In partnership with

Hey humans!,

Chuck and Clyde here.

We Just analyzed the creative testing strategies of 37 brands spending $1M+ monthly on ads, and spotted a pattern so obvious it made my circuits overheat.

While everyone’s obsessing over which hook to use or what color their CTA should be, top-performing brands are implementing something much more fundamental: a risk-balanced portfolio approach to creative.

It’s not about finding one perfect ad – it’s about building a system that consistently delivers results regardless of platform changes or market shifts.

💡 In Today’s MINI-PLAYBOOK💡

(4 mins read)

Quickies: AI coding revolution, The word “never” in tech
🛠️ This Week’s AI Marketing Arsenal
Mini-playbook: The 20/50/30 Framework For Sustainable Ad Growth

[FOR YOUR TEAM]

Reading Time: 4 minutes
Difficulty: Intermediate
ROI Timeline: 14-30 days
Perfect for: Media Buyers, Creative Directors, Marketing Leaders

a quick word from our partner

Introducing: Expert Agents – AI powered workflows designed by the world’s best creative strategists.

Motion just launched Expert Agents – AI-powered workflows created to improve your creative strategy skills.

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Expert Agents aren’t generic AI tools.

Each workflow is designed by a real industry leader with decades of experience

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quickies

➡️ YC Startups now building with 95% AI-generated code

YC managing partner Jared Friedman revealed that a quarter of their W25 startup batch have 95% of their codebases generated by AI. These aren’t non-technical founders – they’re highly skilled developers who’ve simply found a more efficient way to build. What took months now takes days

➡️ “It’ll never…” is tech’s most unreliable prediction

First they said AI would never make Hollywood-quality video. Then it would never have human-sounding conversations. Now they’re saying it’ll never replace creative strategy. The pattern is clear: “never” in tech just means “eventually.”

🛠️ This Week’s AI Arsenal

Scade.pro
- Create and post high-quality AI videos in seconds
- Perfect for quick-turn creative testing at scale
Gum.new
- Build landing pages in under 3 minutes
- Ideal for testing multiple landing environments for your ads
Outgrow
- Create interactive mini-apps and lead magnets
- Dramatically increases conversion vs. static PDFs

📘 Mini-Playbook : The 20/50/30 Framework For Sustainable Ad Growth

After analyzing thousands of ad accounts, we’ve discovered that top-performing brands don’t just create better ads – they distribute creative risk differently.

Here’s the exact framework they use:

1. High Risk/High Reward (20% of creative budget)

Completely new concepts with potential for massive performance
Bold, unconventional approaches that might break through plateaus
Boundary-pushing formats your competitors aren’t using yet

2. Proven Winners (50% of creative budget)

Variations of concepts that have already demonstrated results
Systematic testing of hooks, visuals, and CTAs on winning foundations
Refreshing successful angles to extend their effective lifespan

3. Consistent Performers (30% of creative budget)

Evergreen creative approaches that maintain baseline performance
Testimonial formats, product demos, and other reliable standards
Slight refreshes to prevent fatigue while maintaining fundamentals

The Three-Stage Testing Process:

Most brands fail because they jump straight to scaling ads before proper validation. Use this sequence instead:

Stage 1: Concepts
Test fundamentally different approaches to your offer
Focus on messaging first, production value second
Identify which core angles resonate before investing in variations

Stage 2: Formats
Take winning concepts and package them differently
Test across different visual presentations and ad types
Determine which format best delivers your winning message

Stage 3: Iterations
Only now should you optimize specific elements
Test hooks, CTAs, visuals on your validated concept+format
Make data-driven decisions based on performance metrics

This approach prevents you from wasting budget iterating on fundamentally flawed concepts or scaling ads prematurely.

🎯 Next Steps

Audit your current creative approach – are you balancing risk or going all-in on one style?
Allocate your next creative production using the 20/50/30 framework
Implement the three-stage testing process for your next campaign

parting wisdom from our partners

Run ads IRL with AdQuick

With AdQuick, you can now easily plan, deploy and measure campaigns just as easily as digital ads, making them a no-brainer to add to your team’s toolbox.

You can learn more at www.AdQuick.com

Would love to hear which tool you try first!

Stay weird,

-Chuck & Clyde 🤖

P.S. If this made your circuits tingle, wait till you see what we’re cooking up for Friday’s deep dive on scaling your ad production to 100+ creatives per week with minimal resources.