How Advertising Works

Cut to the Feeling: How Great Ads Get Under Your Skin

Guest: Darren Savage, Strategy Lead at BH&P

Season 4 kicks off with a bang — or more accurately, with a beautifully crafted idea that slowly gets under your skin.

In this episode, Becky sits down with Darren Savage — strategy lead at BH&P, teaching fellow at Lancaster University, guest lecturer at Oxford, and one of the best minds in advertising psychology today — to unpack the science, storytelling, and strategy behind campaigns that truly work.

From Guinness surfers to Specsavers sheepdogs, we explore the ads that don’t just get remembered — they get chosen. Expect a blend of behavioural science, brand storytelling, and creative truth bombs, all wrapped in Darren’s distinctly nerdy, endlessly likeable style.

Because in a world of complexity, clarity cuts deeper. And the best ideas? They don’t shout. They connect.

For more insights and to stay up to date with all the latest information from BH&P, visit our website, or follow us on LinkedIn.

BH&P is a B Corporation, certified in September 2023, and on a mission to create meaningful growth for brands with purpose. From scale-up to Enterprise, we're here to help.

Transcript

Becky:

Hello and welcome to the No Bull Ideacast. I’m Becky Holland — and welcome to Season 4.

This season, we’re diving deep into inside-out impact — what it takes to create real, meaningful change within the systems that shape our world. From energy and food to finance and advertising, we’re looking at the people and ideas driving transformation. Especially when that change starts not with slogans or stunts, but with a shift in how people really think, feel and act.

So it felt only right to kick off with a conversation about how advertising actually works. Because if we’re going to talk about behaviour change, it makes sense to start with the industry that’s spent the last hundred years or so trying to influence our decisions — sometimes brilliantly, sometimes not so much.

My guest today is Darren Savage. Darren’s been working in marketing for around 30 years, mainly as a strategist. He teaches at Lancaster University and Oxford’s Saïd Business School. And if he had a specialist subject on Mastermind — if it wasn’t The Cure, football, or the film industry — it would probably be the psychology of advertising.

He’s also writing a book on the development of creativity, which is being published by Bloomsbury sometime in the next year or so.

We’re going to talk about why good ads get remembered — but great ads get chosen. Why emotional connection beats rational persuasion. And why some campaigns linger in your mind for decades while others disappear in a flash.

It’s a relaxed, nerdy, genuinely fascinating chat — and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

So, tell me (and all of our lovely guests), who are you and what do you do?

Darren:

I’m Darren Savage. I’ve been working in marketing for about 30 years, mainly as a planner or strategist.

At the same time, I’ve always had an ongoing relationship with universities, usually teaching in business schools — marketing, business, advertising. I currently teach at Lancaster University Management School and have previously taught at Oxford Saïd.

If I had a specialist subject — which apparently I do — it would be the psychology of advertising.

I’m also writing a book with Lancaster about the development of creative ideas. It’s due to be published by Bloomsbury later this year.

Becky:

So when you’re not teaching or making ads, you’re a bit of a music junkie, aren’t you? Film too? What makes you tick?

Darren:

Yeah, music and film are big for me. I grew up in the ’80s, and because I was decent at cricket, I ended up hanging around with older kids.

My peer group were into all these LA hair bands like Twisted Sister, Dio, Bon Jovi — really bad music, to be honest.

But my older cricket mates were into The Cure, New Order, Joy Division, The Smiths — bands that still stand up today. Even now I’ll listen to them and think, these are the bands that shaped my taste. No one ever says, “My life changed when I heard Twisted Sister,” right?

Becky:

Love that. So let’s get into it — how does advertising actually work?

Darren:

Right. The whole point of advertising is to influence behaviour.

Sometimes it’s direct — like getting someone to take an action right now. But often it works over time. It shapes how people think and feel about a brand. And those feelings influence whether you choose Brand A or Brand B to meet a particular need — often an emotional need, not a purely functional one.

A lot of behaviour is based on the expectation of outcome. If you believe Brand A will make you feel better, solve your problem, or reflect who you are — you’re more likely to choose it.

Becky:

So this isn’t about “I saw an ad, bought the car, now I feel great.” This is longer-term, right? But investing in feelings sounds fluffy. How do you prove it works?

Darren:

The best-known researchers in this space are Les Binet and Peter Field. They’ve analysed decades of IPA Effectiveness Award data, much of it using econometrics and regression modelling.

What they consistently find is that if you generate a strong emotional response, there’s a causal relationship between that response and real business outcomes — sales, profit, market share.

There’s also a mountain of neuroscience now that shows emotions aren’t fluff. They’re central to decision-making.

Emotions are physical processes — always-on, dynamic systems that govern how your body responds to the world. Feelings are the mental states that arise from those emotional processes.

Strong emotional responses get attention. They guide decision-making. And they act as a kind of feedback loop — if something makes you feel good and is validated by others, you’re more likely to repeat the behaviour.

