Brain Driven Brands

Sarah and Nate dive into one of marketing's strangest scientific findings: launching [secret product] can make your brand 20% cooler. So which product is it? No hints on this one…you'll just have to listen and find out! Source: https://app.sciencesays.com/p/crazy-mini-products-make-your-brand-cool 👉 Join my community: skool.com/tether-lab CoHost: Nate Lagos Twitter: https://x.com/natelagos Linked...

2025 was a weird year for marketers..an avalanche of AI hype, output obsession, and soulless creative cycles. In this episode, Sarah and Nate dissect the biggest missteps brands made this year and what needs to change before 2026 hits.  From mistaking outputs for outcomes to realizing AI isn't ready to think for us, they break down why "volume" culture is killing creativity and how to rebuild your...

Ever seen an ad so bizarre you couldn't look away? A woman eating a boiled egg for 90 seconds. A cigarette brand that never showed the cigarette. A $40M Burger King campaign about a guy named Herb who'd never eaten there. In this episode, Nate and Sarah play Two Truths and a Lie: 1980s Ad Edition and then break down why the strangest, most nonsensical ads of the decade actually worked. We'll talk...

In this Brain Driven Brands episode, Nate and I unpack a wild little study that found ads can be 30% more effective depending on where your model's eyes are looking. Turns out, the difference between "I trust this brand with my organs" and "why is she looking at me like that?" comes down to whether your product is utilitarian or hedonic (fancy words for "practical" vs "fun"). We break down why eye...

On this episode of Brain Driven Brands, Sarah's bad haircut spirals into a four-week behavioral case study—and an accidental masterclass in consumer psychology. From identity triggers ("am I that kind of person?") to timing misfires and disqualifying sales moments, this story exposes how every brand loses money by misunderstanding when a buyer is ready—not why. In this episode of Brain Driven Bran...

What if your next viral ad came from your meanest review?  In this episode of Brain Driven Brands, Sarah and Nate dive headfirst into the world of negative feedback, brand psychology, and emotional resilience—starting with a spicy listener review about Sarah's voice. 😅 From Liquid Death's savage comment campaigns to Domino's "We're Sorry for Sucking" rebrand, they unpack how smart brands turn cri...

In this Halloween-themed episode, Sarah and Nate dive into the wildest (and weirdest) campaigns in advertising history (the ones that shouldn't have worked… but somehow did.) From the Tango Orange Man who literally slapped sales up 33%, to the Diamond Shreddies intern who made millions by tilting a cereal 45 degrees, to Pepsi's 1992 Number Fever fiasco that sparked riots in the Philippines, this e...

Coca-Cola once tried to sell apathy in a can. They called it OK Soda — a grungy, "anti-brand" aimed at cynical Gen Xers. The ads were clever, the design was bizarre…and the product died within a year. In Episode 107, we dig into why "anti-branding" almost always backfires, why Liquid Death succeeded where Coke failed, and the psychology of why brands can't thrive on indifference. Inside the conver...

What if everything you've been told about the "right" ad length is wrong? In this episode of Brain Driven Brands, Sarah and Nate dive into a surprising new study showing that one oddly specific video length outperformed the standard 15–30 second format — driving 40% more traffic and 3X engagement. They break down: Why shorter ads spark curiosity (and clicks) while longer ones stall The real "job"...

We dropped a stat this week that stopped Nate in his tracks: brands can see up to 42% more sales just by framing discounts the right way. No new ads, no extra products...just choosing percent off vs. dollar off at the right moment. In Episode 105, we dig into the psychology behind that lift and why most brands blow Q4 by overcomplicating offers, stacking promos, and teaching customers not to trust...

This episode of Brain Driven Brands is a survival guide for founders, media buyers, and creative teams heading into the chaos of Q4. Sarah sits down with Joanna Wallace (VP of Paid Creative @ Bird Dog, formerly HexClad) to pull back the curtain on what it really takes to prep for Black Friday without burning your team out—or losing your sanity. We dig into: ✅ Why burnout hits creative teams harde...

This week, Sarah and Nate are joined by Alyssa Wallace , retention & lifecycle marketing pro, for a conversation that flips the usual DTC playbook on its head. Here's the hard truth: blasting 100+ AI ads and endless "buy now" emails isn't retention. It's noise. Consumers aren't dumb—they're tired, frustrated, and tuning out. Together, we dig into: Why retention is really about habit-building , not...

