Brain Driven Brands

In this episode, we get into the three layers of the job (tactical, exterior, interior), why "taste" is the hardest skill to teach, and the in-house vs agency debate that keeps getting it wrong. If you're a creative strategist trying to level up (or a founder trying to hire one) this is the framework we wish we had years ago. Plus: why the apprenticeship model dying is the real reason the industry can't produce great talent anymore. ⚡ IN THIS EPISODE → Why you can teach someone to be adequate at creative strategy, but not great → The 3-tier skill stack: tactical for beginners, business for intermediates, psychology for experts → The one skill that separates good copy from copy that actually moves people → Why an intermediate at your brand will out-perform an expert off the street → The real reason 40,000 people signing up for bootcamps still won't fix the talent gap ⏱ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 The skill nobody can teach (but every great strategist has) 01:30 Sarah cashes in $1,000 of free consulting from Nate 03:30 What an expert creative strategist actually knows (it's not what you think) 05:30 Where intermediates fall short — and the business knowledge gap 06:45 Copy that sounds cool vs. copy that moves people 08:00 How to actually vet creative strategist candidates when you're hiring 10:15 The Connor Rowan question every strategist should be asking themselves 11:30 Why the apprenticeship model dying is killing the industry 14:00 The agency vs in-house debate (and who actually wins) 15:30 The one piece of advice for anyone trying to level up right now 👉 Join Sarah's Creative Strategy Community: skool.com/tether-lab ─────────────────────────────────── 🎙 CO-HOSTS ─────────────────────────────────── Sarah Levinger 🌐 tetherinsights.io 🐦 x.com/SarahLevinger 💼 linkedin.com/in/sarahlevinger 📸 instagram.com/sarah.levinger ▶️ youtube.com/channel/UCKwfjt_7PU5N_2fTfHemXXg Nate Lagos 🐦 x.com/natelagos 💼 linkedin.com/in/natelagos 🎧 Tactical & Practical Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tactical-practical/id1752915534

In this episode we break down the science behind price font size, why hiding your price reads as "embarrassed about the value," and how to use category psychology and price anchoring to justify premium pricing in crowded categories like supplements, meat snacks, and beyond. We also share a live test we're running this week on Meta ads and why most brands are still pricing like it's 2022. ⚡ IN THIS EPISODE → Why bigger price fonts can make your product feel 15% cheaper → The Walmart yellow-tag principle hiding in plain sight → Why most DTC brands shrink their prices (and why that's a confidence signal to customers) → How to anchor a $60/month supplement against "another sleepless night at 3 AM" → Why you should be price testing year-round, not once every 18 months → The "staple a teddy bear to a wall for $6M" lesson on category perception ⏱ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 The mullet, the headphones, and why Sarah is anxious about AI 04:15 The pricing quiz: what makes a price 26% more persuasive? 05:30 The answer nobody guesses right 07:00 Why small price fonts read like you're hiding something 09:00 The product categories where this works (and where it might not) 10:30 The car dealership test that proves the limit 12:15 Why we're still price testing in 2026 (and you should be too) 14:30 The hot tub infomercial trick: $3/day vs. the full price 15:45 Category psychology — why a Maserati and a Corolla both just "drive" 17:30 Be proud of being the most expensive brand in your category 18:30 Purposeful price anchors vs. the Amazon default 19:30 Reframing your category instead of competing inside it Source: https://app.sciencesays.com/p/numbers-in-larger-fonts-are-more-persuasive 👉 Join Sarah's Creative Strategy Community: skool.com/tether-lab ─────────────────────────────────── 🎙 CO-HOSTS ─────────────────────────────────── Sarah Levinger 🌐 tetherinsights.io 🐦 x.com/SarahLevinger 💼 linkedin.com/in/sarahlevinger 📸 instagram.com/sarah.levinger ▶️ youtube.com/channel/UCKwfjt_7PU5N_2fTfHemXXg Nate Lagos 🐦 x.com/natelagos 💼 linkedin.com/in/natelagos 🎧 Tactical & Practical Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tactical-practical/id1752915534