Becky:

I’ve heard you say: “Good ads get remembered, but great ads get chosen.” What do you mean?

Darren:

It’s about context.

Some ads need to seduce — to lodge themselves in your mind for when you’re ready to buy. That’s the emotional, brand-building stuff.

Others are about triggering immediate action — “Click now”, “Sale ends tonight.” That’s more performance marketing.

The best campaigns do both. They seduce you and they’re there when the moment is right. Together, they’re more powerful than either on its own.

Becky:

OK, so which ads really work? What are your favourites?

Darren:

One of the best examples is Specsavers.

Their strategy is based on a simple, funny human truth: the comedic potential of not being able to see properly. That’s the core idea — “Should’ve gone to Specsavers.”

It does two things. It builds emotional associations — likeability, humour, relevance — and it also drives action. If you actually do need an eye test, the brand is top of mind, and the message triggers immediate recall.

Plus, they layer on retail messages like “2 for 1 on glasses” — so they hit both brand and performance at once. It’s a great example of integration.

Becky:

And that story element — the narrative — it unites everything, right?

Darren:

Exactly. A good story gives your brand purpose.

There’s that (probably apocryphal) NASA anecdote — a janitor at Cape Canaveral is asked what he’s doing, and he says: “I’m helping put a man on the moon.”

That’s what a great brand story does. It aligns everyone. Whether you’re in B2B or B2C, you need a unifying idea.

Becky:

You once told me about Antonio Damasio — that emotion doesn’t just influence decisions, it actually creates them. Can you talk about that?

Darren:

Yes — Damasio’s research shows that emotion is integral to decision-making. People with impaired emotional processing really struggle to make even basic choices.

When it comes to ads, the ones that embed themselves emotionally tend to be the ones we remember — often decades later.

There’s a slide I use when teaching — just stills from old ads. And people still remember them:

• Guinness “Surfer”
• Cadbury’s “Gorilla”
• Budweiser “Whassup”
• Hovis “Boy on the Bike”
• Levi’s “Launderette”

People can often name the brand just from a single frame. Those ads weren’t just watched — they were felt. And that emotional encoding sticks with you, often subconsciously influencing your decisions today.

Becky:

So are people still buying Levi’s because of Nick Kamen in his boxers?

Darren:

Quite possibly! That campaign increased Levi’s sales by something like 500%. And it boosted sales of boxer shorts too — they weren’t even common before that.

Once something’s emotionally embedded in your mind, it creates a kind of “burst of brand seduction” at the moment of decision. You’re not even conscious of it — but it feels right, so you choose it.

Becky:

Let’s come back to storytelling. Do you think the most successful ads all tell a story?

Darren:

Yes — because the brain is wired for stories. We make sense of the world through narrative. It’s how we learn, remember, and relate.

A good story is really just the revelation of connected information over time. What you reveal, when, and how — it all changes your relationship with the subject.

The best ads lay a trail of emotional breadcrumbs. They hook you. You want to know how the story ends.

Becky:

Is there a recent ad that nails that?

Darren:

The John Lewis Christmas ads are the obvious example. Each one is a story about gifting — and the idea is, if you want your gift to mean more, go to John Lewis.

They create emotional weight around the act of giving. One of the best ones — The Long Wait — shows a little boy grumpy in the run-up to Christmas. You think he’s just impatient to open presents, but the twist is: he can’t wait to give the present he bought his parents.

It’s storytelling that makes the viewer the hero. It’s saying: you’re the kind of person who cares enough to buy something meaningful.

And when that ad drops, it’s like a cultural event. Everyone’s got a point of view.

Becky:

So as we wrap up — if you had to distil everything down to one truth about advertising, what would it be?

Darren:

I’d say: you need an idea that speaks to the hopes, values, fears and identity of your audience.

That’s what drives behaviour. That’s what gets attention. That’s what creates emotion. That’s what tells a story.

Most of the best ads aren’t really about the product. They’re about the idea behind the product — and that’s what makes them work.

Becky:

Brilliant. Thank you so much, Darren.

[Outro – Becky]:

That’s it for this episode of the No Bull Ideacast.

One thing Darren said really stuck with me: that great advertising connects with people’s identity. And that’s what so many brands get wrong.

If you’re thinking “our brand doesn’t have an emotional story to tell” — think again. Every brand does. You just need to dig deeper. Because every marketing decision is emotional as much as it is rational — maybe even more so.

Next episode, we’re turning the dial from advertising to energy — and specifically to the powerful women driving transformation from within.

I’ll be joined by Rebecca Farooq and Nic Garland from Moorhouse Consulting. We’ll be talking about infrastructure, inclusion, and the real blockers to Net Zero — from missing data to menopause.

Trust me, it’s not one to miss.

You’ll find all episodes on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts — and at bhandp.com/podcast.

If you enjoyed this one, please subscribe, leave us a review, and share it with someone who still thinks advertising is about selling stuff.

(It’s not.)

Until next time, I’m Becky Holland. Thanks for listening.