In this session, Michelle will talk about how the role of paid marketer has changed in the world of automation.
We've gone from lever-puller to being the strategic leader who manages the tools that will pull the levers for us.
This talk will cover how to know when you should take control vs be hands off, what your job actually is now, and understanding how to provide the best inputs to get the best outcomes from your accounts.
Hero Conf - Track 1
Tue 15 Sep, 2026 | 01:55 PM
The traffic isn't coming back. With AI Overviews now reaching over 1.5 billion users and click-through rates in decline, the search-only PPC model that built our industry is no longer enough. If you've noticed rising costs, fewer conversions, and tougher client conversations lately—you're not imagining it. The ground has shifted.
In this talk, Cristiano Winckler shares what two years of adapting to this new reality taught his team at Somebody Digital. They deconstructed their processes, challenged long-held assumptions, and rebuilt their approach from the ground up. Some of it worked. Some of it didn't. All of it was necessary.
Cristiano will walk through the five core principles that now guide every campaign they run—from why siloed paid media can no longer compete, to how they create demand before a search even happens, to what Google's AI placements actually reward (spoiler: it's not just your bids).
This isn't theory. It's a practical playbook built from real client work, real failures, and real breakthroughs. Whether you're agency-side or in-house, you'll leave with a clear understanding of what needs to change—and how to start changing it.
Hero Conf - Track 1
Tue 15 Sep, 2026 | 01:55 PM
What got you here won't get you there.
The advertising playbook that's driven performance for the last decade is starting to crack. In 2027, the marketers who'll win aren't the ones who bid smarter or structure campaigns better. They're the ones brave enough to question whether the entire framework they're operating in is holding them back.
In a typically high-energy session, Liam Wade, CSO at Impression, makes the case for a radical rethink... sharing how the boldest brands are dismantling paid media's conventional wisdom to unlock growth that the best-practice followers simply can't reach.
You'll leave with:
- The unconventional platform tactics that the sharpest paid media teams are quietly using to run rings around the algorithm — and why most brands lack the nerve to try them.
- A diagnostic tool for spotting where your measurement is misleading you — and a framework for building the kind of revenue / profitability clarity that changes how your whole business thinks about paid.
- A creative framework that solves the problem most paid media teams realise they have,. but don't know how to fix! (hint: it's not budget or creative volume)
- A clear-eyed look at why the best-practice "doom loop" is a paid media + PPC team problem above all else — and the specific traits of the teams who've broken out of it.
Grounded in real brand examples you can actually steal from — this session is for paid media professionals who are ready to stop optimising within a broken system and start rewriting the rules entirely.
Hero Conf - Track 1
Tue 15 Sep, 2026 | 01:55 PM
