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Keynote address at the Programmatic Pioneers Summit 2024

Keynote address at the Programmatic Pioneers Summit 2024
Sharannath Mohanram, Keynote Speaker for Programmatic Pioneers Summit at The Hurlingham Club in London

Keynote Speaker: Sharannath Mohanram

In a digital landscape defined by exponential and accelerated change, marketers must be willing to learn, un-learn, and re-learn. During the Programmatic Pioneers Summit 2024, I took the stage not to boast about successes, but to candidly share failures and challenge deeply held industry beliefs.

Here are the key takeaways from his keynote on navigating shifting consumer behaviours, new digital innovations, and modern media strategies.

Marketers notoriously love chasing the "next shiny tech object," which often leads to falling into traps and making critical mistakes. Whether it is the buzz around the Metaverse, Clubhouse, or AI, it is vital to scrutinise the true value proposition of these technologies.

  • Question the "AI" Buzz: Just because a vendor claims to use AI doesn't mean you need it.
  • Focus on the Problem: Always ask if the AI is genuinely solving a specific marketing problem, or if it is just a vendor selling the "usual AI BS".
  • Align with Goals: Ensure any new technology directly addresses your core business and marketing objectives.

Rethinking Audience Targeting & Consumer Behaviour

It is common to hear that "Gen Alpha" or "Millennials" are the next big trends, but targeting these segments without strategic intent is a mistake.

  • Assess Purchasing Power: Historically, companies heavily advertised to millennials even when that demographic lacked the disposable income for certain products or experiences.
  • Avoid Forcing Behaviours: Instead of trying to enforce a specific purchase behaviour on customers, adapt your marketing to how their behaviours naturally evolve over time.
  • The Reality of E-commerce: In the luxury sector, 95% of sales were traditionally done in-person. While the pandemic temporarily dropped this to 85%, it has already rebounded to 90% in 2024, proving that physical retail remains dominant.

The Hard Truths About Measurement and Sustainability

The media activation value chain is fraught with outdated practices and misdirected efforts.

  • Attribution is Dead: Last-click and cookie-based measurement are dead. If a CMO or CFO is still asking for it, marketers have a responsibility to educate them and change their point of view.
  • The MMM Trap: Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM) is a waste of time, effort, and resources if a company only invests in a few major touchpoints and has no real intention of changing its strategy.
  • Sustainability Misconceptions: While many advertisers want to run carbon-neutral campaigns and reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs), their focus is often in the wrong place. Surprisingly, the biggest share of GHGs in a campaign is generated at the end-user's usage stage, rather than during the campaign shoot or delivery phase.

Striking the Right Balance: Brand vs. Performance

In today's "TikTok world," algorithms have homogenised feeds to the point where everyone is exposed to the exact same content, a phenomenon I associate with it with the iconic meme "same-same but different". Standing out requires a strategic recalibration.

  • The Performance Marketing Hangover: During the pandemic, most companies slashed their branding budgets to double down on highly commercial performance marketing. The brands suffering today are the ones that over-invested in performance at the expense of brand building.
  • Proving the Value of Brand Building: Marketers must balance branding and performance. By implementing scientific and statistical methodologies, it is possible to prove to CFOs that branding investments directly lead to sales, even if the impact is seen two years down the line.