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 privacy first advertising changes digital marketing. They reveal that when individual tracking disappears, platforms must rely on user groups instead. This shifts advertising toward probabilistic targeting, like how TV has always worked. 

Topics covered: 

• [01:00] "Reach, Measurement, Optimization and Frequency Capping and Targeted Online Advertising Under K Anonymity"
• [01:45] Privacy forces less tracking, more thinking
• [02:50] How K Anonymity groups users by shared traits
• [04:35] Simulating the trade-off between privacy and performance
• [06:00] Privacy pushes reach-first thinking 

 





To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast or subscribe to our newsletter at marketingarchitects.com/newsletter. 


Resources: 
Gao, Y., & Qiao, M. (2025). Reach measurement, optimization and frequency capping in targeted online advertising under k-anonymity. arXiv preprint arXiv:2501.04882. 


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A single 30-second Super Bowl spot now costs $8 million. Factor in production, celebrities, and amplification, and total campaign costs land between $15 and $50 million. So, are the ads actually worth it?

Elena, Angela, and Rob break down this year's Super Bowl commercials through a marketing effectiveness lens. They discuss which brands nailed distinctive assets versus those that let celebrity overshadow strategy, why consistency beats spectacle, and what separates memorable ads from forgettable ones. 

Topics covered: 

• [02:00] Classic TV commercial effectiveness errors in Super Bowl ads
• [06:00] Which brands executed distinctive brand assets well
• [11:00] The Pepsi polar bear debate and brand linkage
• [20:00] Patterns across effective ads: product as hero and consistency
• [28:00] Quiet winners that did real work for brands
• [32:00] Key takeaways for brands not advertising in the Super Bowl 

To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast or subscribe to our newsletter at marketingarchitects.com/newsletter. 
 

Resources: 
2026 Adwave Article: https://adwave.com/resources/super-bowl-commercial-cost

2026 Billboard Article: https://www.billboard.com/lists/super-bowl-2026-time-performers-commercials-everything-to-know/
 

Get more research-backed marketing strategies by subscribing to The Marketing Architects on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

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 makes ads memorable over time, not just minutes after viewing. They reveal how emotion, brand relevance, and AI are reshaping how marketers should think about ad recall and creative testing. 

Topics covered: 

• [01:00] "Long-Term Ad Memorability: Understanding and Generating Memorable Ads"
• [02:00] Why short-term recall is a poor proxy for advertising effectiveness
• [04:00] Emotion as the strongest driver of long-term memory
• [05:00] How brand relevance affects ad memorability
• [06:00] AI model Henry predicts and generates more memorable ads
• [07:00] Practical takeaways for marketers on creative testing  

To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast or subscribe to our newsletter at marketingarchitects.com/newsletter. 
 

Resources: 
Khosla, A., Ranjan, A., Torralba, A., Oliva, A., & colleagues. (2024). Long-term ad memorability: Understanding and generating memorable ads. Adobe Research and collaborating universities. 


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Streaming now accounts for 47% of all TV viewing. Five of the top 10 most-streamed days ever happened in November 2025 alone. But TV isn't disappearing. It's just fragmented. 

This week, Elena, Angela, and Rob are joined by VP of Media Partnerships Nikki Erkkila to discuss the state of modern TV advertising. Together, they break down the biggest misconceptions about streaming versus linear TV, why hyper-targeting can actually limit growth, and how marketers should approach buying Connected TV without losing the power of broad reach. 

Topics covered: 

• [04:00] How fragmented is the TV landscape really?
• [10:00] Why CTV feels familiar to digital marketers
• [16:00] The biggest mistake marketers make with CTV
• [21:00] Should you buy linear or streaming? (Hint: It's not either/or)
• [23:00] When is targeting worth the cost?
• [29:00] How creative strategies can differ in streaming versus linear 

To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast or subscribe to our newsletter at marketingarchitects.com/newsletter. 
 

Resources: 
2025 Nielson Report: https://www.nielsen.com/news-center/2025/nielsens-the-gauge-broadcast-and-streaming-power-historic-month/

2026 Awful Announcing Article: https://awfulannouncing.com/streaming/strange-state-sports-fast-tv-tubi.html
 

Get more research-backed marketing strategies by subscribing to The Marketing Architects on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

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 emotions, even ones unrelated to purchasing decisions, shape what people are willing to spend. They reveal that disgust suppresses value across the board, while sadness increases openness to new products by motivating a desire for change. 

Topics covered:   

• [01:00] "Heart Strings and Purse Strings: Carryover Effects of Emotions on Economic Decisions"
• [02:00] How disgust, sadness, and neutrality shift buying behavior
• [03:00] The endowment effect and emotional influence
• [05:00] Why specificity matters more than positive or negative
• [06:00] Disgust in advertising: effective or repellent?
• [08:00] Can annoyance drive brand recall? 

 





To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast or subscribe to our newsletter at marketingarchitects.com/newsletter. 
 

Resources: 
Lerner, J. S., Small, D. A., & Loewenstein, G. (2004). Heart strings and purse strings: Carryover effects of emotions on economic decisions. Psychological Science, 15(5), 337–341. 
 

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44% of marketers say media fragmentation is one of their biggest concerns. But is it really threatening effectiveness—or just exposing weak planning?

