The Marketing Architects – Details, episodes & analysis

95% of iOS users opt out of ad tracking. A judge ruled Google acted illegally to maintain its search monopoly. And the company backtracked on plans to eliminate third-party cookies... A lot is happening in the world of search.

This week, Elena, Angela, and Rob explore the changing landscape of search marketing. They discuss Google's evolving role, the effectiveness of targeting strategies, and how AI chatbots are reshaping search behavior. Learn how to prepare your brand for a future where consumers increasingly bypass traditional search engines in this week’s episode.

Topics covered: 

• [0:47] Google's decision on third-party cookies
• [4:45] Targeting effectiveness: first-party data vs third-party cookies
• [11:00] Impact of the recent antitrust ruling against Google
• [14:47] The state of paid search advertising
• [20:23] How AI chatbots are changing search behavior
• [22:01] Strategies to prepare for the future of search 

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


Resources: 
2023 New York Times Article: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/12/technology/google-antitrust-ruling.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 recent data on CMO tenure, revealing that the role may be more stable than commonly perceived. They discuss surprising statistics about tenure length, differences between B2B and B2C brands, and career progression for CMOs.

Topics covered: 

• [00:55] "The CMO Tenure Study 2024: An Expanded View of CMO Tenure and Background"
• [02:00] Average CMO tenure at Fortune 500 companies
• [03:20] The differences between B2B and B2C brand CMOs
• [04:55] Expanded responsibilities of modern CMOs
• [05:35] Career progression for CMOs after leaving roles
• [06:45] Diversity statistics for CMO positions 

To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast 
 

Resources: 
Spencer Stuart. (2024). *CMO Tenure Study 2024: An Expanded View of CMO Tenure and Background*. Retrieved from https://www.spencerstuart.com/research-and-insight/cmo-tenure-study-2024-an-expanded-view-of-cmo-tenure-and-background  
 

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

NBC Universal paid nearly $8 billion for Olympic broadcast rights through 2032. But is sports marketing really worth the cost?

This week, Elena, Angela, and Rob dive into the world of sports marketing as the Summer Olympics kick off. They explore the surprising scale of sports advertising, the evolution of athlete endorsements, and whether Olympic sponsorships are worth the premium price tag. Plus, hear why many brands could get more for their dollars by looking beyond major sporting events.

Topics covered:   

• [01:00] Looking to the 2024 Paris Olympics
• [02:14] Scale of global sports marketing spend
• [06:00] History of athlete endorsements
• [09:00] Notable brand deals for the 2024 Olympics
• [12:00] Pros and cons of micro-influencer athletes
• [13:00] Contrarian view on sports marketing ROI
• [18:30] Alternatives to major sports sponsorships 

 




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

Resources: 
2024 Ad Age Article: https://adage.com/article/marketing-news-strategy/2024-summer-olympics-advertisers-sponsors-and-media-plans-paris-games/2566426
 
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 discuss how marketers can leverage framing and decoy effects to sway consumer choices and boost confidence in their decisions.

Topics covered:   

• [00:40] “Changing Decisions: The Interaction Between Framing and Decoy Effects”
• [01:30] Background on cognitive biases
• [02:25] Framing vs. decoy effect
• [03:10] Congruent vs. incongruent decoys
• [05:55] How do positive and negative scenarios affect decisions? 

To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast 
 

Resources: 
Di Crosta, Adolfo, Anna Marin, Rocco Palumbo, Irene Ceccato, Pasquale La Malva, Matteo Gatti, Giulia Prete, Riccardo Palumbo, Nicola Mammarella, and Alberto Di Domenico. 2023. "Changing Decisions: The Interaction between Framing and Decoy Effects" Behavioral Sciences 13, no. 9: 755. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs13090755 
 
Get more research-backed marketing strategies by subscribing to The Marketing Architects on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. 

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 and measuring across channels. Plus, hear their takes on which two channels they'd choose for a D2C brand campaign (if TV wasn't an option).

