AdExchanger Why The Economist Is An AI Outlier
Dec 9, 2025
Nada Arnott, EVP of Marketing at The Economist, brings a wealth of experience from her background in policy and media. She discusses the publication's unique strategy in navigating the AI landscape, opting for partnerships like Anthropic’s Claude, rather than pursuing licensing deals. Nada emphasizes the importance of accountable brand marketing and engaging subscribers through varied formats like podcasts and live events. She also shares insights on the resurgence of physical formats and the need for media trust amid changing digital dynamics.
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From Government Policy To Early Blogging
- Nada Arnott started as a policy strategist in Canada, moved to NYC, and began blogging in 2004 while pregnant which led to a career in digital marketing.
- She then joined NBC in search/SEM and stayed on the sell side to own strategy and execution end-to-end.
Measure Brand Like Performance
- Nada says treat brand marketing with a measurement lens using brand health, creative testing, and econometrics.
- She runs brand lift, incrementality, and media mix modeling every six months to prove ROI to the C-suite.
Test Creatives Before You Buy Media
- Test creatives extensively with your target and emerging audiences before launch and let data decide creatives.
- Use media mix modeling and incrementality to feed learnings into subsequent media planning cycles.