This week, Elena, Angela, and Rob tackle the fragmentation debate head-on. They explore why reach hasn't disappeared, how creative consistency beats endless platform optimization, and why the smartest response to complexity is simplicity. Plus, hear why doubling down on what works might be better than chasing every new channel.

Topics covered: 

• [01:00] Why 44% of marketers worry about media fragmentation
• [05:00] Mass reach moments and the obsession with live sports
• [09:00] Creative consistency across channels: IKEA as a model
• [12:00] Why narrowing targeting actually shrinks growth potential
• [15:00] Planning fundamentals that prevent fragmentation chaos
• [18:00] The importance of reinforcement over reinvention 

To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast or subscribe to our newsletter at marketingarchitects.com/newsletter. 
 

Resources: 
WARC Article: https://www.warc.com/content/paywall/article/warc-talks/staying-effective-in-a-lots-of-little-media-market/en-GB/159439?

 
Get more research-backed marketing strategies by subscribing to The Marketing Architects on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

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 reveal how 84% of purchases are decided before shoppers even start looking... and why that changes everything about how you should invest in marketing.

Topics covered: 

• [01:00] "How Humans Decide: What Drives Consumer Choice and How Brands Should Respond"
• [02:00] The two stages of every purchase decision
• [04:00] Why 84% of purchases are already decided
• [06:00] Who's easy to influence (and who isn't)
• [07:00] The touchpoints that actually change behavior
• [08:00] Three moves to reach primed buyers 

 





To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast or subscribe to our newsletter at marketingarchitects.com/newsletter. 
 

Resources: 
WPP Media & Oxford Saïd Business School, Marketing Faculty. (2025). How Humans Decide: What drives consumer choice, and how brands should respond. October 2025. 
 

Get more research-backed marketing strategies by subscribing to The Marketing Architects on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

When brands try to stand out through purpose or activism, they often stumble into controversy. So what's driving these missteps? And how should brands respond when backlash strikes? 

This week, Elena, Angela, and Rob are joined by Professor Tyler Milfeld from Villanova School of Business to discuss the hidden risks of brand activism and repositioning. Tyler unpacks why high-profile rebrands fail, when purpose messaging actually works, and how brands should respond when they face backlash. Plus, learn why doing nothing might be better than apologizing. 

Topics covered: 

• [04:00] Why most repositioning efforts fail
• [09:00] The credibility gap in brand purpose
• [12:00] When pro-social brands don't benefit from purpose ads
• [18:00] How brand power changes the rules for activism
• [21:00] The worst response to brand activism backlash
• [29:00] Why great insights matter more than shiny objects
• [32:00] Marketing communication needs more fun 

To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast or subscribe to our newsletter at marketingarchitects.com/newsletter. 
 

Resources: 
2025 MediaPost Article:https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/411321/what-drives-brand-repositioning-and-why-do-these.html

Villanova University Page: https://www1.villanova.edu/university/business/faculty-and-research/faculty-by-department/[email protected]&xsl=bio_long

Tyler Milfeld’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tyler-milfeld/
 

Get more research-backed marketing strategies by subscribing to The Marketing Architects on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

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 examine why treating statistical significance as proof can mislead marketers. They reveal how relying on a single P-value creates blind spots and why smart decisions require looking at the full picture of evidence.

Topics covered: 

• [01:00] "Statistical Significance and Statistical Reporting, Moving Beyond Binary"
• [02:00] What statistical significance actually means
• [04:00] When significant results don't matter for business
• [05:00] Building a toolkit approach beyond P-values
• [06:00] Practical importance versus statistical significance
• [08:00] Avoiding single-test tunnel vision 

 





To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast or subscribe to our newsletter at marketingarchitects.com/newsletter. 
 

Resources: 
McShane, B. B., Bradlow, E. T., Lynch, J. G., Jr., & Meyer, R. J. (2024). “Statistical Significance” and statistical reporting: Moving beyond binary. Journal of Marketing, 88(1), 1–20. 
 

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Only 21% of creatively awarded campaigns actually drive business results. But when ideas reach the very top of creative excellence, effectiveness doubles to 44%. So what separates the winners from the rest?

This week, Elena and Rob are joined by Chief Creative Officer Steve Babcock to discuss what makes creative truly effective in 2026. They explore why most award-winning work fails to drive growth, the danger of over-personalization, and why fewer ideas executed longer beats constant reinvention. Plus, hear Steve's contrarian take on creative awards, the role of AI in advertising, and why durability matters more than novelty.

Topics covered: 

• [01:00] Why only 21% of award-winning creative is effective
• [09:00] Durability beats novelty in creative effectiveness
• [15:00] Over-personalization is hurting creative campaigns
• [21:00] Balancing emotional and rational messaging
• [24:00] AI's role in creative work and the "human leap"
• [32:00] Steve's advice: commit to fewer ideas for longer 

 





To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast or subscribe to our newsletter at marketingarchitects.com/newsletter. 
 

Resources:  
2025 WARC Article: https://ethicalmarketingnews.com/highly-awarded-creative-ideas-are-significantly-more-effective-new-warc-research-reveals
 

Get more research-backed marketing strategies by subscribing to The Marketing Architects on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.