Topics covered:   

• [01:00] Kantar study on TV's impact on campaigns
• [03:30] ThinkBox research on channel combinations
• [07:00] Creative challenges of multi-channel campaigns
• [11:00] Media buying across channels
• [13:00] Measuring multi-channel marketing strategies
• [20:00] AI's role in cross-channel marketing
• [24:00] Top channels for D2C brands 

 




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

Resources: 
2023 Kantar Report: https://www.bandt.com.au/kantar-study-finds-removing-tv-could-reduce-a-campaigns-impact-by-39/

2022 Thinkbox TV Article: https://www.thinkbox.tv/research/thinkbox-research/demand-generation#key-findings
 
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 dive into the new world of Large Language Models (LLMs), revealing how AI models are shaking up market research with impressive accuracy. They also stress the need to blend this cutting-edge tech with traditional methods for better insights and data.

Topics covered:   

• [01:00] “Determining the Validity of Large Language Models for Automated Perceptual Analysis”
• [01:20] Using LLMs in market research
• [02:20] Battling skepticism with proof
• [04:25] LLMs can visualize brand similarities
• [06:15] Why there is pushback for adopting LLMs
• [07:50] Combining LLMs with human insight 

To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast 
 

Resources: 
Li, Peiyao and Castelo, Noah and Katona, Zsolt and Sarvary, Miklos, Determining the Validity of Large Language Models for Automated Perceptual Analysis (December 6, 2023). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4241291 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4241291 
 
Get more research-backed marketing strategies by subscribing to The Marketing Architects on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. 

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 understanding your audience.

Topics covered:   

• [0:47] Exploring AI and market research with LLMs
• [1:03] Study on language models simulating human responses
• [4:45] Synthetic audiences vs. traditional methods
• [11:00] Practical uses of LLMs in marketing
• [14:47] Launching ScriptSooth for pretesting TV commercials
• [20:23] History of pretesting and transition to synthetic audiences
• [22:01] Potential futures of AI 

 





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

Resources: 
2023 Cornell University Study: https://doi.org/10.48550/ARXIV.2209.06899
 
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 discuss research showing that starting customer surveys with open-ended positive questions can boost spending and loyalty by reinforcing positive memories and attitudes, making it a simple yet powerful strategy for increasing sales.

Topics covered:   

• [00:45] “Mere Measurement “Plus”: How Solicitation of Open-Ended Positive Feedback Influences Customer Purchase Behavior”
• [02:13] Asking for feedback brings more sales
• [04:45] Customer commitment and consistency
• [05:25] Positive experience reconstruct memories
• [07:40] Turning causal tasters into food lovers 

To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast 
 

Resources: 
Mere Measurement “Plus”: How Solicitation of Open-Ended Positive Feedback Influences Customer Purchase Behavior by Sterling A. Bone, Katherine N. Lemon, Clay M. Voorhees, Katie A. Liljenquist, Paul W. Fombelle, Kristen Bell Detienne, and R. Bruce Money is Journal of Marketing Research, 54(February), 156-170, 2017. The DOI for the article is 10.1509/jmr.14.0232. 
 
Get more research-backed marketing strategies by subscribing to The Marketing Architects on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. 

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. Plus, learn why standing out is sometimes easiest when you don’t obsess over your rivals for consumer dollars. 

Topics covered:   

• [1:11] Marketing laws: double jeopardy and duplication of purchase
• [2:14] Risks of over-focusing on competitors
• [5:20] Creating and dominating new categories
• [8:03] Rob's history lesson on category entry points
• [14:04] Potential pitfalls of rebranding
• [17:54] Using different channels as a competitive advantage 

 
 




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

Resources: 
2018 Building Distinctive Brand Assets Book: https://www.amazon.com/Building-Distinctive-Brand-Assets-Romaniuk/dp/0190311509/ 
 
Get more research-backed marketing strategies by subscribing to The Marketing Architects on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. 

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 power to create effective campaigns.

Topics covered:   

• [0:53] Importance of creativity in marketing
• [5:46] Defining creative marketing
• [9:41] Steps for developing creative ideas
• [12:26] Overcoming creative limitations
• [17:05] How emotional marketing drives action
• [21:48] Successful creative campaign example  

 






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

Resources: 
Neuromarketing Blog: https://www.neurosciencemarketing.com/blog/articles/emotional-ads-work-best.htm
 
Get more research-backed marketing strategies by subscribing to The Marketing Architects on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.