VaynerMedia APAC's Head of Consulting discusses the Relevance Barbell, why performance marketing is losing its edge, and how AI is reshaping brand discovery
Artificial intelligence is fundamentally changing how consumers discover brands, products and content. As discovery shifts from traditional search and paid advertising to social platforms, creators and AI-driven recommendations, marketers are being forced to rethink long-established playbooks.
According to Shrey Khetarpal, Head of Consulting at VaynerMedia APAC, the future belongs to brands that can balance both ends of what he calls the "Relevance Barbell", combining high-volume, social-first content that drives AI discovery with authentic real-world experiences that foster participation and community. Anything in between, he argues, is becoming increasingly ineffective.
In this interview with MartechAI.com, Khetarpal explains why relevance has become the new competitive advantage, why the traditional performance marketing model is showing signs of fatigue, and how brands can prepare for an AI-driven discovery ecosystem.
Over the past few years, we've seen a fundamental shift in how consumers discover brands, moving from traditional search and advertising to social platforms, creators and increasingly AI-driven recommendations. From your perspective, what is the biggest change marketers still haven't fully recognised?
Because consumer attention is becoming increasingly fragmented across platforms, many marketers still believe marketing requires an individual strategy for each objective.
Today, marketers need to view brand awareness, product consideration and performance not as separate goals, but as parts of a larger strategy focused on achieving brand relevance.
The most effective way to do this is by prioritising organic social media content. Cohort-driven, platform-native creative earns cultural relevance and drives daily consideration, which fuels every other part of the marketing engine. Organic social assets also become the foundation for LLM citations as they power AI Engine Optimisation (AEO) and Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO).
Top-performing creative can then be amplified into high-performing "brandformance" campaigns that have already been validated by both consumers and algorithms.
Ultimately, marketers need to stop thinking about marketing as siloed activities and start placing social at the centre of their overall strategy. That's the mindset shift many organisations still haven't fully recognised.
You've responded to that shift with what you call the "Relevance Barbell." What led you to develop this framework, and why do you believe it challenges the traditional marketing playbook?
A social-at-the-centre approach is necessary for marketing effectiveness, but we're also seeing a significant resurgence in analogue and in-person experiences. Brands are seeing strong returns when they engage authentically with consumers, who in turn amplify relevance through organic recommendations.
To remain relevant, brands need to focus on two extremes. On one side are digital marketing efforts such as organic social and LLM discovery. On the other are analogue, physical experiences such as collectibles, events and community-driven engagement.
Consumer attention is becoming increasingly concentrated at these two ends of the spectrum, what we call the "Relevance Barbell". Algorithmic relevance drives discovery, while physical experiences drive participation.
The traditional marketing playbook has often prioritised legacy channels in the middle, such as television commercials and print advertising. As consumer attention shifts, these channels are becoming less effective and more expensive. The Relevance Barbell encourages marketers to reprioritise investments towards where attention exists today and where it will continue to grow in the coming years.
One of the boldest ideas within the framework is that "everything in the middle is a dead zone." What does that mean in practice, and why do you think so many brands continue to invest there?
Many legacy brands still operate using a marketing playbook built around large media investments in traditional channels such as TV commercials and out-of-home advertising. Much of their strategy is based on metrics like estimated reach because they provide a straightforward way to measure marketing effectiveness.
However, as consumer attention moves away from broad awareness and towards personalised discovery, these traditional channels are becoming less effective at building genuine brand relevance.
Organic social leverages platform algorithms to serve consumers content that is relevant to them. That's why the Relevance Barbell focuses on the extremes of the Algorithmic and the Analog, where relevance is most concentrated.
AI is reshaping how consumers discover brands and products. How does this fundamentally change the way marketers should think about building relevance?
AI-driven discovery requires marketers to move beyond broad demographic segmentation. Instead, brands need to think in terms of distinct human groups or cohorts.
When consumers increasingly discover products through AI, the brands that surface are those with a clear value proposition addressing genuine human needs and tensions.
