The Marketing Architects

Trust isn't just a feel-good metric. According to an IPA Effectiveness Data Bank analysis of over 800 campaigns, 93% of campaigns that drive very large trust gains also deliver at least one major business effect. 

This week, Elena and Rob are joined by Catrina McAuliffe, SVP of Brand Strategy at Marketing Architects, to dig into what brand trust really means, how to measure it without turning your brand tracker into a "vibes recital," and what marketers get wrong when they try to advertise their way out of a trust deficit.

Topics covered:

• [01:45] IPA data: trust-building campaigns and business impact
• [03:00] What a genuinely good brand measurement system looks like
• [06:00] Why brand health trackers become "vibes recitals"
• [09:00] How to measure trust in two layers — what people say and what they'll forgive
• [13:00] How newer brands vs. comeback brands should approach trust differently
• [18:00] TV as a trust legitimizer and amplifier
• [21:00] Can you advertise your way to trust?

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


Resources:
2024 MarketingWeek Article


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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 ads appearing next to offensive or harmful content can quietly erode consumer trust, and what marketers should do when it happens.

Topics covered:

• [00:45] "Brands in Unsafe Places: Effects of Brand Safety Incidents on Brand Outcomes"
• [02:00] What counts as a brand safety incident?
• [04:00] How quickly does brand damage spread?
• [05:00] Which brands are most at risk?
• [06:00] Unsafe content versus negative content: there's a difference
• [07:00] How to respond when an incident occurs

To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast


Resources: Grewal, L. S., Vana, P., & Stephen, A. T. (2025). Brands in unsafe places: Effects of brand safety incidents on brand outcomes. JMR, Journal of Marketing Research, 62(6), 981–1002. https://doi.org/10.1177/00222437251349522


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Personalized ads outperform generic ones. But the effect is smaller than most marketers expect, and the hidden costs can quietly undercut your brand.

This episode, Elena, Angela, and Rob dig into a meta-analysis of 53 studies on ad personalization and what the research actually says about when it works. They're joined by Chief Analytics Officer Matt Hultgren and Director of AI Audio Josh Wilson to discuss the real tradeoffs of personalization and why a new tool called the Mass Customizer could change what's possible for TV advertisers.

Topics covered:

• [01:00] What the meta-analysis reveals about personalization's modest impact
• [03:00] The reach trap and why narrowing audiences shrinks mental availability
• [06:00] Why marketers overestimate audience differences
• [09:00] How to test personalization cleanly using geography and control groups
• [14:00] Traditional roadblocks in TV production when scaling creative versions
• [18:00] How the Mass Customizer uses AI to swap voiceover and graphics at scale
• [21:00] Why CTV breaks the false choice between mass reach and customization  

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


Resources: 
Yeo, T. E. D., Chu, T. H., & Li, Q. (2025). How Persuasive Is Personalized Advertising? A Meta-Analytic Review of Experimental Evidence of the Effects of Personalization on Ad Effectiveness. Journal of Advertising Research, 65(4), 616–631. https://doi.org/10.1080/00218499.2025.2467763


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 when brands should evolve their messaging versus refreshing their creative execution, and why the right answer depends entirely on how old your brand is.

Topics covered: 

• [01:00] "Should You Change Your Ad Messaging or Execution? It Depends On Brand Age
• [02:00] Message versus execution: what's the difference?
• [04:00] Why younger brands benefit from changing their message
• [05:00] Why mature brands should protect their core positioning
• [06:00] The formula for older brands: keep the promise, change the packaging

To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast


Resources: Pauwels, K., Sud, B., Fisher, R., & Antia, K. (2022). Should you change your ad messaging or execution? It depends on brand age. Applied Marketing Analytics, 8(1), 43–54.


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Many brands treat Connected TV like another form of digital advertising. That's a mistake.

This week, we’re sharing a bonus episode with a special presentation from Shoptalk. Catherine Walstad, Chief Media Officer at Marketing Architects, breaks down the most common CTV myths and explains what smarter TV buying actually looks like. From frequency management to targeting accuracy to ad fraud, Catherine covers the traps brands fall into and the strategies that get results.

Topics covered: 
[01:00] Why CTV is not just another digital channel 
[03:00] How frequency becomes waste faster than you think 
[04:00] Why premium inventory doesn’t guarantee better performance 
[05:00] Ad fraud, poor supply, and wasted CTV impressions 
[06:00] The limitations of IP-based targeting 
[07:00] Why CTV measurement produces conflicting answers




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

Resources:
Watch: TV Like Digital and Other CTV Myths
Catherine’s LinkedIn

Marketers are being told to stop buying media on CPM. But is that actually good advice?