This episode of Brain Driven Brands is a wake-up call for every founder, media buyer, and creative who's been told the secret is more ads, more volume, more work. Sarah, Nate, and guest Kevin (Head of eCom at High Camp Flasks) pull back the curtain on the creative hamster wheel and share why "a thousand ads a month" isn't just unrealistic—it's wrecking teams, draining budgets, and distracting from...

We kicked off Season 3 with some heat. 🔥 In this episode, Nate and Sarah talk about why the  volume game in ads is broken — and how brands are shooting themselves in the foot by flooding their accounts with 100+ AI-generated ads a week. Spoiler: consumers aren't dumb. They're tired, frustrated, and tuning out repetitive, irrelevant creative. We share some new stats on consumer behavior (61% are l...

In this episode of Brain-Driven Brands, Nate and Sarah kick off Season 3 by reflecting on some of our favorite episodes from past seasons, share the lessons that stuck with us, and give you a preview of what's coming next. If you haven't listened to Brain Driven Brands for long, or if you jut wanna send your friend some good content this week, SEND THEM THIS. 🔑 Key Takeaways Why "just spending mo...

In this episode, Nate and Sarah walk through one of the easiest ways to steal customers from your competitors using psychology and behavior science…by using Consumer Casey as a case study!   JOIN The TETHER Community- https://www.skool.com/tether-lab/about   CoHost: Nate Lagos Twitter: https://x.com/natelagos LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natelagos/ Tactical and Practical Podcast: https://...

On this episode of Brain Driven Brands, Sarah quizzes Nate on a super secret study that could boost his sales by 42%...if he's only willing to do what Sarah says he should. 😅 Source: https://app.sciencesays.com/p/your-product-benefits-must-seem-related   JOIN The TETHER Community- https://www.skool.com/tether-lab/about   CoHost: Nate Lagos Twitter: https://x.com/natelagos LinkedIn: https://www.li...

In this episode of Brain Driven Brands, special guest Joanna Wallace joins Nate and Sarah to look at some of Nate's favorite ads and Joanna chimes in on what she likes and might not like.    JOIN The TETHER Community- https://www.skool.com/tether-lab/about   CoHost: Nate Lagos Twitter: https://x.com/natelagos LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natelagos/ Tactical and Practical Podcast: https://...

In this episode of Brain Driven Brands, special guest Joanna Wallace joins Nate and Sarah to discuss some of the marketing strategies, tactics, methodologies and theory we're just not gonna believe anymore…mostly because we were wrong about them.    JOIN The TETHER Community- https://www.skool.com/tether-lab/about   CoHost: Nate Lagos Twitter: https://x.com/natelagos LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin...

  We don't even know how to describe this episode so...you'll just have to listen to it.   JOIN The TETHER Community- https://www.skool.com/tether-lab/about   CoHost: Nate Lagos Twitter: https://x.com/natelagos LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natelagos/ Tactical and Practical Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tactical-practical/id1752915534   Learn more at: https://www.tetherins...

On today's episode of Brain Driven Brands, we dissect a brand new psychological topic: Nash Equilibrium One that might mean the difference between    JOIN The TETHER Community- https://www.skool.com/tether-lab/about   CoHost: Nate Lagos Twitter: https://x.com/natelagos LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natelagos/ Tactical and Practical Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tactical-pr...

ON this episode of Brain Driven Brands, Sarah has beef with Nate, we talk about the Tampon ad that changed a nation, and dissect the real reason your ads aren't working! All this and more… JOIN The TETHER Community- https://www.skool.com/tether-lab/about   CoHost: Nate Lagos Twitter: https://x.com/natelagos LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natelagos/ Tactical and Practical Podcast: https://po...

Sarah and Nate are back for another round of "guess the study"! This time, Sarah quizzes Nate on a marketing study that showed one super secret hack for increasing customer's likelihood to buy by 5.43X!   JOIN The TETHER Community- https://www.skool.com/tether-lab/about   CoHost: Nate Lagos Twitter: https://x.com/natelagos LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natelagos/ Tactical and Practical Pod...

On this episode of Brain Driven Brands, special guests Grace Clarke (Head of Community at Shopify) and Emmett Naughton (Full Stack Developer at KnoCommerce)  join Sarah in a deep conversation that every ecommerce operator should be having right now. With the advent of AI, and it's speedy injection into every workflow across industries, we've seen the productivity power and growth potential behind...

On this episode of Brain Driven Brands, Nate and Sarah take a good look at his bundling strategy and break down the science behind the sell. Nate also makes a sneaky move when he announces a product that might change everything for Original Grain… JOIN The TETHER Community- https://www.skool.com/tether-lab/about   CoHost: Nate Lagos Twitter: https://x.com/natelagos LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.c...