To build relevance in this environment, marketers must combine deep cohort understanding with expertise across Platforms, Algorithms and Culture (PAC) to create content that earns organic attention.
Brands that consistently build cultural relevance through organic social will be best positioned to shape long-term brand growth in an AI-driven discovery ecosystem.
For years, performance marketing has been the default growth engine for many brands. Why do you believe that playbook is becoming less effective in an AI-driven discovery world?
For years, performance marketing has prioritised short-term efficiency, essentially "buying" attention, often at the expense of building the brand. While this model delivered results in legacy media environments, it is becoming increasingly ineffective in an AI-driven discovery world that prioritises relevance over raw reach.
"We've seen iconic brands like Nike and Glossier struggle when they leaned too heavily on these legacy models," says Khetarpal.
He points to newer brands that have taken a different approach. Poppi, for instance, invested more than 40% of its marketing budget in organic social while remaining hyper-focused on consumers, eventually leading to its $2 billion acquisition by PepsiCo.
Similarly, brands like Grüns and Rhude built momentum through culture-driven, organic attention before achieving billion-dollar exits.
"The old playbook is failing because it attempts to force growth through media spend rather than earning it through organic relevance, supported by social algorithms. To build sustainable growth in the AI era, marketers need to shift from purchasing reach to fundamentally earning attention."
At one end of the Relevance Barbell is high-volume, social-first content. What distinguishes content that simply generates impressions from content that genuinely earns attention and stays relevant?
Khetarpal believes AI has democratised content creation, making it faster, cheaper and easier for every brand to produce content at scale. As a result, generating impressions alone is no longer a competitive advantage.
"What genuinely earns attention is quality storytelling," he says. "As generic AI-generated content floods the digital landscape, compelling storytelling becomes an increasingly scarce and valuable resource."
Equally important is authenticity and human connection.
"Brands that stand out are those that prioritise real-world human connection. AI can automate production, but it cannot replicate the authenticity that resonates with consumers who are increasingly craving depth amidst the noise."
For Khetarpal, digital content should not simply fill feeds or chase virality. Instead, it should drive discovery while also encouraging real-world participation, reinforcing the broader philosophy behind the Relevance Barbell.
At the other end is experiential marketing. Why do you believe physical experiences become even more valuable as digital discovery becomes increasingly driven by AI?
"As our lives become more consumed by digital interfaces, the value of intentional, tangible interactions rises exponentially," Khetarpal says.
He describes physical experiences as a "boomerang" to an increasingly screen-saturated existence.
"In-person events, community gatherings and tactile experiences offer a depth of human connection and intentionality that AI simply cannot replicate."
According to him, these experiences generate participation, memories and emotional connections that have a lasting impact on consumers.
"They provide the authentic interactions consumers are actively craving in an increasingly digital world."
A recent EY India study found that 78% of Indian consumers prefer experiential interactions with brands, while 88% of brands are increasing investments in experiences. Do you think Indian marketers are evolving quickly enough to keep pace with these changing consumer expectations?
"It's encouraging to see Indian marketers increasing investments in experiences," says Khetarpal. "But are they making similar investments in organic social?"
He argues that the Relevance Barbell only works when brands strike the right balance between digital and analogue.
"Creating a great experience and then failing to build social amplification around it is a missed opportunity."
To maximise impact, VaynerMedia follows two principles for events.
"The first is the 1:100 rule. For every experiential event you organise, create at least 100 pieces of social content around it."
"The second is the 50:50 rule. Half of that content should be shared in real time through owned channels, creators and attendees, while the other half should be reserved as evergreen content for future use."
VaynerMedia has completed two years in India and has expanded its consulting practice during that time. What are the biggest challenges you're seeing brands face as they rethink their marketing strategies?
"The biggest challenge organisations face today is making a mindset shift," says Khetarpal.
"It's incredibly difficult to unlearn 20 or 30 years of established go-to-market processes and adapt to a fast-evolving social and AI-enabled landscape."
He believes many marketing leaders have spent decades mastering television-led campaigns but are still not equipped to compete for consumer relevance on social media every day.