The customer avatar wasn't invented by a marketer. It was invented by a software developer in 1983 who just wanted to know how someone would click through his app. And yet, we've built entire marketing strategies around it. In this episode, we're gonna question everything we know about avatars so you can too. 😅 We get into why obsessing over WHO your customer is (age, gender, zip code) might actually be the wrong starting point and what we think marketers should be focusing on instead: When → Why → Who. Market to the moment first, understand the emotional driver second, and let the demographic details do the last 5% of the work. From OG watch brand case studies to the Taco Bell drive-through at midnight, this one was just a brain dump of consciousness around one simple question: how should we be building avatars that scale in 2026 and beyond? ⚡ IN THIS EPISODE → Why the customer avatar was designed to understand *behavior*, not predict who would buy → The difference between psychographic avatars and avatars that actually tell you what to do → How the same ad made men and women buy the exact same watch for completely different reasons — and why that's the whole point → The "when" framework: how to map customer wins first, emotions second, and demographics last → Why Taco Bell's "open late" campaign is a masterclass in marketing to the moment, not the person  👉 Join Sarah's Creative Strategy Community: skool.com/tether-lab  ─────────────────────────────────── 🎙 CO-HOSTS ─────────────────────────────────── Sarah Levinger 🌐 tetherinsights.io 🐦 x.com/SarahLevinger 💼 linkedin.com/in/sarahlevinger 📸 instagram.com/sarah.levinger ▶️ youtube.com/channel/UCKwfjt_7PU5N_2fTfHemXXg   Nate Lagos 🐦 x.com/natelagos 💼 linkedin.com/in/natelagos 🎧 Tactical & Practical Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tactical-practical/id1752915534

We're back from a 3-month break to break down the three "storms" reshaping the industry: Meta's algorithm quietly flipping the paid ads playbook upside down, an AI-fueled brand identity crisis draining trust faster than anyone expected, and something we're calling "AI gentrification" and why it might be the most dangerous shift of all. We're all feeling the pain. But there's a path through and it's not what most people are doing. ⚡ IN THIS EPISODE → Why running more ads is making your performance worse → The organic vs. paid reach gap nobody's talking about (99% vs. ~80%) → How AI is destroying the apprenticeship model in DTC → What "conviction" actually looks like in a brand and why almost no one has it → Our contrarian take on what comes next A Renaissance is coming and it's going to be built by the anti-AI crowd!   👉 Join Sarah's Creative Strategy Community: skool.com/tether-lab  Sarah Levinger 🌐 tetherinsights.io 🐦 x.com/SarahLevinger 💼 linkedin.com/in/sarahlevinger 📸 instagram.com/sarah.levinger ▶️ youtube.com/channel/UCKwfjt_7PU5N_2fTfHemXXg   Nate Lagos 🐦 x.com/natelagos 💼 linkedin.com/in/natelagos 🎧 Tactical & Practical Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tactical-practical/id1752915534

After years of weekly conversations unpacking consumer psychology, growth strategy, and how brands actually make decisions, they step back to talk candidly about priorities, growth, and what it looks like when your work evolves faster than the containers around it. They unpack why Brain Driven Brands started, what it became, and why it's time to pause and rethink what comes next. Along the way, they reflect on personal growth, career shifts, and the behind-the-scenes realities of running fast-growing businesses without pretending it's all tidy or linear. You'll also hear: Why "packaging" matters just as much as skill when it comes to brands and personal brands What Tether Insights actually does, and why most research misses the real reasons people buy Nate's work scaling supplement brands, building from zero to one, and treating messaging as a growth lever, not "just copy" Why pauses can be strategic, not stagnant This isn't a goodbye it's just a pause for now. A reminder that growth sometimes means stepping back to build the next version properly.

