In this episode of The Future of Consumer Marketing, host Roman Kirsch interviews Shayanta Paul, Director of Performance Marketing at Delivery Hero, one of the world’s largest food delivery businesses. Managing marketing operations across 10 companies in 70 countries, Shayanta shares how sophisticated performance marketers navigate the complex challenges of multi-market operations, data fragmentation, and increasingly automated advertising platforms. From her early days at Google India to scaling performance marketing at global scale, Shayanta reveals the tactical frameworks and measurement strategies that drive success in highly competitive, margin-sensitive markets where traditional attribution models fail.

Topics Discussed:

• Building data-driven marketing foundations across multiple markets and business models

• Developing measurement frameworks when third-party attribution breaks down

• Balancing acquisition versus retention spend in margin-constrained businesses

• Leveraging geosplitting and first-party data for incrementality measurement

• Evolving team structures as advertising platforms become more automated

• Implementing AI-powered creative production at scale across diverse markets

• Identifying undervalued marketing channels before they become saturated

Lessons For Consumer Marketers:

Prioritize Business Understanding Over Marketing Tactics

Shayanta’s biggest career regret was focusing too heavily on marketing mechanics early in her career rather than deeply understanding business fundamentals. She now spends significant time understanding value propositions, business models, and organizational structures before optimizing campaigns. This business-first approach led to reducing CPAs from $20-30 to $5-4 by understanding what customers actually wanted, not just perfecting campaign setup.

Structure Data Strategy Around Three Critical Layers

Effective performance marketing requires orchestrating three distinct data sources: first-party customer data (the foundation), third-party platform data (competitive insights), and external market data (category share, app rankings, web traffic). Most marketing teams over-index on platform data while neglecting external market intelligence that reveals competitive dynamics and broader market trends.

Deploy Geosplitting for True Incrementality Measurement

When platform attribution becomes unreliable, geosplitting provides the most accurate measurement framework. By layering geographical polygons across different platforms and comparing similar cities with different media strategies, teams can measure incrementality based on first-party data rather than relying on platform-reported conversion studies that often conflict.

Separate Media Spend from Retention Investment

In margin-sensitive businesses, media dollars should focus exclusively on acquisition and consideration (app downloads, first purchases), while retention investment flows through non-media channels like CRM, in-product messaging, and vendor partnerships. This prevents the unsustainable practice of paying media costs to re-engage customers already in the ecosystem.

Build Dedicated Teams for Emerging Channel Exploration

Rather than expanding existing team responsibilities, create separate exploration teams for emerging channels like Reddit, Quora, and Pinterest. These platforms require fundamental rethinking of governance, creative approaches, and campaign strategies. Once scaled, these channels can integrate into existing paid social operations, but initial exploration demands focused attention.

Invest Heavily in Customer Research Beyond Demographics

The most undervalued marketing investment is qualitative customer research that goes beyond demographic profiling. Understanding how customers think about category decisions, which channels influence their app discovery, and what drives consideration provides the foundation for effective targeting, messaging, and channel allocation decisions.

Hire for Analytical Thinking Over Platform Expertise

As advertising platforms become increasingly automated, hiring priorities should shift toward candidates with strong analytical capabilities (SQL skills, hypothesis formation) rather than platform-specific expertise. The future of performance marketing lies in strategic thinking and first-principles analysis as micro-optimization becomes less relevant.