Brands spend billions every year to run TV ads during the most popular programs. But are these expensive timeslots worth it? This week, Elena, Angela, Rob, and special guest VP Media Ron Blevins explore common misconceptions about media quality. Learn why low-cost inventory doesn't always mean low quality, how to evaluate media beyond traditional metrics, and where brands can find opportunities to gain a competitive advantage. Topics covered: [01:00] Defining media quality [05:00] Ron's backgrou...
Aug 06, 2024•25 min•Ep 72•Transcript available on Metacast 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 why first-party data is more reliable and cost-effective than third-party data. They learn that investing in first-party data is essential for accuracy and avoids high costs associated with third party data. Topics covered: [00:50] “Is ...
Aug 01, 2024•10 min•Ep 19•Transcript available on Metacast 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. Top...
Jul 30, 2024•23 min•Ep 71•Transcript available on Metacast 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...
Jul 25, 2024•11 min•Ep 18•Transcript available on Metacast 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 br...
Jul 23, 2024•28 min•Ep 70•Transcript available on Metacast 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...
Jul 18, 2024•10 min•Ep 17•Transcript available on Metacast 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]...
Jul 16, 2024•26 min•Ep 69•Transcript available on Metacast 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 cove...
Jul 11, 2024•9 min•Ep 16•Transcript available on Metacast 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...
Jul 09, 2024•25 min•Ep 68•Transcript available on Metacast 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:...
Jul 02, 2024•30 min•Ep 67•Transcript available on Metacast 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 customizing incentives based on purchasing habits can enhance a program’s effectiveness. Topics covered:...
Jun 27, 2024•9 min•Ep 15•Transcript available on Metacast 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 marketing, and the importance of balancing research with active testing to discover marketing strate...
Jun 25, 2024•40 min•Ep 66•Transcript available on Metacast 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 a more personalized—and effective—approach. Topics covered: [00:45] “Psychological Targeting as an ...
Jun 20, 2024•10 min•Ep 14•Transcript available on Metacast 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 consumer behavior. Plus, they dig into how marketers should apply these learnings to their own strategi...
Jun 18, 2024•27 min•Ep 65•Transcript available on Metacast 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 can positively impact consumer preference and make your brand memorable. Topics covered: [01:05] “M...
Jun 13, 2024•12 min•Ep 13•Transcript available on Metacast 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 right now. Plus learn how to work around the channel’s complexities to drive performance with CTV campai...
Jun 11, 2024•34 min•Ep 64•Transcript available on Metacast 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 to why celebrity endorsements can be so effective. Topics covered: [00:55] “How Celebrity Status Eng...
Jun 06, 2024•10 min•Ep 12•Transcript available on Metacast 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, how advertising connects brands with customers, and why brand storytelling matters. Topics covered: [0...
Jun 04, 2024•26 min•Ep 63•Transcript available on Metacast 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 part. Topics covered: [00:50] “What Makes Online Content Viral” [01:25] What makes something go viral...
May 30, 2024•12 min•Ep 11•Transcript available on Metacast 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 learning, called Smart Targeting. Topics covered: [01:30] Mark Ritson vs Byron Sharp on targeting [02:30] ...
May 28, 2024•28 min•Ep 62•Transcript available on Metacast 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 through three dimensions: scale, efficiency, and time. Topics covered: [01:20] “Profit Ability 2” [0...
May 23, 2024•14 min•Ep 10•Transcript available on Metacast 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 than we thought. Shockingly, WFA says that by 2025, ad fraud may be the second largest source of cr...
May 21, 2024•26 min•Ep 61•Transcript available on Metacast 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 instincts or analytics offer the best path to advertising success. Topics covered: [00:40] “Marketers' Intui...
May 16, 2024•10 min•Ep 9•Transcript available on Metacast 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’re talking about everything from the origins of mass reach marketing to reach strategies on digital...
May 14, 2024•26 min•Ep 60•Transcript available on Metacast 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 why TV ads remain a critical part of successful marketing strategies. Topics covered: [00:55] “Why TV ...
May 09, 2024•13 min•Ep 8•Transcript available on Metacast 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 availability. Topics covered: [01:00] The state of US political spend in 2024 [02:00] How will politic...
May 07, 2024•19 min•Ep 59•Transcript available on Metacast 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 values by showcasing a company's market presence and consumer demand. Topics covered: [00:50] “The Imp...
May 02, 2024•12 min•Ep 7•Transcript available on Metacast 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 brand marketing channels, including the importance of using multiple attribution models to determin...
Apr 30, 2024•26 min•Ep 58•Transcript available on Metacast 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. Once upon a time, Elena and Rob decided to explore the meaning of “brand love” and the use of powerful storytelling. They discovered that brands with a strong story create meaningful connections and fuel brand loyalty. Topics covered: [00:46] “The Role of Storytelling in the...
Apr 25, 2024•13 min•Ep 6•Transcript available on Metacast Can marketers tap into psychology to improve the effectiveness of their work? Well, there’s a reason why Dr. Robert Cialdini’s psychology book Influence is a marketing and sales bestseller. Whether you realize it or not, psychological principles are applied in marketing all the time. This week, Elena, Angela, and Rob are reviewing the six psychological lessons found in Dr. Cialdini’s classic book. They cover how marketers can use these principles for good (not evil) and how they show up in every...
Apr 23, 2024•24 min•Ep 57•Transcript available on Metacast 
