The Marketing Architects

Welcome to Nerd Alert, a series of special episodes bridging the gap between marketing academia and practitioners. We’re breaking down highly involved, complex research into plain language and takeaways any marketer can use. In this episode, Elena and Rob discuss how marketers can leverage framing and decoy effects to sway consumer choices and boost confidence in their decisions. Topics covered:  ...

Removing TV from a marketing campaign can reduce its impact by 39%. That’s a massive drop—and evidence of the impact including TV in your marketing mix has. This week, Elena, Angela, and Rob discuss the most effective marketing channel combinations. They explore how TV boosts other channels' performance, the creative challenges inherent to multi-channel campaigns, and the complexities of buying an...

Welcome to Nerd Alert, a series of special episodes bridging the gap between marketing academia and practitioners. We’re breaking down highly involved, complex research into plain language and takeaways any marketer can use. In this episode, Elena and Rob dive into the new world of Large Language Models (LLMs), revealing how AI models are shaking up market research with impressive accuracy. They a...

Artificial intelligence is taking over the world of market research with its ability to accurately predict human responses. But how can you best use AI to help make informed decisions about your business? This episode, Elena, Angela, and Rob dive into the world of AI-driven market research, exploring the latest advancements in and practical applications of large language models (LLMs) for better u...

Welcome to Nerd Alert, a series of special episodes bridging the gap between marketing academia and practitioners. We’re breaking down highly involved, complex research into plain language and takeaways any marketer can use. In this episode, Elena and Rob discuss research showing that starting customer surveys with open-ended positive questions can boost spending and loyalty by reinforcing positiv...

How much should your competition influence your marketing strategy? When should you focus on them? And when does it make more sense to ignore them?    In this episode, Elena, Angela, and Rob discuss competition in marketing. Together, they review strategies for brands navigating competitive pressure and share real-world examples of how some companies have positioned themselves against their rivals...

Every marketer dreams of crafting unforgettable, creative campaigns. But what does creativity really look like? How can you consistently achieve it? And why do so many campaigns fall short of the mark? This week, we’re tackling these questions head-on. Elena, Angela, and Rob are joined by VP of Creative Vivienne Wan to uncover the secrets of creativity in advertising and how you can harness this p...

Welcome to Nerd Alert, a series of special episodes bridging the gap between marketing academia and practitioners. We’re breaking down highly involved, complex research into plain language and takeaways any marketer can use. In this episode, Elena and Rob discuss how loyalty programs boost spending, especially among light and moderate buyers, when tailored rewards are offered. They learn that cust...

Why has America fallen behind the world in marketing effectiveness knowledge? And what can we do to catch up? This episode, Elena, Angela, and Rob are joined by professor, consultant, and columnist Dr. Mark Ritson. Based on his experience as both a marketing academic and practitioner, Mark shares his thoughts on the state of marketing effectiveness in the US, what we can learn from the history of...

Welcome to Nerd Alert, a series of special episodes bridging the gap between marketing academia and practitioners. We’re breaking down highly involved, complex research into plain language and takeaways any marketer can use. In this episode, Elena and Rob explore how psychological targeting enhances digital marketing performance. Together, they explain how matching ads to audience traits can offer...

Did you know AI influencers drive more engagement than real humans do? Or that consumers buy less, not more, from your brand the longer they’re a customer? Or why you always buy the large popcorn at the movie theater, even though you’d be happy with a smaller size? This episode, Elena, Angela, and Rob are sharing some of their favorite (and most surprising) research on marketing principles and con...

Welcome to Nerd Alert, a series of special episodes bridging the gap between marketing academia and practitioners. We’re breaking down highly involved, complex research into plain language and takeaways any marketer can use. In this episode, Elena and Rob learn about the value of using irrelevant attributes to set your brand apart from competitors. They explore why even meaningless differentiation...

Connected TV is one of the most popular new marketing channels of 2024. According to eMarketer, CTV ad revenue will reach $28 billion this year. But it’s also one of the most complex and confusing channels.  This episode is dedicated to fixing that. Elena, Angela, and Rob are joined by Director of Advanced TV Marrika Zapiler to break down how CTV works and why it’s attracting so much attention rig...

