The Marketing Architects

Marketing Architects
  • 4.7 (46)
  • Marketing
  • Weekly

Introducing a research-first podcast that builds revenue, not condos. Answer questions on the biggest marketing trends and news with discussions based in marketing, psychology and economics research. Along the way, learn about marketing accountability, category leadership, brand-building and much more. Featuring a team of experienced marketers whose blueprints for success are marketing strategies actually proven to work.

  1. 10h ago

    Nerd Alert: What Brands Lose When Tracking Goes Away

    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 dig into what offsite tracking data is actually worth. Across more than 70,000 advertisers, losing it raised the median cost of a new customer 31%. Small brands took the biggest hit. They also cover why 10% of campaigns did better without it, and what to test before privacy rules take more tracking away.  Topics covered:    [01:50] "Estimating the Value of Offsite Tracking Data to Advertisers: Evidence from Meta"  [03:15] 70,000 advertisers, 160 countries and a holdout test  [03:55] New customers cost 31% more without tracking data  [04:25] Why small advertisers get hit harder  [06:10] The 10% of campaigns that did better chasing clicks  [06:45] Holdout tests and stress-testing for less tracking  [07:25] Why smaller brands should diversify sooner    To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast or subscribe to our newsletter at marketingarchitects.com/newsletter.    Resources:  Wernerfelt, N., Tuchman, A., Shapiro, B. T., & Moakler, R. (2025). Estimating the value of offsite tracking data to advertisers: Evidence from Meta. Marketing Science, 44(2), 268–286. https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.2023.0274    Get more research-backed marketing strategies by subscribing to The Marketing Architects on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

    Nerd Alert: What Brands Lose When Tracking Goes Away

  2. 2d ago

    Zombie Metrics: Numbers That Won't Die

    Between 60% and 75% of buy-side marketers say their core measurement approach falls short. And no one's measurement fully covers every paid channel. This week, Elena, Angela and Chief Analytics Officer Matt Hultgren dig into zombie statistics: numbers that get debunked but keep getting repeated. They start with the Rule of Seven, then turn to the scarier ones hiding in dashboards. Hear why CTV is so hard to measure, how attribution windows can mislead and why last-click still lingers. Plus, learn how to talk to your CFO about uncertainty and how multiple models help you replace a metric you've outgrown. Topics covered:  [01:00] The Rule of Seven and its murky origins  [03:00] What the data says about extra exposures  [05:00] IAB's State of Data 2026 findings  [08:00] When last-click still makes sense  [11:00] Why CTV is so hard to measure  [12:30] How attribution windows skew results  [14:30] Killing zombie metrics with multiple models  [15:30] How AI will change measurement  To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast or subscribe to our newsletter at marketingarchitects.com/newsletter.    Resources:  IAB State of Data 2026 Report: https://www.iab.com/insights/2026-state-of-data-report/   Get more research-backed marketing strategies by subscribing to The Marketing Architects on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

    Zombie Metrics: Numbers That Won't Die

  3. Oct 22

    Nerd Alert: When Ads Take a Year to Pay Off

    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 dig into a two-and-a-half-year experiment with a semiconductor company's ads. Every ad dollar brought back about $12 in revenue, but less than half arrived within three months. They cover why existing customers drove most of the payback and how to match your measurement window to your sales cycle. Topics covered:  [01:50] "Long Lags and Large Returns: Experimental Evidence from Advertising to Businesses"  [02:30] Why B2B buyers are a tough crowd  [03:20] Switching ads on and off across U.S. markets for two and a half years  [04:00] A return on ad spend of 12, and the payback lag  [05:10] Existing customers returned $34.60 per ad dollar, new ones $1.40  [06:00] The approved vendor list and why paperwork slows new buyers  [06:50] What marketers should do about the lag  To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast or subscribe to our newsletter at marketingarchitects.com/newsletter.  Resources:  Thomas, M., Goic, M., & Kalyanam, K. (2025). Long lags and large returns: Experimental evidence from advertising to businesses. Management Science. 71(10):8750-8766. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2023.02661   Get more research-backed marketing strategies by subscribing to The Marketing Architects on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

    Nerd Alert: When Ads Take a Year to Pay Off

  4. Oct 20

    Let's Get Political (in Advertising)

    Political ad spend is projected to hit $11.07 billion this election cycle, according to eMarketer. That's a 21.4% jump over the last midterm. And broadcast TV alone will claim more than half of it.   This week, Elena, Angela, and Rob break down where that political money is flowing, from Senate races to swing states like Michigan. They cover how rising demand for TV inventory could squeeze nonpolitical advertisers this fall. Rob also traces the history of political advertising, from Eisenhower's first TV jingles to today's AI-generated attack ads.   Topics covered:  [00:00] Political ad spend breaks midterm records this cycle  [01:00] CTV becomes political ads' fastest-growing channel  [02:00] Senate, House, and local races drive the surge  [05:00] Rob's history lesson on political advertising  [09:00] AI-generated ads take over the 2026 campaign trail  [10:00] What Berkeley research reveals about ad effectiveness  [13:00] Why TV wins on emotion and credibility    To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast or subscribe to our newsletter at marketingarchitects.com/newsletter.    Resources:  2026 Campaigns & Elections Article: https://campaignsandelections.com/voices/the-2026-midterms-are-where-ai-meets-the-tv-ad/     2026 NPR Report: https://www.npr.org/2026/09/16/nx-s1-5953990/ai-political-ads-2026-midterms     Get more research-backed marketing strategies by subscribing to The Marketing Architects on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

  5. Oct 15

    Nerd Alert: Do Brands Need Search Advertising?

