Alberto Morente Serrano - JCDecaux

After more than two decades working in media, Alberto Morente has seen the advertising industry evolve from a world dominated by GRPs and fixed media plans into a fragmented, fast-moving ecosystem where attention is scarce, and certainty is rare. His experience spans traditional TV advertising, interactive formats, connected TV and experimental brand initiatives, giving him a unique vantage point on what really drives brand growth today.

Engineer Memory, Not Just Impressions

One of Alberto’s strongest convictions is that brand growth today depends on how a brand makes people feel, not just how often it is seen. Mass reach still plays a role, but only as the starting point of a broader journey. “A brand experience can start in mass media to achieve coverage, but it has to end in the street,” he explains. “That’s where memory is built, not as consumers, but as people.”

Rather than treating channels as isolated silos, Alberto argues for a deliberately sequenced approach: television to create awareness, connected TV to add relevance and interaction, outdoor and geolocation to extend the experience beyond the home, and finally live or physical activations that anchor the brand in real life.

This shift reflects a broader cultural change. “We’ve moved from giving objects as gifts to giving experiences,” he says. “Advertising has to follow the same logic.” Brands that succeed are those that engineer felt memories, not just media weight. According to Alberto, examples like KFC show how brands can connect nostalgia, street-level activations and digital touchpoints into one coherent experience that sticks.

“We’ve moved from giving objects as gifts to giving experiences. Advertising has to follow the same logic.”

Instrument The Funnel With Hard KPIs

Experience alone, however, is not enough. Alberto is equally clear that brand growth requires measurement that links media to real behaviour. Throughout his career, he has repeatedly looked for ways to connect media exposure to tangible outcomes, whether that was incoming calls, SMS participation, downloads or sign-ups. One early example involved aligning TV spots with a brand’s call centre opening hours, proving that timing and placement could directly influence response.

Later, during his time overseeing interactive TV formats, this feedback loop became even clearer. “We knew exactly what was happening based on participation,” he recalls. “If people responded, if systems saturated, that told us immediately how many were watching and engaging.”

A more recent case involved shifting a campaign from traditional TV inventory to connected TV. “Simply adding a QR code caused downloads to skyrocket,” Alberto explains. For him, the lesson is clear: brands must be willing to reallocate budgets quickly when the data shows a better-performing route. “You can’t just set a media plan and leave it running,” he says. “You have to instrument the funnel and move money to where it actually works.”

“You can’t just set a media plan and leave it running. You have to instrument the funnel and move money to where it actually works”

Escape The “Always-on” Autopilot

While consistency matters, Alberto warns against falling into the trap of dull, continuous presence. In his view, “always-on” has too often become an excuse for doing the same thing, all the time, without impact.

The COVID period offered a revealing stress test. Brands that completely disappeared suffered later, while those that stayed present, even when short-term consumption was down, emerged stronger. But that doesn’t mean constant pressure is the answer. “I don’t believe in being on air all the time with the same message,” Alberto says. “You can also saturate people.”

Instead, he argues for distinctive spikes: moments that stand out, feel different and are tied to meaningful experiences or cultural contexts. This requires restraint as much as presence; giving the audience space, then surprising them. “Brands should reserve budgets for key experiential moments. Not always-on, but more breathing room, and more difference.”

“Brands should reserve budgets for key experiential moments. Not always-on, but more breathing room, and more difference.”

Fix Measurement Confidence in a Fragmented World

One of Alberto’s biggest concerns is the growing lack of trust in measurement. Audience fragmentation has made attribution complex, while digital ecosystems are filled with competing metrics and opaque reporting. “In traditional media, we all agreed on one currency,” he notes. “In digital, there are too many versions of the truth.”

This creates uncertainty for brands: whom to trust, how to compare channels, and how to make confident investment decisions. Alberto believes the solution lies in simplification and collaboration. “We don’t need hundreds of metrics,” he argues. “We need a few trusted ones that give confidence.” For brands, agencies and media owners alike, pushing towards clearer, cross-media measurement frameworks is not a nice-to-have, but a prerequisite for sustainable growth.

“We don’t need hundreds of metrics; we need a few trusted ones that give confidence.”

Build AI Fluency And Ambidexterity

Looking ahead, Alberto sees organisational capability as a decisive growth factor, particularly when it comes to AI and experimentation. Innovation, in his view, is not about tools first, but about people responding intelligently to uncertainty. “Innovation must come from how people respond to uncertainty, like declining downloads or brand KPIs. The response must come from people first, and only then from technology.”

He encourages brands to build AI fluency internally or through partners, not to chase hype, but to improve speed, learning and optimisation across the funnel. At the same time, brands must remain ambidextrous: balancing short-term activations and experiments with long-term coverage, frequency and brand building. “You need to be able to test, learn and adjust quickly,” Alberto explains, “without losing sight of the bigger picture.”

“You need to be able to test, learn and adjust quickly, without losing sight of the bigger picture.”

For Alberto, the future of brand growth lies at the intersection of experience, measurement and courage. Brands that grow are those that dare to move beyond autopilot media planning, design journeys that end in real-world memories, and measure success through behaviour rather than assumptions. Or, as he puts it simply: “People may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.”