Data Doesn't Lie, but It Doesn't Decide Alone
Marcos Malagris analyzes how consistency, broad appeal, and attention metrics drive brand effectiveness.
Marcos Malagris, LATAM General Manager at System1, discusses the fundamentals of evidence-based marketing. In conversation with Bruno Gimenes, he breaks down the roles of consistency, attention, and emotion in long-term brand building.
Marcos Malagris, LATAM General Manager at System1, joined Bruno Gimenes on Marketing - The Podcast to discuss applying scientific evidence and human behavior insights to advertising decisions.
Throughout the interview, available in the video above, Malagris contrasts the reliance on superficial short-term metrics with proven brand-building practices, detailing methodologies and empirical research on attention, consistency, and creative effectiveness.
Marcos Malagris's Career and Evidence-Based Marketing
With a background in communications and marketing, Malagris pursued additional degrees and postgraduate studies in psychology after realizing that advertising effectiveness lies in human behavior and understanding incentives, memory, and attention. His six-year tenure at Coca-Cola reshaped his view on the role of mass brands and the necessity of an integrated media mix that extends beyond digital channels.
Addressing the need for continuous advertising investment, Malagris cites longitudinal studies on the impact of pausing ad spend: "Advertising is like an airplane engine: if you turn it off, you can stay airborne for a little while, but eventually you will start to drop." In his view, established brands must protect their market position to prevent competitors from claiming their share, balancing long-term brand building with performance marketing.
Brand Consistency, Familiarity, and the 80/20 Innovation Rule
In a collaborative study with the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA), System1 tracked 80 brands over five years and found that brands with higher levels of visual and narrative consistency achieved superior business results. Repeating distinctive brand assets reduces consumer cognitive effort by leveraging the familiarity bias at the point of purchase.
This logic also applies to product development and packaging. According to Malagris, research indicates that the most successful market innovations balance 80% familiarity with 20% novelty: "People don't want disruption; they want what they are used to, just with a touch of novelty." Radically overhauling visual identity or packaging often introduces unnecessary friction and leads to sales declines.
The Difference Between Fame and Awareness for Brands of All Sizes
Malagris draws a clear distinction between individual brand recall and shared public reputation: "Awareness is knowing a brand. Fame is knowing that everyone else knows it too. It's awareness of awareness—knowledge of knowledge." Fame delivers social proof to purchasing decisions and creates value through the principle of common knowledge.
For brands with tighter budgets, the broad-reach principle advocated by marketing scientists should be adapted without sacrificing core tenets. Instead of attempting to reach the entire mass market, smaller brands should pursue total fame within their specific category niche, avoiding overly narrow segmentation that caps their growth potential.
Creators, Engagement, and Attention Metrics: The System1 and TikTok Study
Drawing on the Creator Effectiveness Playbook—a study conducted by System1 alongside TikTok and WPP Media across 1,217 ads and 183,000 tested users—Malagris highlights that engagement rate alone does not correlate with brand recall. The findings revealed that two out of three creator-led ads fail to drive meaningful brand metrics.
Communication effectiveness relies primarily on attention measured in seconds watched and creative quality, defined by the ability to evoke emotion and establish brand recognition within the first two seconds. Malagris notes that understanding core marketing fundamentals even enables brands to subvert conventions effectively, as seen in Burger King's "Moldy Whopper" campaign, which gained widespread traction by breaking traditional category rules.
The 95/5 Rule and the Power of Broad Appeal in Advertising
Rooted in principles established by the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute, Malagris explains the 95/5 rule, which states that 95% of consumers reached by a campaign are not in the market to buy immediately. Effective advertising must leverage broad appeal and universal themes to build mental availability for when buyers enter the purchase window in future quarters or years.
As an example of high-impact creative with broad appeal, Malagris points to Volkswagen's campaign featuring Elis Regina and Maria Rita, which scored exceptionally well in System1 testing for emotional response. Focusing advertising strictly on functional product features or targeting hyper-specific age demographics consistently underperforms compared to narratives centered on universal human connections.
The Impact of Audio and Sustained Attention in Podcasts
Audio formats stand out for their ability to sustain high attention levels among listeners. Malagris notes that ad-testing data shows higher brand recall when a brand is mentioned verbally compared to visual-only screen placements, thanks to the continuous way the brain processes auditory stimuli.
This dynamic aligns with classical conditioning, where audio acts as a neutral stimulus that forms durable mental associations. Because audio accompanies audiences during multitasking moments—such as commuting or doing household chores—it engages listeners in contexts where purely visual formats face heavy distraction.
Three Core Pillars of Evidence-Based Marketing
Summarizing key guidelines for professionals looking to base their strategies on data and empirical evidence, Malagris outlines advertising effectiveness across three pillars: broad reach tailored to market scale, emotional engagement driven by compelling storytelling, and consistent application of distinctive brand assets.
He also warns against the frequent mistake of retiring campaigns too early due to internal fatigue: "When you start getting tired of a campaign or a specific content direction, that is usually right when it is starting to work." Maintaining strategic continuity remains the single most critical factor in securing a lasting place in the consumer's memory.