Now that you've got the CFO's attention and the budget approved, how do you deploy that investment to build brands that deliver on your boardroom promises?

• Balance: Are brands overinvested in advertising with tech platforms, how might this strategy affect growth, and are there channels which have earned the right to take more performance budget from larger brands?

• Optimisation: Optimising for what your business actually wants, whether that is profitable revenue, conversion volume, offline sales or otherwise. Plus, is one type of customer worth more than another and do these goals shift across the year?

• Brand v performance: How to balance short-term demands with long-term brand building when every pound is scrutinised

• Best practice: Examples of how media helps some brands scale whilst others plateau - what are they doing differently?

• Future-proofing the media mix: How to future-proof your media mix as consumer behaviour shifts

• Where can agencies add extra value: Where brands need agencies to add extra value now, and looking 5-10 years down the road

• AI efficiencies and savings: If AI enables the same media-driven business outcomes with less spend, where are savings re-invested - does the budget go to more media, or shift to CRM, CX and product innovation?

• Innovations driving growth: Innovations in tech and thinking that will help you grow brands during 2025-27.

• Boardroom advice: Building the business case for increased media investment during budget cuts

• Metrics and KPIs that deliver: Metrics that make the difference between being seen as overhead versus growth catalyst