“Stop organizing your marketing around where you buy media and start organizing
By Melissa Burdick · October 8, 2026 · Curated by George's Blog
“Stop organizing your marketing around where you buy media and start organizing around where your consumer buys your product.”
That’s the one sentence Aisha Khan, President of dentsu Commerce North America, would put at the top of every CMO’s 2027 plan.
She’s Don “eCommerce” Brett & I second guest on The New CMO Playbook, and she’s run commerce from every seat: brand side at L’Oréal, agency side at Publicis and WPP, and now building it at Dentsu.
A few things that stuck with me:
→ Plan your budget around the consumer first, then reverse-engineer the channels — not the other way around.
→ One shared measurement layer ends more budget turf wars than any new attribution model will.
→ Brand safety starts at who you source, not what you approve after the fact.
→ AI’s real win isn’t a smaller team. It’s a more effective one.
The full conversation is live now. If you’re building a 2027 plan, start here.