Somewhere between chasing clicks, optimising funnels, decoding algorithms and debating the next big media trend, marketers have quietly found themselves asking a fundamental question: Have we become so obsessed with performance that we’ve forgotten the principles that made brands endure in the first place?
The question has become even more relevant in an era where consumers are scattered across hundreds of platforms, attention spans are shrinking, and every campaign is expected to deliver results instantly. Yet amid all the noise surrounding AI, influencers, fragmentation and personalisation, some marketing truths have continued to survive every disruption.
Few people have had a front-row seat to that evolution quite like Upali Nag Kumar, President Strategy, WPP Media South Asia. Having spent over two decades navigating the industry’s many transformations, Nag argued that while the tools, platforms and consumer behaviours have evolved dramatically, the fundamentals of building enduring brands have remained remarkably consistent. “The foundations that I learned in my early career still hold good today,” Nag said.
At a time when marketers are constantly searching for the next playbook, Nag believed the industry often underestimates the staying power of its oldest lessons.
“Whether it is brand building, media planning, communication or marketing, the foundations don’t change,” she said. “You still need to be a strong brand. You still need to stand for something. You still need to build memory structures. You still need to communicate with consumers beyond the functional level and connect emotionally.”
While conversations around marketing have increasingly revolved around technology, automation and platforms, Nag has maintained that these are merely evolving ingredients rather than replacements for core principles.
“The ingredients change and how you execute changes with the world around you,” she said. “But the fundamentals remain the same.”
That perspective becomes particularly relevant as brands navigate an increasingly fragmented media ecosystem. Consumers today may belong to the same category but often live in entirely different cultural, linguistic and digital realities. For marketers, the challenge is no longer simply reaching audiences, it is doing so without diluting what the brand fundamentally stands for.
“When you talk about a brand’s message, its proposition, identity and story, those don’t change,” Nag said. “They are foundational and brands should stick to them. They shouldn’t dilute them in trying to personalise.”
Instead, she argued that personalisation should happen after a brand’s core identity has been firmly established.
“After that is when you personalise,” Nag said. “And it is not just about language. It is about cultural nuance because you are talking to different consumers.”
For all the concerns around media fragmentation, Nag viewed it as both a challenge and an opportunity. “Today a brand can talk to a consumer in Tamil Nadu in the local language, with local flavours, and because media is fragmented, a large part of the investment stays focused on that audience,” she said. “It is a challenge, but it is also a blessing.”
The conversation around fragmentation inevitably leads to another debate dominating boardrooms today: reach versus impact. While marketers often treat them as competing priorities, Nag has suggested that the distinction is far simpler than many assume. “It all depends on what the objective of the brand is,” she said.
“If the objective is to reach potential buyers and create future demand, then reach becomes important because you want to reach as many people as possible.”
Impact, however, serves a different purpose. “If I have something new to tell consumers, a launch to announce or I need attention within a short period, then it becomes about impact,” Nag said.
“The bottom line is that it comes down to the objective of the campaign, the objective of the brand and where the brand is in its lifecycle.”
Yet perhaps the most striking part of the conversation emerged when the discussion shifted from large brands to smaller ones.
In an environment where startups and challenger brands are often pressured to demonstrate immediate returns, Nag believes many are becoming overly focused on acquisition while neglecting the very thing that creates long-term value.
“What smaller brands can learn from bigger brands is simple: don’t forget to build the brand,” she said.
For Nag, the issue is not whether brands should invest in performance marketing. It is whether they are investing exclusively in performance marketing. “In the whole focus on acquisition, don’t forget to build the memory structures of your brand,” she said.
The distinction matters because memory, unlike campaigns, compounds. “Focus on the bottom of the funnel, but at the top of the funnel, build a brand,” Nag said. “Tomorrow, even if you’re not there, you’re remembered. Even if you’re not running a campaign, you’re remembered.”
That emphasis on memory and trust also shapes how she views one of the most polarising aspects of modern marketing: influencers. As conversations around influencer fatigue continue to grow louder, Nag questioned whether fatigue is really the problem. “There are some influencers who build a lot of trust,” she said. Drawing from a personal example, she added, “I have a daughter, and the way she decides skincare brands is based on a small group of very trusted influencers. She obviously doesn’t listen to my recommendation.”
For Nag, the future of influencer marketing is less about scale and more about credibility. “It can build trust. It can build micro-trust,” she said. “Especially when you go into small communities and smaller pockets.”
What consumers are increasingly filtering, she suggested, is not influence itself but inauthentic influence. Taken together, Nag’s observations have offered a timely reminder for an industry often captivated by what is changing. Because while platforms may fragment, attention may become scarcer and consumer journeys may become more complex, the most enduring advantage may still come from the oldest principle in marketing.
Build a brand that people remember. Everything else becomes easier after that.
