With consumers bombarded by endless options, brands must rethink performance marketing to drive relevance and resilience. Leaders from Tails.com and Rokt reveal how AI-powered targeting and experimentation are helping brands build lasting connections.
We’re living in a state of what Marc Allsop, head of EMEA at Rokt, calls a “paradox of choice” – a marketplace where consumers are overwhelmed and brands struggle to know where to meet them. The noise creates friction, disengagement, and wasted spend. At the same time, though, it creates an opportunity for those who can cut through with relevance.
For marketers, this raises a fundamental question: how do you know where to meet consumers – and how do you make that moment count? Create precision and relevance in the moments that matter, Allsop says: “Nearly 80% of consumers feel excited about a well-timed and relevant offer. That’s really the key to that moment of a transaction.”
For direct-to-consumer tailored dog food brand Tails.com, that means building long-term strategies rather than chasing quick wins. Elaine Wan, head of performance marketing, says sustainable growth comes from focusing on value, not just volume: “The way we decide where we invest… is underpinned by econometric insights and making sure that we’re making data-led decisions on the most profitable channels over the long term.”
Crucially, her team measures not just cost per acquisition but also the lifetime value of customers over years, not weeks. Experimentation is equally vital. As Tails.com’s performance marketing manager Lucy Whitear puts it: “Just because one thing doesn’t work the first time around doesn’t mean you have to stick to it. Fail fast [so] you know how to grow from there.”
As proof, she shares how her team drove a 153% uplift in customer conversion by refining messaging instead of scrapping an underperforming offer. Looking ahead, Wan says the old playbook won’t work. Courage is needed: “The linear path to conversion doesn’t exist anymore… being brave enough to invest in new channels is one of the new things that we need to do more of.”
The conversation shows that winning today isn’t about chasing more customers – it’s about being more relevant to the right ones, at the right time. Watch the short video to learn how Rokt and Tails.com are putting that into practice.