What’s NOT Working Tells You More About What Will (Here’s Why…)
Release Date: 07/24/2025
Consumers Got Weird This Year: 5 Truths Marketers Aren’t Ready For
Brain Driven Brands
This week on Brain Driven Brands, Sarah and Nate crack open 25 Core Identity Maps (CIMs) collected across nearly every category — supplements, apparel, home goods, tech, sleep, skincare — and uncover the five global consumer behaviors defining 2026. These aren’t the usual “people want convenience and trust” surface takes. They’re weird, psychologically sideways, deeply human patterns emerging across thousands of responses… the kind of stuff your attribution dashboard will never show you. Inside the episode, they break down: Why customers want the feeling of improvement, not the...
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The Worst Ad Takes We’ve Ever Heard (And Why They Refuse to Die)
Brain Driven Brands
Some myths haunt the ad industry like immortal raccoons rifling through the garbage. In this episode, Sarah and Nate crack open a tweet that asked a simple question: “What’s the dumbest take you’ve heard about running ads?” Turns out…people had thoughts. They wade through the greatest hits — “never turn off an ad,” “you gotta season the pixel,” “ads hurt organic,” “just follow Andromeda best practices,” “DR can’t build brand,” “scale winners 15% a day,” — and then get into the deeper psychology behind why these ideas still survive in 2026. Along the way,...
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You’re Not the Hero: Big Brand Truths Small Brands Hate Hearing (Feat. Will Leach)
Brain Driven Brands
When a PepsiCo-trained behavioral scientist crashes the studio, things get weird…and wildly useful. In this episode, Will Leach walks us through the emotional math behind why customers buy, why brands plateau, and why most marketers have their goals entirely backward. We dig into why value ≠ “saving money,” how DiGiorno tricked America by anchoring against delivery pizza, why buyers change personalities between Monday and Friday, and the surprising reason your brand matters way less than you think. Come for the spicy takes on Coke vs Pepsi, stay for the “Batman vs...
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99% of Marketers Are Using AI Wrong (Including YOU)
Brain Driven Brands
Most marketers are using AI to replace their thinking instead of sharpen it—and it’s showing. In this episode, Sarah and Chase break down why lazy prompting is the reason your creative feels stale, your tests flop, and your “winners” die in two weeks. They’ll walk you through 50 wild “what if” experiments that flip marketing psychology upside down and show you how to use AI as a thinking partner, not a content mill. Here’s a taste: 🤯 What if checkout pages showed how long you’ve wanted that product—and how long you’ll regret not buying it? 💡 What if loyalty...
info_outline![Boost Your Brand’s “Cool” Factor by 20% Using [SECRET PRODUCT] show art](https://assets.libsyn.com/content/195115940?height=50&width=50)
Boost Your Brand’s “Cool” Factor by 20% Using [SECRET PRODUCT]
Brain Driven Brands
Sarah and Nate dive into one of marketing’s strangest scientific findings: launching [secret product] can make your brand 20% cooler. So which product is it? No hints on this one…you’ll just have to listen and find out! Source: 👉 Join my community: CoHost: Nate Lagos Twitter: LinkedIn: Tactical and Practical Podcast: CoHost: Sarah Levinger Learn more at: Twitter: Linkedin: Instagram: Watch me on YouTube:
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The 8 Marketing Mistakes We Made in 2025 (and How to Fix Them in 2026)
Brain Driven Brands
2025 was a weird year for marketers..an avalanche of AI hype, output obsession, and soulless creative cycles. In this episode, Sarah and Nate dissect the biggest missteps brands made this year and what needs to change before 2026 hits. From mistaking outputs for outcomes to realizing AI isn’t ready to think for us, they break down why “volume” culture is killing creativity and how to rebuild your strategy around clarity, authenticity, and actual human intelligence. Expect hard truths, some laughter about naming cows “Ribeye,” and a challenge to run your own “What Could Go...
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Two Truths and A Lie: Why the Weirdest Ads Work (and Yours Don’t)
Brain Driven Brands
Ever seen an ad so bizarre you couldn’t look away? A woman eating a boiled egg for 90 seconds. A cigarette brand that never showed the cigarette. A $40M Burger King campaign about a guy named Herb who’d never eaten there. In this episode, Nate and Sarah play Two Truths and a Lie: 1980s Ad Edition and then break down why the strangest, most nonsensical ads of the decade actually worked. We’ll talk about: 🧠 Semantic Closure — why your brain can’t stand an open loop. 🧩 Processing Fluency — how confusion turns into curiosity. 💀 Fear vs. Wonder — and why one still...
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Stop Staring at Me: The Weird Psychology of Eye Contact in Ads 👀
Brain Driven Brands
In this Brain Driven Brands episode, Nate and I unpack a wild little study that found ads can be 30% more effective depending on where your model’s eyes are looking. Turns out, the difference between “I trust this brand with my organs” and “why is she looking at me like that?” comes down to whether your product is utilitarian or hedonic (fancy words for “practical” vs “fun”). We break down why eye contact builds trust for supplements and skincare—but looking away sells fashion and for-funsies products. TL;DR: Your model’s gaze might be the cheapest conversion hack...
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Sarah’s $2,000 Haircut: Why “When” Beats “Why” in Marketing Every Time
Brain Driven Brands
On this episode of Brain Driven Brands, Sarah’s bad haircut spirals into a four-week behavioral case study—and an accidental masterclass in consumer psychology. From identity triggers (“am I that kind of person?”) to timing misfires and disqualifying sales moments, this story exposes how every brand loses money by misunderstanding when a buyer is ready—not why. In this episode of Brain Driven Brands, Sarah and Nate dissect: → Why “when” your customer feels safe matters more than “why” they buy. → How bias, timing, and trust signals silently make or break conversions. →...
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How to Turn Hate Comments Into Your Best Marketing Strategy
Brain Driven Brands
What if your next viral ad came from your meanest review? In this episode of Brain Driven Brands, Sarah and Nate dive headfirst into the world of negative feedback, brand psychology, and emotional resilience—starting with a spicy listener review about Sarah’s voice. 😅 From Liquid Death’s savage comment campaigns to Domino’s “We’re Sorry for Sucking” rebrand, they unpack how smart brands turn criticism into currency (and why most founders take it way too personally). You’ll learn: → Why consumers trust brands that own their flaws → The psychology behind “reversal...
info_outlineON this episode of Brain Driven Brands, Sarah has beef with Nate, we talk about the Tampon ad that changed a nation, and dissect the real reason your ads aren’t working! All this and more…
JOIN The TETHER Community- https://www.skool.com/tether-lab/about
CoHost: Nate Lagos
Twitter: https://x.com/natelagos
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natelagos/
Tactical and Practical Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tactical-practical/id1752915534
Learn more at: https://www.tetherinsights.io/
Twitter: https://x.com/SarahLevinger
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahlevinger/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarah.levinger/
Watch me on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKwfjt_7PU5N_2fTfHemXXg
Thanks to Cytrus for the theme song, “Sky High” You can follow and find them on Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/track/1oKGDsxjRdQlf2xHLZsiSJ?si=8fbd275dbbb54cbf