Confessions of a Reformed Performance Marketer with Ryan Sullivan, GoodRx CMO

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 whether "only at Target" labels actually drive sales or if they backfire. They reveal how exclusive features can sometimes make products less appealing when customers see them as trivial or disconnected from real value.Topics covered:   [01:00] "Do Products Labeled Retailer Exclusive Affect Consumer Behavior"[02:00] How scarcity influences buying decisions[03:00] Testing exclusivity with vacuums and Blu-Rays[04:00] Why adding more exclusive features can hurt sales[05:00] In-store experiences versus exclusive labels[06:00] When exclusivity feels meaningful versus trivial  To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast or subscribe to our newsletter at marketingarchitects.com/newsletter.  Resources: Upshaw, D., Amyx, D., Upshaw, A., & Hardy, M. (2023). Do products labeled retailer “exclusive” affect consumer behavior?Journal of Marketing Development and Competitiveness  Get more research-backed marketing strategies by subscribing to The Marketing Architects on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Only 15% of brand assets are truly distinctive. GoodRx broke their industry’s mold with a prairie dog sidekick and singing cowgirl. But behind the bold creative lies a data-driven philosophy that challenges everything performance marketers think they know.This week, Elena, Angela, and Rob sit down with Ryan Sullivan, CMO of GoodRx. Ryan shares his evolution from hardcore performance marketer to someone who questions the very foundations of digital attribution. Learn why he's skeptical of multi-touch attribution, how GoodRx measures success through triangulation, and why increasing "surface area" matters more than hyper-targeting.Topics covered: [05:00] Why brand search attribution is misleading[08:30] The hidden costs of programmatic display advertising[15:00] GoodRx's unique challenge of reaching out-of-market consumers[19:30] Creating distinctive brand assets with the Savings Wrangler[32:00] Building confidence through triangulated measurement[36:00] The concept of "free marketing" and reducing control To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast or subscribe to our newsletter at marketingarchitects.com/newsletter.  Resources: 2025 eMarketer Article: https://www.emarketer.com/content/goodrx-s-new-feel-good-campaign-seeks-break-through-healthcare-advertising-noiseRyan Sullivan’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanjsullivan/GoodRx Website: https://www.goodrx.com/ 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 telling people a product isn't for them can boost interest among the right audience. They discuss why exclusion signals expertise and how persuasive framing builds stronger connections with core customers than traditional persuasive messaging.Topics covered:   [01:00] "This Article is Not for Everyone: The Impact of Persuasive Framing on Consumer Response to Product Messages"[02:00] Examples of brands using exclusionary messaging[04:00] Why persuasive ads outperform persuasive ads[05:00] Target specificity and specialized positioning[06:00] The steakhouse billboard and flexing for your audience[07:00] Marketing takeaways: filtering builds credibility  To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast or subscribe to our newsletter at marketingarchitects.com/newsletter.  Resources: Wallach, K. A., Blair, S., & Tanenbaum, J. L. (2025). This article is not for everyone: The impact of dissuasive framing on consumer response to product messages. Journal of Consumer Research. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucaf034  Get more research-backed marketing strategies by subscribing to The Marketing Architects on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. 

Elderly intoxicated people pay 33% more attention to ads than sober viewers but remember half as much. That's just one reason why optimizing solely for attention can backfire spectacularly.This week, Elena, Angela, and Rob are joined by Marc Guldimann, CEO of Adelaide. Marc explains why Byron Sharp is right about attention being wasteful when misused, but wrong about dismissing it entirely. The team explores how attention should measure media quality, not creative sensationalism or audience manipulation.Topics covered: [01:00] Why optimizing for maximum attention creates unintended consequences[06:00] Where Byron Sharp gets attention metrics right (and wrong)[13:00] The problem with legacy verification companies' attention metrics[18:00] How Adelaide rates media quality like a credit rating agency[23:00] Why cost-plus agency models create perverse incentives[28:00] YouTube podcasts and premium CTV as today's best media bargains  To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast or subscribe to our newsletter at marketingarchitects.com/newsletter.  Resources: 2022 The Media Leader Article: https://uk.themedialeader.com/sharp-is-right-chasing-fleeting-attention-is-a-waste-of-money/Marc Guldimann’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/guldi/Adelaide Metrics Website: https://www.adelaidemetrics.com/ Get more research-backed marketing strategies by subscribing to The Marketing Architects on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. 

