Marketing budgets are a mess right now, says Mark Ritson. His solution? A simple, three-step system inspired by triple-cooked chips: spend 5-10% of revenue, balance long and short-term investment, and measure each piece properly.This week, Elena, Angela, and Rob tackle one of the trickiest questions in marketing: how do you set a budget that actually drives growth? They explore Ritson's budgeting system, why marketers struggle to secure investment, and the frameworks needed to justify balanced spending.Topics covered: [01:00] Mark Ritson's three-step budgeting system[04:00] High-growth companies spend far more than 5-10%[11:00] The 60/40 rule and why most brands fall short[15:00] Setting measurement expectations for brand vs performance spend[20:00] How performance backgrounds shape budgeting approaches[26:00] Keeping unallocated budget for real-time opportunities  To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast or subscribe to our newsletter at marketingarchitects.com/newsletter.  Resources: 2022 MarketingWeek Article: https://www.marketingweek.com/ritson-triple-cooked-chips-marketing-budgets/ 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 how advertising creates both immediate sales and long-term brand value through an integrated approach that connects thinking, feeling, and doing.Topics covered:   [01:00] "Discovering How Advertising Grows Sales and Builds Brands"[02:00] Do marketers design campaigns for both short- and long-term goals?[04:00] The integrated hierarchy framework: think, feel, do[05:00] Five years of soft drink brand data across 30,000 interviews[07:00] Why this brand's path was experience, then think, then feel[08:00] Advertising's direct impact on feelings and immediate sales  To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast or subscribe to our newsletter at marketingarchitects.com/newsletter.  Resources: Bruce, N. I., Peters, K., & Naik, P. A. (2012). Discovering how advertising grows sales and builds brands. Journal of Marketing Research. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmr.11.0060  Get more research-backed marketing strategies by subscribing to The Marketing Architects on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

75% of shoppers say they go to Amazon to find new products, even if they saw the brand elsewhere. Yet many companies still resist being there, missing massive opportunities for growth.This week, Elena, Angela, and Rob dive into physical availability, the often-overlooked "place" in the marketing mix. They explore why D2C brands are rushing back to retail, share real campaign examples where distribution made the difference, and discuss what physical availability means in an AI-first world. Topics covered: [02:00] Why "place" is the forgotten P in the marketing mix[06:00] How D2C brands discovered the limits of digital-only strategies[10:00] Real campaign examples where physical availability made the difference[15:00] Brands doing physical availability right today[19:00] Expanding your thinking about "place" beyond shelf space[23:00] Brands we'd buy more if they were easier to find  To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast or subscribe to our newsletter at marketingarchitects.com/newsletter.  Resources: 2025 WARC Article: https://www.warc.com/newsandopinion/opinion/4ps---place-physical-availability-the-marketing-factor-youre-likely-overlooking/70102025 AdAge Article: https://adage.com/article/marketing-news-strategy/state-dtc-warby-parker-rare-beauty-draper-james/2603761/ 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 reveal the harsh truth about marketers' ability to judge their own brand elements. They explore why we're terrible at predicting how consumers will respond to our logos, colors, sounds, and taglines.Topics covered:   [01:00] "Assessing Branding Strength: Comparing Marketer Judgment and Consumer Data for Brand Identity Elements"[02:00] Only 2% of marketer predictions are accurate[04:00] Why we love our brands like our own dogs[05:00] When marketers actually get it right[06:00] Why teams beat individuals at brand judgment[07:00] Don't trust your gut alone  To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast or subscribe to our newsletter at marketingarchitects.com/newsletter.  Resources: Graham, C., & Lowrey, T. M. (2023). Assessing branding strength: Comparing marketer judgement and consumer data for brand identity elements. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 40(4), 977–996. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2023.06.006  Get more research-backed marketing strategies by subscribing to The Marketing Architects on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Only 40% of Fortune 500 marketing leaders actually hold the title Chief Marketing Officer. But average CMO tenure is now 4.3 years, up from last year. So is the CMO role really disappearing? New research from Spencer Stuart challenges the "CMO decline" narrative everyone loves to share. This week, Elena and Angela explore why this story gained traction, what effective marketing leadership looks like today, and how first-time CMOs can stay relevant. Plus, they share which brands they'd love to lead for one year. Topics covered: [01:00] Spencer Stuart's 2025 Fortune 500 CMO research findings[07:00] Only 40% of marketing leaders use the CMO title[10:00] Should CMOs handle roles beyond traditional marketing?[12:00] What effective marketing leadership looks like today[17:00] Biggest challenge facing first-time CMOs[22:00] How companies should treat the CMO role differently  To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast or subscribe to our newsletter at marketingarchitects.com/newsletter.  