At the e4m Pitch CMO Summit 2025, leading marketers and ad-tech professionals came together to dissect the evolving challenges of digital campaigns. From fragmented user attention to elusive performance metrics, the discussion focused on the blurred lines between measurable impact and marketing intuition in today’s dynamic ecosystem.
The session, titled ‘Digital Marketing: A Black Hole for Marketers?’, featured insights from Ashish Tiwari, Chief Marketing Officer, Home Credit India; Aditya Krishna, Director – Sales & Marketing, McCain India; Kashish Vasishta, Deputy General Manager, Marketing & E-commerce, MMTC-PAMP; Nikhil Gupta, Head of Marketing, Strategy, Government Affairs & CSR – Greater India, Signify; and Riddhi Pimputkar, Director, Enterprise Solutions – India, Teads. The discussion was moderated by Rahul Pant, Associate Director – Sales at apptrove by Trackier.
Opening the conversation, Gupta expressed concerns over the rising opacity in digital media, particularly in programmatic advertising. “A lot of money is going into impressions, especially when you move into programmatic. That’s where the maker-checker concept becomes diluted, because the maker is also the checker, and you don't really know what's happening with those impressions,” he said.
He noted that this uncertainty has shifted the focus towards performance marketing. “Brand marketing on digital is taking a bit of a back seat because the impression story is something you have to believe in, but it's difficult to verify. That’s where the real challenge lies.”
Echoing this sentiment, Tiwari pointed out the irony in digital’s original promise. “The digital era started with the promise of transparency,” he said. “But some marketers decided, 'This is too much transparency. Let’s bring in some subjectivity, the art and magic.' And today, that magic is called impressions and views.”
He emphasised the need for accountability, stating, “That accountability is now referred to as performance. I never knew there was such a thing as 'performance marketing'. Marketing should always perform and deliver results.”
Tiwari also addressed the fragmented nature of consumer attention and the compounding effect of AI and siloed media channels. “This fragmented attention is stressing out marketers. When you create siloed media channels and walled gardens, it’s really difficult to connect the dots between them,” he added.
Vasishta offered a more objective-based perspective. “It all depends on the campaign objective,” he said. “If your objective is awareness, then the campaign should focus on that. If you're building a funnel, awareness comes first, followed by consideration, and then performance campaigns.”
He also emphasised the value of high-frequency campaigns in reducing clutter. “High-frequency campaigns are essential for cutting through the noise. And your content has to engage the target audience effectively.”
Next in the panel, Krishna shared the shifts in digital allocation in the FMCG space. “Just launching a marketing campaign is no longer enough,” he said. Previously, we relied on linear TV and used digital to amplify it. We expected brand awareness to translate into consideration and trials, and then sales. But with the rise of quick commerce, our approach has changed.”
He revealed that McCain has increased its digital spend by nearly 2x in the past two years, moving beyond top-of-funnel efforts to focus on bottom-funnel strategies. “We’re now partnering with retailers and using first-party data to drive trials and measure full-funnel impact,” he added. “So, yes, it’s a black box, but there are even more black boxes in the industry.”
Taking the session forward, Pimputkar offered the ad-tech perspective. She acknowledged the maze-like nature of the digital ecosystem. “Marketers often feel lost in this digital maze, not a black hole, but a maze,” she explained.
With so many emerging channels like CTV, quick commerce, and e-commerce, she noted that marketers are unsure where to allocate their budgets for the best results. However, the marketer's approach is evolving. “The marketer’s perspective has shifted from just measuring awareness and performance to also focusing on advocacy and loyalty,” she said. “They want customers not only to stay loyal but also to advocate for their products.”
Pimputkar also highlighted the growing interest in nascent media channels. “Despite knowing that measurement standards for channels like CTV and QuickCommerce are still developing, marketers are experimenting with these platforms. They may feel like they’re investing in a black hole, but they’re still open to seeing what outcomes they can achieve.”
She concluded, “The shift is now towards measuring effectiveness, not just outcomes.”