Hyper-targeting is paying more to ignore your future customers. That's the reality most brands face today. They've optimized themselves into tiny corners while competitors copy each other into oblivion. That’s just one tip of many in this week’s episode.Elena, Angela, and Rob tackle why marketing feels so bland and how to fix it. They share 10 research-backed strategies to stand out in 2026, from expanding your audience to investing in underpriced media. Plus, hear which brands broke through the noise this year and what marketers can learn from their bold moves.Topics covered: [01:00] Why brand conformity is killing differentiation[05:00] Building AI agent teams for creative breakthrough[11:00] The 60/40 rule for brand vs performance spend[14:00] Hunt for underpriced media to boost efficiency[16:00] Why emotional campaigns outperform rational ones[21:00] Brands that stood out in 2025  To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast or subscribe to our newsletter at marketingarchitects.com/newsletter.  Resources:  Brand Strategy Insider Article: https://brandingstrategyinsider.com/competing-on-sameness-the-marketing-mistake-of-our-times/ 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 skippable and non-skippable ads affect brand recall, salience, and conversions. They discover that the choice between ad types matters less than how engaging your creative is, and that the skip button creates surprising attention effects.Topics covered:   [01:00] "Make Ads Skippable or Not: The Impact of Ad Type on Brand Recall, Salience and Conversion Rate"[03:00] Eye tracking reveals the skip button effect[04:00] Which format drives better brand recall?[05:00] Non-skippable ads win on long-term salience[06:00] The gravitational force of the skip button[07:00] Front-load emotion to stop the scroll  To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast or subscribe to our newsletter at marketingarchitects.com/newsletter.  Resources: Bauerová, R., & Kopřivová, V. (2025). The impact of ad type on brand recall, salience, and conversion rate. Silesian University in Opava.   Get more research-backed marketing strategies by subscribing to The Marketing Architects on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. 

Budget explains 89% of profit variation in award-winning campaigns. ROI? Just 11%. Yet 65% of senior marketers still believe ROI is the biggest contributor to success.This week, Elena, Angela, and Rob discuss new research from Les Binet and Will Davis that reveals a major misunderstanding at the heart of modern marketing. For years, marketers have obsessed over efficiency: optimizing clicks, proving short-term ROI, and doing more with less. The team breaks down why budget and reach matter more than most realize, how to escape the "death spiral" of shrinking investments, and what it means to go big or go home with your marketing plan.Topics covered: [01:00] Why budget is 8x more important than ROI for driving profit[03:00] Defining marketing efficiency vs marketing effectiveness[11:00] Making the case internally for bigger budgets and broader reach[13:00] How this research should change your channel planning[19:00] Balancing efficiency and effectiveness in your marketing mix[21:00] What creativity at scale really looks like  To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast or subscribe to our newsletter at marketingarchitects.com/newsletter.  Resources: 2025 IPA Effectiveness Conference Article: https://ipa.co.uk/news/go-big-or-go-home/ 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 why advertising during major sporting events often backfires. Clutter and distraction crush ad effectiveness before and during events. The sweet spot? Right after, when buzz lingers but noise clears.Topics covered:   [01:00] "Going for Gold: Investigating the (Non)sense of Increased Advertising Around Major Sport Events"[01:40] Does ramping up ad spend during events actually work?[03:00] How researchers measured advertising effectiveness around events[04:00] Short-term sales impact drops over 50% during events[05:00] The only way to break through: dominate share of voice[06:00] What does "after the event" advertising actually mean?  To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast or subscribe to our newsletter at marketingarchitects.com/newsletter.  Resources: Gijsenberg, M. J. (2014). Going for gold: Investigating the (non)sense of increased advertising around major sports events. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 31(1), 2-15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2013.09  Get more research-backed marketing strategies by subscribing to The Marketing Architects on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. 

Less than half of ads are correctly attributed to the right brand after viewing. And it takes two to three years of consistent investment before a brand asset truly feels like it belongs to you.This week, Elena, Angela, and Rob explore what it actually means to build distinctive brand assets. They dig into Mark Ritson's latest column for Marketing Week, break down the research on what makes assets memorable, and share why most marketers quit way too soon. Plus, test your own knowledge with a distinctive assets quiz.Topics covered: [01:00] What distinctiveness actually means for your brand[04:00] Why creativity and distinctiveness aren't the same thing[09:00] Why you need seven brand cues to boost recall to 100%[14:00] Brands that nailed distinctiveness over decades[18:00] Balancing creative freshness with brand consistency[22:00] How to measure if your assets are truly distinctive  To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast or subscribe to our newsletter at marketingarchitects.com/newsletter.  Resources: 2025 The Drum Article: https://www.thedrum.com/news/2025/10/06/mark-ritson-we-know-what-distinctive-marketing-looks-now-let-s-agree-what-call-it 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 consumer response to advertising behaves more like a phase transition than a smooth curve. They discuss saturation points, tipping points, and why some channels scale differently than others.Topics covered:   [01:00] "Symmetry Scaling Laws and Phase Transitions in Consumer Advertising Response"[03:00] Three parameters: marketing effectiveness, response sensitivity, and behavioral sensitivity[04:00] Which parameter matters most for TV?[05:00] Testing against traditional models[06:00] Network effects and audience clustering  To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast or subscribe to our newsletter at marketingarchitects.com/newsletter.  Resources: Marín, J. (2024). Symmetries, scaling laws and phase transitions in consumer advertising response [Preprint]. arXiv. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2404.02175   Get more research-backed marketing strategies by subscribing to The Marketing Architects on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.