In this episode of Brain Driven Brands, Sarah and Nate play a rapid-fire game of Smash or Pass with some of the most overused, misunderstood, and quietly dangerous ideas in modern marketing. We tear into things most teams can't say out loud… and the ones they're afraid to admit: – Why you can't optimize an emotion that was never there – Why most "testing" is really just for the founder's ego – How beautiful creative can hide a serious idea drought – Why iteration can be growth (but usually isn't) – And how creative fatigue is often just leadership fatigue in disguise This isn't a how-to episode. It's a how-are-you-thinking episode. We talk about idea tracking vs. concept hoarding, empathy vs. data, AI vs. taste, speed vs. depth—and why most ads fail because they're answering questions no customer ever asked. If you're running paid media, managing a creative team, or quietly wondering why "doing more" keeps working less… this one will feel uncomfortably familiar in a good way. (Listen for the moments where we disagree. That's where the real insight lives.) Original tweet:https://x.com/SarahLevinger/status/1994428068220273056?s=20 👉 Join my community: skool.com/tether-lab CoHost: Nate Lagos Twitter: https://x.com/natelagosLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natelagos/ Tactical and Practical Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tactical-practical/id1752915534 CoHost: Sarah Levinger Learn more at: https://www.tetherinsights.io/ Twitter: https://x.com/SarahLevingerLinkedin: 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  

What's going to happen to DTC in 2026 once the AI noise dies down, tariffs stabilize, and brands stop pretending vibes are a strategy? In this holiday episode of Brain Driven Brands, Sarah and Nate don their ugly sweaters, roast underperforming AI tools, and make real predictions they'd actually put money on. They break down why 2026: Could be a breakout year for disciplined brands Why community is shifting off rented platforms and onto brand-owned ecosystems And why the biggest risk next year isn't effort…it's distraction. You'll hear takes on: • Why brands who "hang out" with customers will win • The rise of on-site social and owned community ecosystems • How AI should actually be used (hint: not for final copy) • Why messaging and copywriting are about to matter more than ever • Dynamic pricing, premium buyers, and letting your best customers spend more • Micro-movies, PDP under-optimization, and where content is heading • Why UGC is evolving into character-driven storytelling • And a hopeful prediction about marketers finally sharing real signal instead of shilling If 2025 felt like learning to ride with training wheels again, this is the conversation about what happens when brands finally stop wobbling, and start moving with intent. 👉 Join my community: skool.com/tether-lab CoHost: Nate Lagos Twitter: https://x.com/natelagosLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natelagos/ Tactical and Practical Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tactical-practical/id1752915534 CoHost: Sarah Levinger Learn more at: https://www.tetherinsights.io/ Twitter: https://x.com/SarahLevingerLinkedin: 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  

In this episode of Brain Driven Brands, Sarah and Nate pull back the curtain on the exact AI prompts they actually use to generate high-performing ad ideas—the ones that don't sound robotic, generic, or like every other brand on the internet. After revisiting one of the show's most-downloaded episodes, Sarah shares why most AI-written copy fails, how she rebuilt her prompts from first principles, and what happens when you tell AI which psychological mechanisms to use before it writes anything at all. Together, they live-test these internal prompts on a real brand ad (cowboy boots), exploring how different psychological levers change the creative direction entirely—including: First-principles thinking paired with loss aversion Quiet status signaling and open loops Curiosity-driven hooks and reverse psychology Instead of asking AI to write headlines or scripts, Sarah shows how to use it to generate raw ad concepts—and why the last 10% (the human part) is where all the money is made. This episode is part live teardown, part psychology lesson, and part behind-the-scenes look at how six-figure ads are actually born—not from clever wording, but from properly framed ideas. If you care about better creative, higher prices, and ads that don't feel like ads…this one's for you. Sarah Makes Nate Cry With a Prompt Episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2cVZ3nIE8YUMAlO6Qm0NFN?si=UWSUywsJTmqoz5bkRVgADw 👉 Join my community: skool.com/tether-lab CoHost: Nate Lagos Twitter: https://x.com/natelagosLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natelagos/ Tactical and Practical Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tactical-practical/id1752915534 CoHost: Sarah Levinger Learn more at: https://www.tetherinsights.io/ Twitter: https://x.com/SarahLevingerLinkedin: 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  

