Street-Tested Curiosity Advertising
Test a mysterious creative hook in public, then amplify the questions it generates
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 96%
The method uses deliberate ambiguity to make the audience ask a question that existing users can answer. The team begins with a minimal, visually distinctive concept and tests it directly with people outside the company. The desired reaction is not immediate comprehension but spontaneous curiosity, discussion, and a need to investigate. If the hook works, the company purchases concentrated distribution and leaves the creative simple enough for audiences to parody, remix, and share. Earned media and interpersonal explanation then extend the campaign beyond paid impressions. Success is measured through conversation, search behavior, sharing, and geographic signup lift rather than conventional ad recall alone. Venmo demonstrated the method with the cryptic “Lucas Uses Venmo” subway campaign.
Origin
Venmo rejected a conventional holiday advertisement, mocked up a cryptic campaign around employee Lucas, tested it on the street, and then ran it across New York subway inventory.
Core principles
- 01Attention can outperform explanation
- 02Confusion is useful when it triggers social inquiry
- 03Test creative reactions before buying distribution
- 04Keep the execution simple enough to become a meme
- 05Trust product-native creative judgment when evidence supports it
How to run it
- 1
Find a Curiosity Hook
Create a short phrase and image that are distinctive but deliberately incomplete. Make the audience wonder who, what, or why.
Pro tip Use a real person or object to give the mystery a concrete focal point.
Watch out Randomness without any connection to the brand will produce empty attention.
- 2
Test It Outside
Show the raw concept to people in the target environment and record their immediate reactions. Continue when they spontaneously ask about the brand or premise.
Pro tip Test the concept in the same physical context where the campaign will appear.
Watch out Do not coach participants or explain the idea before observing their reaction.
- 3
Protect the Simplicity
Resist adding product descriptions and feature lists when the curiosity reaction is working. Keep the execution recognizable at a glance.
Pro tip Prepare evidence from the street test to defend the minimal concept internally.
Watch out Stakeholders may dilute the hook because unfamiliar creative feels risky.
- 4
Concentrate Distribution
Place the campaign repeatedly in a defined geography or channel so the mystery becomes a shared cultural reference.
Pro tip Choose placements where people will see multiple variants over time.
Watch out Scattered exposure may never reach the repetition needed for conversation.
- 5
Invite Earned Amplification
Let audiences parody, discuss, and explain the campaign. Measure sharing, press, search interest, and signup lift against control markets.
Pro tip Make the visual format easy to reproduce as a meme.
Watch out Do not mistake controversy alone for useful brand growth.
In the wild
Venmo's team created a sparse poster featuring employee Lucas and an unexplained statement that he used Venmo. After people on the street reacted by asking what Venmo was, the company ran similarly strange subway advertisements. The mystery produced articles, social posts, Reddit discussions, and user-created meme generators.
→ New York showed a measurable signup lift relative to other cities, while earned attention extended the paid campaign.
Common mistakes
Explaining Away the Hook
Adding a conventional product description can eliminate the question that motivates people to investigate or ask a friend.
Skipping Real-World Testing
Internal enthusiasm cannot show whether strangers experience productive curiosity or simple indifference.
Optimizing Only for Impressions
The method depends on conversation and earned amplification, not merely the number of times an advertisement appears.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for social products whose users can explain the service to curious friends after an attention-grabbing prompt.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal for regulated, safety-critical, or complex products where unexplained messaging could undermine trust.
From the transcript
“we tested everything on the street.”
“what you would do is you would ask a friend, like, what is Venmo? Do you know what this thing is? And that's kind of…”
“We looked at the uh the lift in signups in New York versus like other cities, and it definitely helped uh quite a bit, actually.”
From the episode
Venmo (live with Andrew Kortina)
Andrew Kortina