Resources: 2025 Spencer Stuart Report: https://www.spencerstuart.com/research-and-insight/cmo-tenure-study-2025-the-evolution-of-marketing-leadership 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 reveal how third-party audience targeting often delivers worse accuracy than random guessing, with demographic targeting hitting the right audience only 24.4% of the time compared to 26.5% accuracy from random targeting.Topics covered:   [01:00] "How Effective is Third Party Consumer Profiling and Audience Delivery"[02:00] The difference between first-party and third-party data[04:00] Study results: 59% accuracy sounds good until you learn random targeting hits 26.5%[05:00] Raw data accuracy drops to worse than random at 24.4%[07:00] Interest-based targeting performs better than demographic targeting[08:00] Third-party audiences are "economically unattractive"  To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast or subscribe to our newsletter at marketingarchitects.com/newsletter.  Resources: Lambrecht, A., Tucker, C., & Wiertz, C. (2019). How effective is third-party consumer profiling and audience delivery? Evidence from field studies. Marketing Science Institute Working Paper Series, 19-105.  Get more research-backed marketing strategies by subscribing to The Marketing Architects on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

On average, brand equity accounts for over 30% of a company's value, yet most marketers still chase vanity metrics instead of measuring what drives real business results.This week, Elena, Angela, and Rob are joined by Kantar's Mary Kyriakidi to unpack findings from Kantar's Diary of a CMO Report. Mary explains why meaningful difference beats distinctiveness alone, how brands can build pricing power instead of defaulting to promotions, and what separates successful CMOs in the boardroom. Plus, learn about Kantar's meaningful, different, and salient framework and why brand equity should be treated as a financial asset.Topics covered: [04:00] Why meaningful difference drives growth beyond distinctiveness alone[09:00] How Kantar's meaningful, different, and salient framework works[14:00] The promotion trap that destroys pricing power and brand equity[16:00] How brands build pricing power through meaningfulness and difference[21:00] What CMOs need to gain credibility in the boardroom[23:00] Common mistakes when measuring brand performance  To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast or subscribe to our newsletter at marketingarchitects.com/newsletter.  Resources: Kantar’s Diary of a CMO Report: https://www.kantar.com/campaigns/diary-of-a-cmoMary Kyriakidi’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-kyriakidi-4a5a4a57/?originalSubdomain=uk 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 reveal how perceived brand simplicity creates higher consumer expectations that backfire when failures occur. They explore why simple brands face harsher judgment than complex ones when things go wrong.Topics covered: [01:00] "Keep It Simple: Consumer Perceptions of Brand Simplicity and Risk"[02:00] Simplicity versus vagueness in marketing[03:00] How simple brands create lower risk perceptions[04:00] YouTube TV's confusing interface betrays simple expectations[05:00] Mental simplicity equals fewer moving parts[06:00] The white couch analogy for brand disappointment  To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast or join our newsletter at marketingarchitects.com/newsletter. Resources: Light, N., & Fernbach, P. M. (2024). Keep it simple? Consumer perceptions of brand simplicity and risk. Journal of Marketing Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/00222437241248413 Get more research-backed marketing strategies by subscribing to The Marketing Architects on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Marketing can't force people to buy what they don't need. According to Dale Harrison, 65-90% of market share within a category is determined by brand recall at purchase.This week, Elena and Rob are joined by Dale Harrison, former experimental physicist turned marketing effectiveness expert. Dale breaks down the NBD-Dirichlet model that governs consumer behavior, explains why most growth stories have nothing to do with brilliant marketing, and reveals why reach (not targeting) drives market share. Plus, learn about the mathematical reality behind brand loyalty and why your job as a marketer is to make subtle nudges, not force outcomes.Topics covered: [04:00] Marketing as hacking brains, not forcing behavior [13:00] The NBD-Dirichlet model explained through consumer purchase patterns [22:00] Why brand loyalty is actually polyamorous repertoire buying [26:00] Two ways brands grow: organic category growth vs. market share theft [38:00] Effective CPM vs. total CPM and the targeting efficiency trap [42:00] Share of voice correlation to market share success  To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast or subscribe to our newsletter at marketingarchitects.com/newsletter.  Resources:  2024 LinkedIn Article: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-marketing-creates-revenue-dale-w-harrison-84v7c/Dale Harrison’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dalewharrison/ 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 challenge the assumption that older consumers stick with older brands. Real purchase data from over 88,000 grocery trips shows older shoppers buy a mix of brands based on size and relevance, not age or nostalgia.Topics covered:   [01:00] "Examining Older Consumers' Loyalty towards Older Brands in Grocery Retailing"[02:00] What the data revealed about older shoppers[04:00] Do these findings apply beyond grocery categories?[05:00] Financial services and credit card research[06:00] Cars, durables, and 25 years of cross-category data[08:00] Your brand preferences are like your closet  To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast or subscribe to our newsletter at marketingarchitects.com/newsletter.  Resources: Phua, P., Kennedy, R., Trinh, G., Page, B., & Sharp, B. (2020). Examining older consumers’ loyalty towards older brands in grocery retailing. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 54, 101893. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2019.101893:contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2}   Get more research-backed marketing strategies by subscribing to The Marketing Architects on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.