For years, marketers have been told to "find the why"...which drives Sarah absolutely nuts. 😅 In this episode of Brain Driven Brands, Sarah argues with Nate that this idea of the "one true why" is what broke modern marketing. People don't buy for one reason. They buy for many reasons—depending on mood, timing, environment, identity, stress level, and context. The real driver isn't why someone buys. It's when. Using real-world examples (from whiskey splurges to Starbucks rituals to Rolex buyers at different life stages) this conversation breaks down why over-optimizing for a single "why" leads to brittle brands, shallow segmentation, and wasted creative effort. Instead, Sarah and Nate explore how brands should think in terms of emotional "whens," behavioral states, and consistency over persuasion. If you've ever felt stuck hunting for the perfect insight, this episode reframes the problem entirely…and gives you a more realistic way to build brands, messaging, and creative that actually scale 👉 Join my community: skool.com/tether-lab CoHost: Nate Lagos Twitter: https://x.com/natelagosLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natelagos/ Tactical and Practical Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tactical-practical/id1752915534 CoHost: Sarah Levinger Learn more at: https://www.tetherinsights.io/ Twitter: https://x.com/SarahLevingerLinkedin: 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

We unpack a wild 2013 study by economist M. Keith Chen: proof that the language you speak completely rewires how you save, spend, exercise, plan, and even respond to marketing. Germans retire with more wealth, smoke less, and make healthier choices… not because they're more disciplined, but because their grammar collapses the future into the present. English pushes actions into "later." German makes the future feel like right now. On this episode of Brain Driven Brands, we break down how your phrasing might be creating psychological distance without you realizing it ("you will feel better tomorrow") and how a simple tense shift ("your future self thanks you") can snap people into action instantly. We riff on examples, rewrite real campaigns in real time, and even end with a mini-rant about why AI struggles with time itself. If you sell anything to English speakers, this is a masterclass in linguistic persuasion. Tune in. Your future self… thanks you. 👉 Join my community: skool.com/tether-lab CoHost: Nate Lagos Twitter: https://x.com/natelagosLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natelagos/ Tactical and Practical Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tactical-practical/id1752915534 CoHost: Sarah Levinger Learn more at: https://www.tetherinsights.io/ Twitter: https://x.com/SarahLevingerLinkedin: 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

This episode was supposed to be about something else entirely…but TikTok's algorithm had other plans. Sarah and Nate fall headfirst into a conversation about why our For You Pages are changing how people perceive content, other people, products, and the world…and what that means for the ads we create in 2026. From cave-death phobias to zoo-bear attack headlines, we unpack why humans are magnetized to bizarre, emotionally charged micro-stories, and why traditional "polished" ads have no chance against that dopamine roulette. They break down: → How the TikTok algorithm broke the entire marketing industry → What it really takes to stop a scrolling brain trained on chaos → Why identity-based ads are exploding (and why the platforms are rewarding them) → The truth about personas: how more of them, narrower, and built for one emotional moment at a time is the only way to win → The surprising shift from "better" ads to accurate ads…ads that lock onto a universal story the brain can't ignore The episode ends with a simple question that might reshape your 2026 creative strategy: What's the repeatable story your customers will always stop for, no matter the platform? This one is a wonderfully unplanned, unnervingly honest look at where attention is going and how brands can evolve with it. 👉 Join my community: skool.com/tether-lab CoHost: Nate Lagos Twitter: https://x.com/natelagosLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natelagos/ Tactical and Practical Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tactical-practical/id1752915534 CoHost: Sarah Levinger Learn more at: https://www.tetherinsights.io/ Twitter: https://x.com/SarahLevingerLinkedin: 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  

