CANNES – The days of running a successful media campaign with just a few creative assets are over, according to Aaron Sobol, Unilever’s head of North American Media Investment and Data Governance.
“It might’ve been the case a few years ago that you could have a decently performing media campaign with a few assets, but now you need numerous, exponentially more amount of assets to be successful and keep it fresh,” Sobol told Beet.TV’s Andy Plesser at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
This creative proliferation stems from the fundamental shift in how consumers consume media and the speed at which content wears out. Unlike traditional TV models with predictable GRP deliveries and flight schedules, today’s environment demands constant refreshing.
Creative at the center
For Sobol, attending his fourth Cannes with the Unilever team, this year’s focus is squarely on creative excellence. “Without great creative, the media will never perform properly,” he said. “Creative is what builds that desire with your consumers and it makes you relevant in culture.”
After just 24 hours at the festival, Sobel found inspiration in campaigns built on simple, powerful insights. “A strong insight that you rally around… can help build the brand and offer value to the consumers,” he noted.
Personalization demands scale
The need for creative volume connects directly to personalization requirements. As brands seek to deliver customized experiences across different audiences and channels, the creative demands multiply.
“Personalization at scale is critical,” Sobol explained. “And how brands can look to make those variations or adaptations that could deliver more scale.”
The challenge extends beyond simple volume. Brands must maintain freshness while delivering the right message to the right audience at the right time — a formula that requires exponentially more creative assets than traditional approaches.
Commerce media comes of age
Sobol views the rise of retail and commerce media through a pragmatic lens. “Every opportunity that we have to purchase media is media,” he said. “Whether it comes from a retailer or media network offering, or maybe now is used more broadly as commerce media.”
Unilever operates with what Sobol calls a “commerce forward, social first approach,” where every media investment aims to drive results at the shelf — whether physical or digital.
“In my four years at Unilever, I’ve seen that meteoric rise of retail media, but now it is to me a bit more commonplace of how it fits altogether,” he reflected.
Beyond search and display
The maturation of retail media has expanded well beyond its search-focused origins. The current retail media environment encompasses “search, display, audio, digital out of home, CTV, social,” according to Sobol. These components can be enhanced with retailer insights and closed-loop measurement while working together as a unified plan.
“I believe it’s really important to have unity within your plan so that things are working to move the ball down the field a bit more and ultimately score by selling more product,” he said.
Never set and forget
For Sobol, the availability of real-time commerce signals demands constant optimization. Different channels perform differently, requiring continuous adjustment.
“Never ever, ever should it be ‘set it and forget it,’” he emphasized. “It’s like set it — and make it better.”
This philosophy reflects Unilever’s broader approach to media investment, which entails viewing all options through the lens of driving demand and conversion, regardless of whether the media comes from traditional publishers or retail partners.
As creative demands multiply and commerce media matures, Sobol’s message is clear: success requires both exponentially more creative assets and the agility to optimize them continuously. “It should be a real-time thing,” he said.
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