Building Brands From Zero: Why Experience Is The New Advertising

Over the past two decades, few marketers have had the opportunity to build brands entirely from scratch, let alone do it twice in highly competitive categories. Oscar Santamaria, former CMO of Vueling and Iryo and now a board member of the Spanish Marketing Association, has done exactly that. In this conversation, he reflects on what it truly takes to grow a brand from zero, why marketing must be seen as a business investment, and how experience, data, and AI are reshaping the rules of brand growth.

Marketing as a Long-Term Growth Engine

For Oscar, the starting point is clear: marketing is not a cost centre, but a fundamental business lever. His experience building Vueling and Iryo from the ground up demonstrates that when done well, marketing directly contributes to commercial success. “Good marketing and a well-built brand have a positive impact on the business. It’s an investment, not a cost,” he explains. But this impact does not come overnight. Brand building is inherently long-term, and while tactical actions can drive short-term results, their contribution remains limited if not supported by sustained investment.

“Brands are built over the long term. The immediate doesn’t really exist,” Oscar notes. Instead, he advocates for a balanced approach to measurement, combining classic funnel metrics such as awareness, consideration, and conversion with longer-term indicators like penetration and brand equity. Yet ultimately, what matters most is not whether people know your brand, but whether they come back. “For me, recurrence is more important than NPS. What really matters is whether the customer comes back and buys again.” Sustainable growth is therefore rooted in loyalty and lifetime value, not just initial trial.

“Good marketing and a well-built brand have a positive impact on the business. It’s an investment, not a cost.”

Experience as the Core of Brand Growth

If there is one principle that defines Oscar’s approach, it is the central role of experience. In a world saturated with communication, brands can no longer rely on messaging alone to stand out. “We are living in the age of experience. Experience is the new advertising,” he states. What people remember and share is not the campaign itself, but the experience they have with the brand.

This fundamentally changes the role of marketing. Communication can attract attention, but it is the experience that builds trust and preference. “People don’t talk about how beautiful your logo is. They talk about the experience: the service, the product, the feeling.” If that experience fails to deliver on the promise, even the strongest campaign becomes meaningless. “If the experience doesn’t match what you’ve communicated, then neither the marketing nor the brand has any value.” In this sense, brand, marketing, and experience are no longer separate functions, but parts of a single, connected system that must work consistently end to end.

“We are living in the age of experience. Experience is the new advertising.”

Standing Out in a Saturated and Fragmented Landscape

While the fundamentals of brand building remain unchanged, the context in which brands operate has become significantly more complex. Media channels are increasingly fragmented, audiences are harder to reach, and the overall level of saturation is higher than ever. “It’s very difficult to stand out today. The ecosystem is saturated, and audiences are fragmented,” Oscar explains. This makes it essential not only to invest, but to invest wisely. “If you don’t communicate, you don’t sell,” he adds, but simply increasing spend is no longer enough to guarantee impact.

Instead, brands must focus on the quality of attention they generate. Oscar points to environments such as digital out-of-home and large-scale events as examples of channels that still cut through the noise. These moments create memorability in a way that many digital formats no longer do. At the same time, simplicity has become a critical success factor. “A value proposition that takes more than two seconds to understand is doomed to fail.” In a crowded landscape, clarity and consistency are what allow brands to remain recognisable and relevant over time.

“A value proposition that takes more than two seconds to understand is doomed to fail.”

The Next Frontier: AI, Data, and Adaptive Brands

Looking ahead, Oscar sees artificial intelligence as the next major shift in how brands grow and compete. Beyond improving efficiency, AI is set to transform how consumers interact with brands and how decisions are made. “The next touchpoint will be AI. Instead of going to a website, you’ll ask AI—and it will decide what to recommend.” This evolution challenges many of today’s digital metrics and forces brands to rethink how they remain visible and relevant in AI-driven environments.

At the same time, AI creates new opportunities to enhance the customer experience. By combining high-quality first-party data with intelligent personalisation, brands can move closer to truly understanding and serving individual consumers. However, this also raises the bar for data quality and transparency. “The key is quality, verified data that the customer has accepted. That’s what builds long-term relationships,” Oscar emphasises.

Alongside technological change, brands must also remain adaptable at a strategic level. Markets shift, consumer expectations evolve, and external events can quickly disrupt even the best-laid plans. “You need a plan A, B, and C. The world changes constantly, and you have to be ready to adapt quickly.” Yet this adaptability must always be anchored in a clear and consistent brand position, ensuring that while execution evolves, the essence of the brand remains intact.

“You need a plan A, B, and C. The world changes constantly, and you have to be ready to adapt quickly.”

Purpose Starts from Within

Finally, Oscar highlights that strong brands are not only built externally, but internally. Purpose, often discussed as a communication tool, is in reality something that must be embedded within the organisation itself. “The first customer of a brand is its employees,” he explains. When employees understand and believe in the brand’s purpose, it becomes something that is naturally expressed in every interaction, rather than something that needs to be artificially communicated.

This is where many brands fall short. Purpose cannot be decorative or opportunistic; it must be authentic and reflected in real actions. “Storytelling must be supported by storydoing.” In an environment where consumers are more aware and more vocal than ever, any disconnect between what a brand says and what it does is quickly exposed. The brands that succeed are those that align their purpose, experience, and communication into one coherent whole.

“Storytelling must be supported by storydoing.”