Funny story about that effect gone wrong. I was helping a university with digital ad buying in collaboration with their ad agency. I pitched the idea of using o

Funny story about that effect gone wrong. I was helping a university with digital ad buying in collaboration with their ad agency. I pitched the idea of using online display split tests to measure the effectiveness of messages, then use that data to help inform what messages would get printed for outdoor billboards. In online tests, an ad variation with a poorly-drawn smiley face did exceptionally well relative to the more traditional designs. The “ugly ad” that won the online tests didn’t translate well to billboards. Data is harder to obtain in that sphere, but the ad got plenty of feedback and not much of it was good. I got to see the lesson I had to learn with our clients everyday on my commute for 3 months. I won’t soon forget it.