Next in the discussion, Tiwari emphasised the importance of control over brand messaging in the digital age. “As a marketer, if you are not able to control your brand narrative, you don't deserve to be one,” he asserted.
He addressed the challenges unique to the financial services sector, where trust is paramount but differentiation is minimal. “I give out loans. As a product, it comes with certain attributes. One of the best is that there is zero to negative badge value. There’s no pride of ownership,” he explained. “How many times have you heard someone proudly say, ‘Wow, I bought this phone on EMIs’? People feel good about the asset they acquire, not the loan itself.”
He further pointed out that money itself offers no brand distinction. This is where Tiwari sees digital as a critical tool. “Digital comes very handy because it is a non-intrusive medium. These aren’t conversations you want to have openly. You don’t go around saying you need a loan,” he said. “Digital provides that accessibility. It provides that discretion. And trust is built through transparency, ‘Are your T&Cs open and honest? How frictionless is the experience?’”
Adding to the conversation, Gupta highlighted the versatility digital offers in storytelling. “You have influencers, affiliate marketing, and the ability to create a complete narrative online. Earlier, publishing an editorial in a newspaper depended on the editor. Today, I can create and publish my content across hundreds of avenues,” he said.
He pointed out that awareness is no longer the primary battle for established brands. “What we're fighting now is for the buyer to get convinced online with a great story and then shop. That fear of buying online is gone. Quick commerce has inducted so many more buyers into the habit,” he noted.
Turning to the FMCG space, Krishna discussed how digital is helping shift long-held consumer behaviours. “The shift in terms of purchase behaviour is not something brands can force. It’s driven by individual consumer dynamics,” he said. “Two years ago, most of us were shopping offline. Now we order three to four times a day online.”
He added, “What brands can do is go where consumers are going. If the shift is happening, we follow.”
Krishna explained how the traditional FMCG playbook has evolved. “Earlier, it was about building mental and physical availability, driving awareness, expanding distribution. But that paradigm has shifted,” he said. “Even large CPG companies with lakhs of outlets are now spending over 50% of their budgets on digital.”
For a niche category like frozen foods, digital offers precision. “We are a frozen player, so our distribution is limited. Advertising on linear TV meant we were targeting a lot of empty shelves,” he said. “Digital allows us to be super targeted.”
He also spoke about creating consumer cohorts through digital. “With crores of monthly transactions, what does it take to create personalisation at scale? That’s where digital helps.”
As the conversation evolved, the spotlight shifted from execution to introspection. While brands are pushing boundaries in digital innovation, critical questions around effectiveness, consistency, and long-term value still remain.
Responding to a question about common pitfalls in digital strategy, Pimputkar identified fragmentation as a persistent industry-wide challenge. “We heard a lot of different perspectives on how brands are leveraging different digital mediums relevant to their categories. But the conundrum remains. This landscape is still fragmented,” she said. “Brands are struggling with issues like unified reach and frequency consolidation across channels.”
She pointed out that tech providers have a significant role to play in solving these challenges. “It’s our responsibility to work with brands to help resolve this,” she said. “We’re moving beyond just performance. While we still offer full-funnel solutions from awareness to conversions, including CTV, we’re now partnering with brands to help them build advocacy and long-term loyalty.”
She cautioned against an over-reliance on lower-funnel metrics. “I’ve seen a lot of brands over-index on lower funnel and miss out on long-term brand building,” she noted. Teads, she added, is helping brands transition from traditional viewability metrics to attention-based ones, which are more measurable. “We’ve partnered with some of the best names in the industry,” she said. “We also encourage brands to leverage cognitive signals, predictive AI modelling, and contextual signals.”
Adding to the discussion, Vasishta shared his perspective on the importance of campaign clarity. “The creative for an awareness campaign has to be very different from that of a performance campaign,” he stated.
He explained that performance creatives should build on the foundation laid by awareness efforts. “In performance, the objective is: buy now, because you already know about the brand. But if you're confused about the campaign’s objective, whether it’s awareness or performance, it reflects in your communication,” he said. “Your creative needs to help the consumer choose the best product for themselves. Only then can performance marketing truly work.”
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