"Accepting that the landscape has changed is only the first step. The real challenge is committing to evolve alongside it."
For brands, that means developing deeper expertise in platforms, culture and high-volume social content, capabilities that Khetarpal believes will define relevance in the years ahead.
Marketing transformation is often discussed in broad terms. In practice, what does consulting-led transformation look like for brands trying to become more relevant in an AI-first world?
Khetarpal believes one of the biggest hurdles is helping brands move away from long-standing marketing structures.
"We often see brands struggle to move away from traditional thinking, such as the 80:20 working versus non-working media model," he says.
According to him, the structural model has fundamentally flipped. Instead of leading with paid media followed by earned and owned assets, brands should become organic-first, followed by earned media, while reserving paid amplification only for the best-performing creative.
"The sooner marketers commit to this switch, the faster they will build relevance and save media dollars in the long run."
He says this approach has delivered tangible results for clients.
"When we flip the model to organic-first, followed by earned, with paid amplification reserved for the strongest-performing creative, it drives CPM efficiencies of 30–50% across many of our client categories. That's how brands can leverage underpriced attention."
Unlike traditional consulting firms, VaynerMedia combines strategic consulting with hands-on expertise across creative, media, creators, influencers and platforms.
"We don't just advise. We embed operating knowledge that helps clients act differently and move faster."
Its engagements range from four-week strategic audit sprints to year-long transformation programmes covering organisation design, capability building, playbooks, social intelligence and ongoing strategic support.
Many organisations are investing in AI to improve efficiency and speed. Where do you think AI creates the greatest value for marketers, and where should human creativity and strategic thinking remain indispensable?
"AI is a powerful operational sparring partner, but it isn't a silver bullet for cost-cutting," says Khetarpal.
He believes AI delivers the greatest value by accelerating strategic work.
"It allows teams to test concepts, analyse hyperlocal trends and produce platform-native content for specific audience cohorts in record time. It acts as a force multiplier, allowing strategists to spend less time on manual research and more time generating ideas that create impact."
At the same time, he believes brands cannot afford to lose their human edge.
"Human creativity and strategic thinking remain the heartbeat of any brand that wants to stand out."
As AI-generated content becomes increasingly commonplace, Khetarpal argues that originality, empathy and distinctive creative identity will become even more valuable.
"AI is best used to amplify human ingenuity and the empathy needed to connect with real human tensions."
Looking ahead, how do you see the relationship between AI, content, consumer discovery and brand building evolving over the next three to five years?
Khetarpal believes the distinctions between content, discovery and brand building will continue to disappear.
"We're moving toward a unified operating system where organic social is no longer just another channel. It becomes the engine for the entire marketing ecosystem."
He also sees search evolving beyond traditional SEO.
"The future of search isn't traditional SEO. It's AI Engine Optimisation (AEO) and Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO). Brands that want to be visible will have to earn their place in AI-driven search citations by being consistently relevant on social media."
He expects discovery to become increasingly participation-led rather than transactional.
"Instead of focusing on buying media to force reach, successful brands will earn attention through cultural relevance."
That also means rethinking the traditional marketing funnel.
"I see 'brandformance' becoming the new standard, where the best organic, platform-native creative is validated by audience engagement first, and only then amplified to build the brand at scale."
Ultimately, Khetarpal believes the brands that succeed will be those that operate "consumer-up" rather than "top-down", using AI as a strategic partner to better understand their audiences rather than simply as a tool for efficiency.
Finally, if there is one mindset or marketing habit that brands need to leave behind to remain relevant in the age of AI, what would it be?
"The biggest mindset marketers need to leave behind is believing that the old playbook still works," says Khetarpal.
"Social media is no longer the last item on the marketing plan. It is the core of the marketing engine."
He also cautions against viewing AI purely as a cost-cutting tool.
"AI is not just about reducing costs. It is an astra (weapon) that becomes most powerful when used with a growth mindset."
For brands navigating an AI-driven future, Khetarpal's message is simple: embrace new ways of thinking, place relevance at the centre of marketing, and use AI to strengthen, rather than replace, human creativity and strategic thinking.