Ron Amram joined Mars, Inc. as Global Head of Media in the early days of the pandemic, making his onboarding, which he refers to as a "case study of what not to do," a role model for the shift of onboarding from in-person to virtual including a road map, tool kit and briefing documents. In our Legends & Leaders Conversation, Ron also shares a road map for agency and media sales professionals adapting to change as the industry is revolutionized by technology, data disruption and the expanded responsibilities of brand marketers. View our Conversation above.
His view of the marketing ecosystem is that "the amount of complexity is exploding for marketers overall. It's not just the media landscape, but for marketers in general. Their attention around meeting with media partners is decreased but I wouldn't say their energy around media has decreased. When we do get them together it's usually good eye-opening meetings and that's why we can't wait to get industry events back. You can dedicate a few days to thinking about and seeing ideas outside of your bubble. In an ever-changing media landscape. brand people need to be aware of these shifts."
That's just one of several of Ron's perspectives that are important for professionals across the industry to hear, including Mars' emphasis on supporting both a diverse workforce and multicultural media. On his view of widening the aperture of media choices, he says "it's an extension of brand safety for us. We do we have a healthy mix of partners. We [need to ask] how we increase those and support smaller ones to make them bigger. From the highest levels of Mars, as a family run company, it's important. As a big advertiser, we can make a difference so it's a priority for us. It's not something we can ignore."
View all of Ron's insights in our wide-ranging Legends & Leaders Conversation, including how he views this year's Upfront marketplace and the potential role of Mars and the M&M characters in the Metaverse.