    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 question whether paying Google to show up for your own brand name creates new sales. They dig into field experiments showing branded search ads mostly take credit for purchases brands would have won anyway. Topics covered:    [01:20] "Do Brands Need Search Advertising?"  [01:50] Do you click the paid result or the organic one?  [02:25] Nine field experiments across eight D2C brands  [03:40] Turning off branded ads: zero effect on sales in 20 tests  [04:35] The fake mattress brand experiment  [05:30] Where to move your search budget instead  To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast or subscribe to our newsletter at marketingarchitects.com/newsletter.    Resources:  Beknazarova, I., Cohen, J., Driesener, C., Hartnett, N., & Bellman, S. (2027). Do brands need search advertising? Journal of Business Research, 218, 116485. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2026.116485    Get more research-backed marketing strategies by subscribing to The Marketing Architects on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

    Nerd Alert: Do Brands Need Search Advertising?

  6. Oct 13

    Your Holiday Campaign is Already Late

    By October, a quarter of shoppers are already hunting for gifts. That's 15 million more people than two years ago. If you wait until Q4 to launch your holiday campaign, you're late to the race.  This week, Elena, Angela, and Rob unpack our 2026 holiday shopper trends report. They explore why trust can't be built in six weeks, how B2B brands should approach stretched year-end buyers, and what AI shopping means for this season. Plus, learn how to measure always-on investment and hear the team's favorite holiday commercials. Topics covered:  [00:30] Holiday anticipation now starts in June  [03:45] Why trust can't be manufactured in six weeks  [06:45] B2B buyers are holiday shoppers too  [09:15] ChatGPT's conversion rate and AI shopping agents  [14:50] Share of voice when the room is quiet  [16:00] Measuring the impact of always-on investment  [21:45] The team's favorite holiday commercials    To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast or subscribe to our newsletter at marketingarchitects.com/newsletter.    Resources:  2026 Marketing Architects Report: https://na2.hubs.ly/H083tlz0   Get more research-backed marketing strategies by subscribing to The Marketing Architects on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

  7. Oct 8

    Nerd Alert: Pretesting with AI-Generated Ads

    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 dig into new research testing whether AI-generated ads can stand in for real production during pretesting. They cover what two studies found about recall, brand attitude, and brand choice, why disclosure didn't move the numbers, and the screening step marketers shouldn't skip. Topics covered:    [02:10] "Pretesting with AI-Generated Static and Video Ads"  [02:35] Why pretesting matters before you spend production money  [03:00] Inside the two studies  [04:35] Zero meaningful difference in recall, attitude or brand choice  [05:05] Telling people an ad is AI changed nothing  [06:30] Where AI pretesting still has limits    To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast or subscribe to our newsletter at marketingarchitects.com/newsletter.    Resources:  Bellman, S., Ourradi, S. A., & Varan, D. (2026). Pretesting with AI-generated static and video ads. Scientific Reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-67219-0  Get more research-backed marketing strategies by subscribing to The Marketing Architects on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

    Nerd Alert: Pretesting with AI-Generated Ads

  8. Oct 6

    The Physical Laws of Marketing with Joe McCambley, CMO of Saatva

    Saatva grew to more than $150 million on one channel: non-branded search. Then hundreds of competitors flooded the mattress category and costs skyrocketed. This week, Elena, Angela, and Rob are joined by Saatva CMO Joe McCambley to talk about what happened next. Joe explains the statistically significant relationships he tracks between channels, why $200,000 a month in podcast advertising moved branded search within weeks, and how a WARC-led curriculum got his board comfortable with upper funnel spend. Plus, hear why he'd rather blanket the universe than target individual consumers. Topics covered:  [03:30] The physical laws that predict brand growth  [07:00] What forced Saatva up the funnel  [15:00] Owning restorative sleep in a crowded category  [18:45] How the Olympic sponsorship came to be  [23:15] What marketers should look for in a CEO  [29:00] Mining 150,000 sales calls with AI  [32:15] Joe's most contrarian marketing opinion    To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast or subscribe to our newsletter at marketingarchitects.com/newsletter.  Resources:  2026 ClickZ Article: https://clickz.com/saatvas-cmo-on-how-the-la28-games-bet-paid-off/273219/  Joe McCambley's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joemccambley/     Get more research-backed marketing strategies by subscribing to The Marketing Architects on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

    The Physical Laws of Marketing with Joe McCambley, CMO of Saatva
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4.7
out of 5
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About

Introducing a research-first podcast that builds revenue, not condos. Answer questions on the biggest marketing trends and news with discussions based in marketing, psychology and economics research. Along the way, learn about marketing accountability, category leadership, brand-building and much more. Featuring a team of experienced marketers whose blueprints for success are marketing strategies actually proven to work.

Information

  • Creator
    Marketing Architects
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    323
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Marketing Architects
  • Show Website
    The Marketing Architects

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