Today's episode cracks open one of the most unintuitive persuasion effects hiding in plain sight: customers are 149% more likely to say yes to an offer… when it's presented as something that wasn't meant for them. Sarah and Nate break down the original Journal of Marketing Research study (2013), walk through real examples from DTC, SaaS, and Nate's own infamous bar-tab email campaign, and show how brands accidentally stumble into this effect all the time. We explore: • why "this isn't usually for you, but…" is irresistible to new customers • how pro-level products trigger aspiration psychology • the difference between unintentional offers vs. unlock offers • how TetherOS and Adapt could test this framing immediately • why this fits under the broader umbrella of "pre-purchase surprise & delight" If you've ever run a "we weren't supposed to do this but…" promo (or fallen for one) this episode makes the science obvious…and profitable. 👉 Join my community: skool.com/tether-lab CoHost: Nate Lagos Twitter: https://x.com/natelagosLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natelagos/ Tactical and Practical Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tactical-practical/id1752915534 CoHost: Sarah Levinger Learn more at: https://www.tetherinsights.io/ Twitter: https://x.com/SarahLevingerLinkedin: 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  

Marketers love to argue about tactics: structures, caps, creatives, bids, funnels. But the data from this year paints a different picture: every winning campaign in 2026 will be powered by the same three forces… and almost nobody is preparing for them. In this episode, we pull together the most revealing moments from the show; the ones where emotions spike, buying behavior becomes predictable, and the old rules of persuasion fall apart. You'll hear how valence and intensity shape conversions, why WHEN someone sees an ad matters more than WHO they are, and how abstract language can increase willingness-to-pay by 35% without changing the product. If you want your 2026 campaigns to scale instead of stall, these are the forces you need to master emotion, timing, and framing. Everything else is noise. Sarah Makes Nate Cry Episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2cVZ3nIE8YUMAlO6Qm0NFN?si=8_gGsWQbR4i7cDvMBfID6A Get People to Pay 35% More Episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5iBY6204hJvT69ejFS3MeI?si=HHKyRErhTkuvPU11fCuQhQ Marketers...Think About WHEN Episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5yTuYTNUDsGS3obpsiCOr2?si=EY9qh43JRNa3q6BjQ6Kx7g 👉 Join my community: skool.com/tether-lab CoHost: Nate Lagos Twitter: https://x.com/natelagosLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natelagos/ Tactical and Practical Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tactical-practical/id1752915534 CoHost: Sarah Levinger Learn more at: https://www.tetherinsights.io/ Twitter: https://x.com/SarahLevingerLinkedin: 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  

In this episode, we dig up the wild (but true) story of Borax — yes, Borax — and how a forgotten cleaning brand quietly rewired consumer psychology long before Meta ads, hooks, or CTR dashboards existed. What they did was shockingly simple: they stopped selling "soap vs. better soap," and started selling a system their product could sell itself in… while naming an enemy you couldn't see but desperately wanted to defeat. This one hits everything marketers secretly crave: • How to pick a real psychological villain (not your competitor) • Why "incomplete solutions" convert better than "new solutions" • The hidden power of systems-based marketing • How this translates directly to watches, wellness, supplements, luxury, and your brand right now By the end, you'll rethink your product, your positioning, and maybe your entire funnel. The Orange is a Lie Episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/brain-driven-brands/id1752169629?i=1000702690496 👉 Join my community: skool.com/tether-lab CoHost: Nate Lagos Twitter: https://x.com/natelagosLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natelagos/ Tactical and Practical Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tactical-practical/id1752915534 CoHost: Sarah Levinger Learn more at: https://www.tetherinsights.io/ Twitter: https://x.com/SarahLevingerLinkedin: 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

On this episode of Brain Driven Brands, Sarah and Nate dig into what actually helps most during BFCM week: simplifying your work, limiting decisions, touching grass (literally), planning something fun, rewarding yourself for non-revenue wins, and keeping alcohol out of the mix until the storm passes. It's the conversation everyone in DTC needs during the wildest season of the year and the reminder that none of us are doing this alone. 👉 Join my community: skool.com/tether-lab CoHost: Nate Lagos Twitter: https://x.com/natelagosLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natelagos/ Tactical and Practical Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tactical-practical/id1752915534 CoHost: Sarah Levinger Learn more at: https://www.tetherinsights.io/ Twitter: https://x.com/SarahLevingerLinkedin: 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