Welcome to Nerd Alert, a series of special episodes bridging the gap between marketing academia and practitioners. We’re breaking down highly involved, complex research into plain language and takeaways any marketer can use. In this episode, Elena and Rob take a closer look at the impact celebrities have on consumer buying decisions. Plus, they dig into the psychological and biological reasons as...

Advertising is on its way out. Or so marketing professor Scott Galloway suggested in his recent interview on the Uncensored CMO podcast.  We (naturally) found this concerning. So this week, Elena, Angela, and Rob are taking a good, hard look at whether advertising really impacts business growth. They review how much the biggest and most innovative brands in the world really spend on advertising, h...

Welcome to Nerd Alert, a series of special episodes bridging the gap between marketing academia and practitioners. We’re breaking down highly involved, complex research into plain language and takeaways any marketer can use. In this episode, Elena and Rob explore what drives us to click and share online content. Is virality just luck, or is it strategic? Discover how emotions and planning play a p...

Brace yourselves. This week, we’re covering a highly debated marketing topic: targeting strategy.  Elena, Angela, and Rob are joined by VP Strategy Dan Cleveland to talk about misconceptions around narrow vs broad targeting, problems with hypertargeting, and how CTV targeting is changing the game for TV advertisers. Plus, hear about a new targeting method Dan created with the help of machine learn...

Welcome to Nerd Alert, a series of special episodes bridging the gap between marketing academia and practitioners. We’re breaking down highly involved, complex research into plain language and takeaways any marketer can use. In this episode, Elena and Rob revisit the traditional divide between brand and performance marketing. Then, they explore how advertising effectiveness is now being redefined...

Did you know marketers will spend more than $650 billion on online ads this year? Or that a surprisingly massive chunk of this spending will be completely wasted? This week, Elena, Angela, and Rob discuss Bob Hoffman’s recent book, Inside the Black Box, which highlights one of the dark sides of online advertising—ad fraud. As marketers, we all know ad fraud is a problem. But it might be even worse...

Welcome to Nerd Alert, a series of special episodes bridging the gap between marketing academia and practitioners. We’re breaking down highly involved, complex research into plain language and takeaways any marketer can use. In this episode, Elena and Rob discuss the relationship between marketers' intuition and data-driven decisions in ad effectiveness. Listen in as they discover whether instinct...

Does mass reach marketing still have value in a world where digital advertising lets brands target their bullseye customer alone? This week, Elena, Angela, and Rob are discussing the importance of broad reach for business growth, driving long-term demand, and truly effective marketing. Inspired by P&G’s Mark Pritchard’s recent comments on what efficient and effective marketing looks like, they...

Welcome to Nerd Alert, a series of special episodes bridging the gap between marketing academia and practitioners. We’re breaking down highly involved, complex research into plain language and takeaways any marketer can use.  In this episode, Elena and Rob explore the reasons behind TV advertising's ongoing success—despite all the buzz around digital. Learn more about Peter Field's insights into w...

Ready to talk politics? Well, political advertising anyway.  This week, Elena, Angela, and Rob are exploring how marketers should think about the impact of political ad spend in 2024. (There’s no actual politics allowed). This year, US political ad spend is expected to surpass $12 billion, setting a new record... That’s triple what was spent on the 2016 election, and it’s already affecting media a...

Welcome to Nerd Alert, a series of special episodes bridging the gap between marketing academia and practitioners. We’re breaking down highly involved, complex research into plain language and takeaways any marketer can use. In this episode, Elena and Rob explore how advertising can impact stock prices and boost investor confidence. Research shows successful campaigns often lead to higher stock va...

63% of TV advertisers doubt their ability to accurately measure TV’s impact. And it’s not just TV. Top-of-funnel marketing channels are notoriously hard to evaluate. But accurate attribution isn’t impossible. This week, Elena and Angela are joined by Director of Analytics Jordan Rossler to break down the report “Everything Wrong with TV Measurement.” They’re covering attribution best practices for...