The Marketing Architects

Ask media buyers what quality media means, and answers vary. Reach, brand safety, dwell time, exclusivity: nobody agrees, and that confusion is costing marketers real money.

This week, Elena, Angela, and Rob challenge the industry's obsession with premium placements. They argue quality really comes down to effectiveness: reaching real humans, in a context where the ad can do its job, at a price that makes the math work. They also unpack why Marketing Architects built its own DSP instead of relying on industry platforms, what to demand from media partners to protect against fraud, and how AI cuts both ways for junk inventory and creative quality.

Topics covered:
[01:00] Two studies on the industry's quality confusion and CTV fraud
[02:00] A working definition: audience, context, and price
[07:00] Whether premium placements really make creative work harder
[08:00] The one non-negotiable floor: real humans seeing the ad
[11:00] Why "everything works at zero" and cost drives TV performance
[13:00] Why Marketing Architects built its own DSP
[19:00] Using AI to fight junk inventory without lowering creative quality  

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

Resources:
2026 eMarketer Article: https://www.emarketer.com/content/media-buyers-struggle-define-quality-inventory--it-s-costing-them

2025 AdExchanger Article: https://www.adexchanger.com/on-tv-and-video/new-channel-same-old-tricks-how-legacy-web-tactics-are-undermining-ctv-advertising/

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 look at new research on nostalgic advertising. They break down when a "remember when" ad sticks in someone's memory, and when a straightforward, factual ad works better instead. 

Topics covered:   
[02:05] "Nostalgic Advertising Enhances Brand Name Recall by Reactivating Brand-Related Autobiographical Memories" 

[02:35] Why marketers need every edge to stay top of mind 

[04:00] Three studies pit nostalgic ads against factual ads 

[05:00] When nostalgia wins, and when it doesn't 

[06:00] Younger versus older adults: who remembers more? 

[07:05] Takeaways for legacy brands and win-back campaigns 

 

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

Resources: 
Thoma, D., & Koziak, J. (2025). Nostalgic advertising enhances brand name recall by reactivating brand-related autobiographical memories, especially for familiar and personally relevant brands. Psychology & Marketing, 42(12), 3306–3318. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.70042 
 

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

Cannes debuted a new award for creative consistency this year. 73 brands entered. Just two won.

This week, Elena, Angela, Rob, Catherine, and Nikki unpack what actually happened at Cannes versus what just made headlines. The team shares why intelligence-gathering, not glamour, is the real reason to attend, and how AI is quietly reshaping ad tech products behind the scenes. They also weigh in on where live sports, retail media, and creator marketing genuinely fit into an effectiveness-driven strategy versus where they're overhyped. Marketers will walk away knowing which Cannes trends deserve real budget attention and which are just award-show noise. 

Topics covered:
[02:00] Why Marketing Architects decided to start attending Cannes
[04:00] The real gap between Cannes glamour and the actual work
[13:00] How AI is quietly reshaping ad tech products
[14:00] Live sports as a growth opportunity, not a silver bullet
[17:00] Why competing streaming platforms are all facing the same challenges
[21:00] Retail media and creator marketing: tools, not full strategies
[24:00] Cannes' new award for long-term creative consistency

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

Resources:
2026 The Drum Article: https://www.thedrum.com/opinion/andrew-tindall-what-ritson-and-sharp-got-right-and-wrong-at-cannes

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 break down why proving ad ROI is far harder than most marketers assume, even with millions of dollars and millions of customers. They also unpack why the Super Bowl might be the hardest ad buy of all to measure.

Topics covered: 
[01:00] "The Unfavorable Economics of Measuring the Returns to Advertising"
[02:00] Why the spirit of ROI gets abused
[03:35] Why customer spending is too noisy to spot small ad effects
[06:00] How targeting bias can inflate results by 30 times
[07:00] Why the Super Bowl isn't a coupon, it's fame
[09:00] Could anyone actually solve the ROI theorem?

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

Resources: Lewis, R., & Rao, J. (2015). The unfavorable economics of measuring the returns to advertising. The Economic Journal, 125(585), 1–27.  

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

84% of the time, buyers choose a brand that was already on their radar before they ever started shopping. So why do so many marketing budgets only chase the people ready to buy today?

This week, Elena, Angela, and Rob talk with brand strategist and author James Hurman about his new book, Future Demand. James breaks down why brands hit a growth ceiling when they lean too hard on performance marketing. He also explains why feelings outlast facts in memory, and why that changes which channels deserve your investment. Marketers will leave with a clearer case for building demand among tomorrow's customers, not just converting today's.

Topics covered:
[05:00] Defining current demand versus future demand
[07:00] Splitting budgets 50/50 between brand and performance
[12:00] Why American marketers lag on brand-building principles
[18:00] Measuring future demand through brand tracking
[22:00] Why feelings outlast facts in memory
[26:00] The case for creativity in earning attention
[35:00] James's own future demand brand: Land Rover

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

Resources:
Resources: 2021 WARC White Paper: https://www.warc.com/the-rise-of-digital-commerce 2026
Future Demand Book: https://futuredemand.com/ 
James Hurman’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jameshurman/

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