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So there I was a few weeks ago, staring at my computer screen like it owed me money.
Our team was having one of those “oh crap” moments. You know the kind. The ones where you’re pulling your hair out, questioning your entire existence as a marketer.
We had this campaign running for a client in Malaysia. High ticket coaching program. Everything looked good on paper.
Except for one tiny problem.
The cost per lead was so high, it might as well have been doing push-ups. And nothing was converting. Zilch. Nada.
We tried everything. New headlines. Different images. Tweaked the targeting. Tested new audiences.
Still nothing.
Then our ads manager Hannah had what she describes as a “moment of beautiful insanity.”
She was looking over our graphic designer Cliff’s shoulder while he was working on the ad images. And she just blurted out, “You know what? Put a cat in it.”
Cliff looked at her. Then back at his screen. And he said, “Sure.”
Bam.
The result? CPM dropped significantly. And we started getting sales.
Now before you run off and slap a cat on every ad you’ve got, let me tell you why this actually worked. Because it wasn’t just random luck. There was real strategy behind it.
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The Cultural Insight That Made This Work
Hannah remembered seeing a Malaysian university use a cat in their enrollment ads. She knew something most foreign marketers miss.
Malaysians LOVE cats.
Like, really love them.
An orange cat literally made national news a few years ago because it liked hanging out at the zoo and was friends with a capybara. That’s how much Malaysians love cats.
So Hannah figured Malaysians would naturally gravitate towards any ad with a cat on it. And she was right.
But here’s the thing. This wasn’t just about cats. It was about understanding your audience at a deeper level and giving them something they can’t ignore.
And that’s where your ad campaign strategy needs to go beyond just demographics and interests.
The Real Power Move: Pattern Interrupt
The cat worked for another reason too. One that’s even more important than cultural insight.
It’s called the pattern interrupt.
See, when people scroll through Facebook, their brains are on autopilot. They’re mindlessly swiping through thousands of ads because they all look the same.
You’ve seen one high ticket coaching ad, you’ve seen them all. Right?
Some serious looking guy in a suit. Arms crossed. Standing in front of a fancy car or office building. Probably with some headline about “6 figures” or “financial freedom.”
Your brain just tunes it out. It’s visual noise.
But what happens when you see something that doesn’t belong?
Your brain goes, “Wait, what?”
That split second of confusion means you’ve got them hooked.
Imagine scrolling through a sea of ads with serious looking guys offering to tell you how to invest in Malaysian properties. Then suddenly one ad just uses a cat in a suit instead.
Your eyes immediately jump to that one ad.
That’s pattern interrupt in action. And it’s one of the most powerful tools in your ad campaign strategy arsenal.
But Here's What Most People Get Wrong
Now, don’t just go and slap a random cat on your ads because Terence said so.
That’s not the lesson here.
The lesson is this: Your ad campaign strategy needs to break the pattern while still making sense for your audience.
The cat worked for us because:
- It fit the cultural context. Malaysians love cats. If we were targeting a different market, we might have used something else.
- It matched our messaging. The cat fit the curiosity theme of the campaign. It was unexpected, but not completely random.
- The rest of the ad was already solid. We had good copy. The offer was clear. The targeting was right. We just needed something to break through the noise.
If your messaging sucks, a cat won’t save you. Neither will a dog, a parrot, or a dancing llama.
You need the fundamentals first.
But once you’ve got those fundamentals down? That’s when pattern interrupt becomes your secret weapon.
How to Apply This to Your Campaigns
So what should you do with this information?
First, make sure your messaging actually resonates with people.
This is Marketing 101, but so many people skip it. They jump straight to tactics without understanding what makes their audience tick.
Do your research. Talk to your customers. Find out what keeps them up at night. What makes them excited. What cultural quirks or interests do they have that you can tap into.
Hannah knew Malaysians love cats because she paid attention. She did her homework.
Second, make sure your ads don’t look like everyone else’s.
Stand out in a sea of sameness.
Look at what your competitors are doing. Then do something different. Not random. Not weird for the sake of being weird. But different in a way that makes people stop and look.
Maybe it’s using humor when everyone else is serious. Maybe it’s using bright colors when everyone else uses dark tones. Maybe it’s telling a story when everyone else just lists features.
The specific tactic doesn’t matter as much as the principle: break the pattern.
And here’s a pro tip: test it. Don’t just assume something will work. Test different headlines, different images, different angles.
Because what works in one market might flop in another.
The Takeaway
At the end of the day, a strong ad campaign strategy isn’t about following some cookie cutter formula.
It’s about understanding your audience deeply. Knowing what makes them tick. And then giving them something they can’t ignore.
For us, that was a cat.
For you, it might be something totally different.
The key is to pay attention. Do your research. And don’t be afraid to try something a little weird if it makes sense for your audience.
Because in a world where everyone’s shouting the same message, the person who breaks the pattern wins.
So go find your cat. Whatever that looks like for your business.
Just make sure it’s actually relevant to your audience. And make sure your fundamentals are solid first.
Because pattern interrupt without good strategy? That’s just noise.
But pattern interrupt WITH good strategy? That’s how you turn a dying campaign into a money printer.
And if you need help figuring out what your “cat” should be, or if your campaigns are struggling and you’re not sure why, let’s talk. We’ve been doing this for over a decade and we’ve seen it all.
Now go make some ads that actually get attention.
Meow.
This podcast is hosted by Terence Tam, author of Lead Surge: 8 Radically Effective Marketing Funnels for Coaches and Experts. He is also the Founder of Radical Marketing, a digital marketing agency that partners with high-ticket coaches to scale their businesses with Webinars – by using a proprietary blend of story ads and battled-tested sales funnels to achieve better returns on ad dollars.
