FINAL EXAM
George Hughes
38/40
95%
A dimension-by-dimension review of where the advertising management went right — and where it didn't.
Stride maintained a positive ESOV position, keeping spend ahead of market share to support long-term growth. The budget commitment signalled confidence to the market.
The creative work was emotionally resonant and met the standard for creative effectiveness. Stride leaned into System 1 thinking — building memory structures, triggering associations — and the craft investment showed in the results.
The campaign ran long enough and broadly enough to do real work. Reach was prioritised over excessive frequency, the channels were chosen for attention quality, and the brand's distinctive assets were consistently deployed to build recognition.
The strategic framing was accurate from the start. Stride correctly identified that the brand's challenge was primarily one of mental availability — not loyalty or conversion — and oriented the strategy accordingly. The right mental model drove better decisions downstream.
The decisions showed an understanding that advertising effectiveness compounds over time. Consistency was valued, penetration was prioritised over loyalty, and the brand resisted the temptation to cut brand investment during lean periods. That patience paid off.
Overall, Stride's marketing was managed with a strong grasp of advertising effectiveness principles. The brand invested adequately, applied creative quality, deployed consistently, diagnosed the situation correctly, and thought beyond the next quarter. These are the behaviours that produce compounding returns — and the 18-month results show it.
Revenue
+18.9%
Market share
+2.1pp
Profit margin
+7.5pp
Brand awareness
18.0%
31.5%
Consideration
11.0%
20.6%
Conversion rate
1.40%
2.53%
Question 13
The Extraordinary Cost of Dull study found that dull advertising requires significantly more spend to match the results of non-dull work. Approximately how much more spend does very dull work require?
Your answer
About 2x more — dull work is roughly half as efficient as engaging creative
Correct answer
About 4x more — dull creative requires around four times the media investment to achieve the same effect
Question 39
The CEO asks you to forecast what Stride's market share will look like over the next three years if you apply all the evidence-based principles consistently. Based on what the evidence tells us about how advertising effects accumulate, which forecast is most accurate?
Your answer
Linear, predictable growth at a consistent rate each year as long as spend levels are maintained
Correct answer
Modest early returns that compound and accelerate over time as familiarity builds and the creative platform wears in