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 reality of change Why up to 70% of buyers choose identity alignment over product performance Why emotional safety now beats price, logic, or urgency How shoppers are making decisions through emotional math, not rational math And the wildest finding: customers are humanizing objects that reduce stress—naming them, personifying them, treating them like sidekicks Along the way, Nate confesses the uncomfortable self-truth the research exposed in his buying habits, Sarah explains why most marketing overestimates aspiration and underestimates avoidance, and both of them dig into why belonging is quietly becoming the dominant motivator in nearly every market. If you want to understand how real people actually think before they buy — not how marketers wish they thought — this episode is a masterclass in modern consumer psychology wrapped in friendly self-roasting. Perfect for founders, operators, and anyone who suspects their customers are running way deeper scripts under the surface than their spreadsheet can explain. Plus: A live breakdown of how brands should adapt their messaging sequencing to match these psychological shifts — and why one wrong emotional signal can kick you out of a buyer's world instantly. 👉 Join my community: skool.com/tether-lab CoHost: Nate Lagos Twitter: https://x.com/natelagosLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natelagos/ Tactical and Practical Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tactical-practical/id1752915534 CoHost: Sarah Levinger Learn more at: https://www.tetherinsights.io/ Twitter: https://x.com/SarahLevingerLinkedin: 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  

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, they break down: Why founders often accidentally sabotage good ads Why Meta's "best practices" contradict themselves weekly The dark truth about greedy scaling Why employee-led ads outperform founder-led mythmaking The sneaky identity traps that make bad takes so seductive It's equal parts catharsis, strategy, and industry group therapy. By the end, you'll understand not just what the worst takes are… but why people cling to them — and what smart operators are doing instead. Perfect for anyone who loves ads, hates nonsense, and wants their marketing to be grounded in actual sanity. 👉 Join my community: skool.com/tether-lab CoHost: Nate Lagos Twitter: https://x.com/natelagosLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natelagos/ Tactical and Practical Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tactical-practical/id1752915534 CoHost: Sarah Levinger Learn more at: https://www.tetherinsights.io/ Twitter: https://x.com/SarahLevingerLinkedin: 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  

  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 Utility Belt" analogy that will permanently change how you write ads. If you've ever wondered why your logical pitches flop, why people buy cowboy hats during burnout, or how to outmaneuver giants without outspending them — this episode is a masterclass in real human behavior, not the stuff your personas pretend. 👉 Join my community: skool.com/tether-lab CoHost: Nate Lagos Twitter: https://x.com/natelagosLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natelagos/ Tactical and Practical Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tactical-practical/id1752915534 CoHost: Sarah Levinger Learn more at: https://www.tetherinsights.io/ Twitter: https://x.com/SarahLevingerLinkedin: 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

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 programs rewarded you for not buying something outside your goals? 🧠 What if your product photos had to include one realistic flaw—on purpose? 🧍‍♀️ What if brands made you "prove" you're worthy of a discount? It's a crash course in using AI to break your own biases, surface hidden insights, and create ideas that actually stick. Listen if: you're tired of cookie-cutter AI advice and want to see how behavior science meets chaos in the best possible way. (By the end, you'll never ask ChatGPT to "write me 10 headlines" again.) What If List: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Do2K506-V6TrXBK43gLrLGGunjeYL3uicNZXJ0Jh7Wg/edit?usp=sharing 👉 Join my community: skool.com/tether-lab CoHost: Nate Lagos Twitter: https://x.com/natelagosLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natelagos/ Tactical and Practical Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tactical-practical/id1752915534 CoHost: Sarah Levinger Learn more at: https://www.tetherinsights.io/ Twitter: https://x.com/SarahLevingerLinkedin: 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  

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: https://app.sciencesays.com/p/crazy-mini-products-make-your-brand-cool 👉 Join my community: skool.com/tether-lab CoHost: Nate Lagos Twitter: https://x.com/natelagosLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natelagos/ Tactical and Practical Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tactical-practical/id1752915534 CoHost: Sarah Levinger Learn more at: https://www.tetherinsights.io/ Twitter: https://x.com/SarahLevingerLinkedin: 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