Brain Driven Brands

Sarah puts Nate through a brand-guessing game using four types of clues: behavioral, cultural, micro, and macro. The bigger lesson is how creative strategists can use the information they already notice in everyday life to understand brands, spot advantages, and find opportunities in the market. They break down three brands, including Grind, Starface, and Patagonia, and talk about why you don't need to stare at a spreadsheet every five minutes to understand what's happening in your category. Sometimes, you just need to pay attention. 00:00 The Libra sweatshirt mystery 01:00 The brand-guessing game 02:00 The 4 types of customer clues 04:00 The first brand: behavioral clues 05:00 Can Nate guess the brand? 06:00 Why a little data can go a long way 07:00 Brand #2: culture and pop culture 09:00 Why you can know a brand without knowing its name 10:00 Brand #3: the power of cultural clues 12:00 Why creative strategists need to hold information in their heads 13:00 How to find your brand's advantages 14:00 Avoiding brand blindness 👉 Join my community: skool.com/tether-lab 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 CoHost: Sarah Levinger 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

Sarah and Nate dig into the psychology behind showing two products, variants, or offers side by side, and why giving people a choice can make the purchase feel easier and even more premium. They get into decision fatigue, product comparisons, upsells, apparel, Black Friday offers, and the surprisingly useful lesson e-commerce can steal from a good car salesperson. Because apparently, our product pages have been making customers do way too much thinking. 00:00 Welcome back to Brain Driven Brands 01:00 The science quiz: 32% more conversions 03:00 Why two options can outperform one 05:00 Turning "Should I buy?" into "Which one?" 07:00 What a dual PDP could look like 09:00 Using behavior to understand customers 10:00 Why comparison can make buying feel premium 12:00 The Lucchese boots example 13:00 Could customers choose what to compare? 15:00 Dual PDPs for upsells 16:00 Basic vs. premium offers 17:00 What e-commerce can learn from one-on-one sales 👉 Join my community: skool.com/tether-lab 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 CoHost: Sarah Levinger 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

Rabah Rahil joins Sarah and Nate to unpack the psychology behind B2B SaaS buying, from "don't get fired" decision-making to buying committees, long consideration windows, and the role of trust and brand affinity. They also get into why marketing and sales serve different jobs, why a great product needs to come before a big marketing push, and why paid ads are only one way to distribute a message. 00:00 Meet Rabah Rahil 01:00 The psychology of B2B SaaS buying 03:00 Why SaaS buyers are managing risk 05:00 How SaaS buying committees change marketing 07:00 Why B2B SaaS needs omnipresence 09:00 The story behind a consumer purchase 11:00 What B2B SaaS can learn from brand marketing 13:00 The three stages inside consideration 15:00 Why you can't control the buying timeline 17:00 Marketing, sales, and brand affinity 20:00 Why more salespeople won't fix weak pipeline 23:00 Build the product before the marketing machine 👉 Join my community: skool.com/tether-lab 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 CoHost: Sarah Levinger 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 Guest: Rabah Rahil LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rabahrahil/ Twitter: https://x.com/rabahrahil  

Seb Valiente, founder of Growth Pod, joins Sarah and Nate to break down how his team turns messaging into static ads that actually make people stop and feel something. They get into the difference between clarity and scroll-stopping visuals, why most teams struggle with the idea itself rather than the prompt, how to hire for creative thinking, and why static ads can still be some of the most dependable creative in an account. Seb also shares a practical framework for building a visual from scratch, including how to use references without simply copying what already exists. Timestamps 00:00 Meet Seb and Growth Pod 03:00 Why Seb's static ads stand out 04:00 The "after-work wind down" ad 06:00 Clarity vs. scroll-stopping creative 08:00 Why messaging comes before visuals 09:00 AI is only as good as the person using it 11:00 Why creative instinct matters 13:00 Can you predict which ads will work? 15:00 How Growth Pod matches headlines to visuals 17:00 Why marketers should pick one thing to communicate 19:00 Where static ads fit next to video 24:00 How to build a static ad from scratch 👉 Join my community: skool.com/tether-lab 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 CoHost: Sarah Levinger 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 Guest: Seb Valiente Twitter: https://x.com/Sebastian_DTC Website: https://growthpod.ca/

DTC brands have spent years building around Meta. But what happens when you stop treating Meta as your only growth lever? In this episode, Sarah and Nate break down how brands can reach customers through YouTube creators, IRL events, organic content, mascots, and other ideas that don't depend on another Meta campaign. They also share examples from their own work, including a YouTube strategy that generated an average 6x return, a client that cut CAC from $110 to $35, and why sometimes the smartest move is simply giving your team a week where they're forbidden from thinking about Meta. 00:00 Why Nate's having a rough week 02:00 How susceptible are we really to ads? 04:00 The people who actively avoid advertising 06:00 What happens if Meta disappears? 08:00 Cutting CAC from $110 to $35 10:00 The $2M celebrity marketing decision 12:00 Finding customers outside the Meta ecosystem 14:00 Nate's three off-Meta tactics 16:00 The YouTube creator strategy 18:00 Why IRL events can create brand evangelists 20:00 Sarah's mascot strategy 22:00 Building multiple organic content channels 24:00 Bringing physical marketing back 👉 Join my community: skool.com/tether-lab 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 CoHost: Sarah Levinger 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