The consumer journey is no longer linear. Between first discovering a brand and making a purchase, people now move between search, AI tools, social media and online communities, comparing alternatives and looking for validation before making their final decision. This changing consumer journey will be at the heart of Andre Joel’s, Head of Sales Partnerships, EMEA @ Reddit, talk at this year’s SoMo Borac.
Ahead of his visit to Zagreb, Andre talked about why the traditional marketing funnel increasingly fails to reflect real consumer behaviour, how AI is changing the way we discover and validate information, and why online communities are becoming increasingly important in purchase decisions.
According to the data he shares, more than one in five shoppers now explicitly includes Reddit in their search queries to find answers from a human perspective, while half of US shoppers on Reddit use the platform to validate AI recommendations.
For brands, this also requires a different approach to communication. Rather than trying to control the conversation, Andre advocates listening to communities, participating where a brand can add genuine value, and backing claims with evidence. Because, as he puts it, an algorithm can surface a post, but it can’t guarantee the credibility of its content.
In the full Marketing Magazin interview, Andre also discusses Reddit’s evolution as an advertising platform, the marketing metrics that will become more important, the skills marketers will need in an AI-driven world, and how brands from smaller markets can build authentic relationships with communities without huge budgets.
Have Croatian media and agencies become supporting players in their own market?
That’s the question Ivan Pleše, CEO of ATL and Chair of HUDI’s AdTech Working Group, asks in his latest column.
Croatia’s digital advertising market is worth more than €370 million, yet less than a quarter of that goes to local media. At the same time, much of the market’s growth is flowing directly to global platforms, which increasingly control the rules, pricing, data and measurement.
Pleše explores how local media and agencies can regain a more active role through better market data, clearer standards and, above all, collaboration. One step is the HUDI AdTech certificate, designed as a minimum standard for transparency, fraud protection and fair practices among technology partners working with Croatian media, with the first applications expected in 2027.
See you on 23.10.? Andre Joel is just one of the speakers taking the stage at SoMo Borac powered by Aleph on 23.10. at Tvornica kulture in Zagreb.
Alongside a full day of talks, there’s the awards ceremony celebrating the region’s best digital work, and, of course, the whole digital scene in one place.
