Nerd Alert: The Science of Ads that Stick

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 what makes ads memorable over time, not just minutes after viewing. They reveal how emotion, brand relevance, and AI are reshaping how marketers should think about ad recall and creative testing.

Topics covered:

• [01:00] "Long-Term Ad Memorability: Understanding and Generating Memorable Ads"
• [02:00] Why short-term recall is a poor proxy for advertising effectiveness
• [04:00] Emotion as the strongest driver of long-term memory
• [05:00] How brand relevance affects ad memorability
• [06:00] AI model Henry predicts and generates more memorable ads
• [07:00] Practical takeaways for marketers on creative testing

To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast or subscribe to our newsletter at marketingarchitects.com/newsletter.


Resources:
Khosla, A., Ranjan, A., Torralba, A., Oliva, A., & colleagues. (2024). Long-term ad memorability: Understanding and generating memorable ads. Adobe Research and collaborating universities.


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