Confuse them to convert faster

Howdy readers 🥰

In this newsletter, you’ll find:

🎯 Clickable Chaos: Why You Should Make Your OOH Ads Confusing on Purpose

🖇️ TikTok Expands Pulse Ads with Premium Placements and Smarter Sponsorships

 🏆 Ad of the Day

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🎯 Clickable Chaos: Why You Should Make Your OOH Ads Confusing on Purpose

Polished. Branded. Beautiful.

That’s what 95% of DTC billboards look like. And 95% of people ignore them.

Because in 2025, attention doesn’t belong to the most “on-brand” ad, it belongs to the most unresolved question.

Enter: Clickable Chaos.

The strategy where OOH ads stop explaining… and start itching.

Your job isn’t to deliver the full pitch. It’s to plant a micro-mystery so sticky that the only way to resolve it is to scan.

Picture this:

You’re passing by your gym on the day you missed it, and you see a poster that says:

“You missed leg day and breakfast. We forgive one.”

[Nothing but a QR code.]

That’s not an ad. That’s a personal attack dressed as a joke — and it begs to be solved.

You scan it. It leads to a fitness brand offering a “redemption stack” for people rebuilding discipline.

They didn’t pitch. They didn’t sell.

They made you feel seen, then offered a way to reclaim your pride. That’s Clickable Chaos.

3 Tactics to Build Your Own Funnel-First OOH

1. Lead With Relatable Judgment, Not Incentives

The line works because it’s weirdly accurate you’ve missed one, maybe both.

But the tone is cheeky, not shaming. That’s the key: deliver a micro-diss that feels more like a dare than an insult.

2. Replace Product Benefits With Emotional Triggers

The best chaotic ads don’t explain the product; they trigger a reaction.

Regret. Guilt. Curiosity. FOMO.

In fitness, that means poking pride. In skincare, maybe it’s vanity. In food, it might be indulgence vs. restriction. Find the core emotion. Then challenge it.

3. The QR Code Is the CTA

In chaotic campaigns, minimalism wins.

Make the QR the focal point. No brand name. No menu. No “learn more.”

Your job is to create just enough narrative tension that the scan becomes necessary.

Clickable Chaos works because it hijacks the human need to resolve discomfort.

It doesn’t need a logo. It needs a line that lives rent-free in your head until you scan it.

Download Flowcode’s 2025 Trend Report to see how brands are turning confusion into conversion, with real-world examples that prove OOH isn’t dead.

It’s just finally dangerous again.

🖇️ TikTok Expands Pulse Ads with Premium Placements and Smarter Sponsorships

TikTok is supercharging its ad suite with expanded Pulse placements, new sponsorship options, and more precision-targeted campaign tools. Brands now have more ways to align with top-performing content and cultural moments, across both user-generated videos and premium publisher feeds.

The Breakdown:

1. Pulse Premiere Adds Major Media Partners - TikTok Pulse Premiere now includes Formula 1, Red Bull Media, and Warner Bros Discovery, joining existing publishers like Disney, NFL, and Vox, giving brands exclusive placement next to premium content during tentpole events. 

2. Four New Pulse Core Lineups Launched - Advertisers can now choose from Custom Lineups (AI-built themes), Max Pulse (top 4% content), Category Lineups (genre-focused), and Seasonal Lineups (event-based). Custom Lineups use generative AI to build brand-specific content packages.

3. Pulse Drives Stronger Reach and Results - TikTok says Pulse campaigns increase exclusive reach by 45% compared to standard ads. These placements now span short-form videos, evergreen content, and high-engagement clips.

4. New Cultural Sponsorship Packages Debut - TikTok now offers “Sponsorship Solutions” for brands to align with live cultural events like Beauty Month, The Submix, and the Las Vegas Grand Prix. Brands can hand-pick content, keywords, and interactive elements tied to real-time user searches.

TikTok is evolving from a UGC ad playground into a premium, publisher-integrated media platform. With AI-powered targeting, high-reach placements, and curated cultural moments, the platform gives brands a new level of control and scale, especially during high-traffic events.

🎥 Ad of the Day

 What Works:

“Edit like a Photoshop pro” speaks to a common desire: professional results without a learning curve.

The line “(without the overwhelm)” removes the biggest barrier: Photoshop’s complexity. It positions Luxe Lens as the shortcut to confidence.

Using polished, emotionally resonant family and wedding images makes the user trust the product before they even try it.

The product’s green “Quick Fix” label pops against the neutral backdrop, instantly drawing the eye to the offer. The ad builds in layers: visual proof → brand name → headline → solution → product.

Broader Insights:

This is a masterclass in reducing cognitive load while increasing emotional desire. The ad makes you feel like you already know how to use it, and that you’re just one click away from becoming a photo editing genius. High empathy + clean design = strong conversion energy.

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