Stop boring your audience

This newsletter comes from the hosts of The Marketing Architects, a research-first show answering your biggest marketing questions. Find us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts!

 

Too many TV ads are forgettable. This week, we're ripping up the old creative playbook and showing you what actually works in 2025. Your viewers (and your metrics) will thank you. 

—Elena  

 

47% of TV ads produce a feeling of neutrality.      

According to System1, nearly half of all TV commercials leave viewers feeling nothing. Not anger. Not joy. Just pure neutrality. The biggest risk isn't bombing. It's being completely forgettable. 

 

TV creative that actually works.                

Creatives, we need to talk. TV remains the heavyweight champion of advertising, but the creative approach needs to evolve.  

1. Hunt for the elephants. Every category has those big, uncomfortable truths nobody wants to address. Find yours, stare it down, and speak to it directly. That's how you get viewers to put down their phones and think, "Finally, someone gets it!"
   
2. Stop with the gut feelings. Your creative intuition is only right about half the time. Would you launch a campaign based on a coin flip? Didn't think so. Test before you invest. New AI tools make this faster and less painful than those awkward focus groups behind one-way mirrors.
   
3. Marry brand and performance. The departmental divorce between "brand" and "performance" is hurting your work. Put those teams in the same room and watch magic happen. The goal is remarkable work that works remarkably.
   
4. Embrace the AI revolution. Stop worrying about AI stealing creative jobs and start letting it power your production. Imagine creating seasonal, timely TV spots with social media-like speed. That future is already here for brands willing to innovate.
   
5. Make them feel something... anything. The cardinal sin of advertising isn't making a "bad" ad. It's making a forgettable one. If your creative team brings you something that makes you a little uncomfortable, that's probably a good sign. 

Listen in on our discussion.

 

“The New Rules of Great TV Creative”    

This report explores why TV creative needs to evolve for today's viewers. It covers strategy development, pretesting methods, storytelling techniques, and how AI is transforming production. 

Read the report.

 

 

Emotion is powerful.           

“The best ads are the ones that connect with people on an emotional level." 

— Leo Burnett