StackAdapt Connect: Where Performance Marketing Is Heading Next

We recently attended StackAdapt Connect, an exclusive event bringing together marketing and tech leaders in Manchester to explore the future of advertising, measurement, AI and emerging media channels.

Performance marketing now depends on connected audience understanding, smarter use of technology and clearer measurement across the full customer journey.

For brands, that means looking beyond individual channel performance and asking how each touchpoint works together to build awareness, influence consideration and drive action.

View from the team

From changing audience behaviour and programmatic DOOH to AI-driven optimisation and campaign measurement, here are our key takeaways from the event.

Brands need to understand how audiences move, not just where they are

One of the strongest takeaways from the event was that audiences are moving together and apart at the same time.

AI is pushing everyone forward. Search, discovery, content consumption and buying journeys are all being reshaped by new platforms and technologies. But at the same time, individual behaviours are becoming more fragmented, personal and harder to predict.

People are no longer moving through neat, linear journeys. They are discovering brands across search, social, video, streaming platforms, display, outdoor and AI-influenced environments, often without separating those experiences in their own minds.

This creates a clear challenge. If media planning is still split into isolated channel budgets and siloed campaigns, it becomes much harder to understand how audiences are actually behaving.

A paid social campaign might create awareness. A programmatic display campaign might build consideration. A CTV campaign might reinforce trust. Search might capture demand later.

If those channels are planned and measured separately, brands risk missing the bigger picture.

Programmatic DOOH can help brands stay visible in the real world

Digital out-of-home was another major talking point, particularly through StackAdapt’s session with JCDecaux.

Outdoor has always been strong for brand awareness, but programmatic DOOH is changing what marketers can expect from the channel.

With dynamic creative optimisation, brands can now adapt outdoor messaging based on factors such as time, weather, location, live events and previous exposure. That opens up far more sophisticated ways to make campaigns feel timely, relevant and connected to the real world.

This matters because attention is becoming harder to earn. Consumers can skip, scroll past, block or avoid many digital ads. Real-world media still has the power to create visibility and presence, but programmatic DOOH now brings more flexibility, relevance and targeting capability to that environment.

Thinking beyond awareness alone and asking how outdoor activity can reinforce digital campaigns, build mental availability and support the wider customer journey.

When planned properly, DOOH can become more than a brand-building channel. It can become a smart, responsive part of a full-funnel performance strategy. 

AI is becoming a strategic layer, not just an efficiency tool

AI was naturally a major focus of the event, particularly through StackAdapt’s live demos and the introduction of Ivy Studio, its new AI Workspace.

The value of AI is not just efficiency. It is the ability to make better decisions, faster.

Many in-house marketing teams are already sitting on huge amounts of campaign data, but the challenge is knowing where to look, what to prioritise and how to turn that insight into action. AI has the potential to remove some of that friction by surfacing optimisation opportunities, analysing performance and supporting forecasting.

But AI alone will not improve campaign performance. It still needs experienced channel marketers behind it who can interpret the data, understand the wider commercial context and make decisions that align with the brand’s goals. 

Brands need measurement that reflects the full customer journey

As channels become more connected, measurement has to evolve too.

For years, marketers have relied heavily on last-click performance. It is simple, familiar and easy to report on. But it can also create a narrow view of what is actually driving growth.

Last-click measurement can undervalue upper-funnel media, over-credit bottom-funnel channels and make it harder to understand how different touchpoints work together.

That becomes even more important as brands invest in channels such as programmatic DOOH, display, video, CTV and native advertising. These channels may not always generate an immediate click, but they can play a significant role in building awareness, shaping consideration and influencing future demand.

Brands need to understand:

• How awareness activity influences later conversion
• How DOOH and CTV contribute to demand creation
• How different audience segments move between channels
• How creative, context and timing affect performance
• How AI can support faster insight and better optimisation

The future of performance marketing is connected, intelligent and human-led

The biggest message from StackAdapt Connect was clear: the future of performance marketing will be shaped by connected strategies, AI-supported decision-making and smarter use of emerging channels.

But technology alone is not the answer.

• AI can identify patterns.
• Programmatic platforms can unlock new opportunities.
• CTV and DOOH can create new ways to reach audiences.
• Measurement tools can show brands more of the customer journey.