This week, Elena and Angela are joined by Chief Media Officer Catherine Walstad and Chief Analytics Officer Matt Hultgren to dig into one of advertising's most debated metrics. Together, they break down why CPM still matters, where the low-CPM-equals-bad-media logic breaks down, and what actually signals media quality.

Topics covered:

• [01:30] Research on the true cost of dull media
• [06:00] Why TV outperforms digital on cost per attentive second
• [07:00] Should marketers stop buying on CPM?
• [11:00] Where low CPM signals bad inventory, and where it doesn't
• [16:00] How to identify high-quality media
• [21:00] Why CPM is king at Marketing Architects
• [25:00] How to design a test to challenge your CPM assumptions 

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


Resources: 
Think TV/Eat Big Fish/Amplified Report: https://thinktv.ca/research/the-eye-watering-cost-of-dull-media/


Elliot Wright Article: https://mediacat.uk/whats-holding-tv-back-culture-not-effectiveness/



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Nerd Alert: What 100 Studies Taught Us About Marketing 
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 synthesize findings from 100 Nerd Alert episodes to surface the principles that consistently show up across the research and what they mean for how marketers should think about creative, reach, promotions and measurement. 


Topics covered: 

• [00:55] “What 100 Studies Taught Us About Marketing”
• [02:00] Marketing works through memory
• [03:00] Why creative is a strategic multiplier, not a subjective choice
• [04:30] Brand growth comes from reach, not loyalty
• [05:30] Promotions create spikes, not growth
• [06:00] Why measurement often misleads strategy 

 





To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast
 



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This week, we're resharing a top episode from the archive. Originally recorded a year ago, this episode on the 95/5 rule remains one of our most popular. Enjoy, and we'll be back with new content next week! 

This episode, Elena, Angela, and Rob explore the 95/5 rule introduced by professor John Dawes in 2021. They discuss how this principle contradicts the familiar 80/20 rule, why it applies beyond B2B categories, and how brands can shift from "hunter" to "farmer" mindsets. The team also covers creative strategies for reaching the 95% who aren't ready to buy yet and why mental availability matters more than immediate conversion. 

Topics covered: 
[01:00] Origins of the 95/5 rule and how it contradicts 80/20 thinking 
[04:00] Why the rule makes sense for B2B but challenges B2C assumptions 
[07:00] How modern marketing overemphasizes tracking immediate conversions 
[09:00] Calculating the 95/5 rule for your specific category 
[12:00] Creative strategies that build memory structures for future buyers 
[14:00] Shifting from hunter to farmer mentality in advertising strategy 
[17:00] Brand versus performance marketing balance under this rule 

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

Resources: 

The 95:5 Rule: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/955-rule-john-dawes/

Why You Should Follow The 95-5 Rule: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-you-should-follow-95-5-rule-tyrona-heath/ 

Calculate your in-market audience: mymarketcalculator.com

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 celebrate 100 episodes by flipping the script. Rob takes the lead to break down How Brands Grow by Byron Sharp, exploring why penetration beats loyalty, why light buyers matter more than most marketers think, and how distinctiveness drives brand growth. 

Topics covered:   

• [01:20] "How Brands Grow" by Byron Sharp
• [02:45] The Law of Double Jeopardy
• [06:15] Why light buyers drive growth
• [08:00] Mental and physical availability
• [10:00] Differentiation vs. distinctiveness
• [12:15] Four takeaways marketers can apply today 

 





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

Resources: 
Sharp, B. (2010). How brands grow: What marketers don’t know. Oxford University Press. 
 

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

Most brands pile spend into peak weeks. But higher CPMs, more clutter and faster saturation mean you're often paying more to reach the same people. Many of whom would have bought anyway.

This episode, Elena, Angela, and VP of Media Analytics Jordan Rosler dig into media flighting: why it became the default, where the strategy breaks down, and what the data says about marginal ROI. They also tackle why shoulder weeks often outperform peak ones, when always-on advertising makes more sense, and how upfronts can quietly undermine the efficiency they promise.

Topics covered:
•    [01:00] Why media flighting became standard marketing practice.
•    [04:00] The difference between blended and marginal ROI explained.
•    [07:30] What happens to TV performance when spend spikes in a short window.
•    [11:00] When always-on advertising beats a flighting strategy.
•    [14:00] How upfronts add rigidity to media planning.
•    [16:00] When flighting does make sense for your brand.
•    [17:30] How to build a 2026 media plan that's both impactful and measurable.






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


Resources:
2026 Digiday Article: https://digiday.com/sponsored/how-a-precise-timing-structure-drives-material-differences-in-marketing-efficiency/



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