodes and newsletter: https://ecomgrowthinsider.comWork with HoloGrowth: https://hologrowth.com