At Semetis, we believe that strategic thinking shouldn’t be only for senior profiles or a separate department. For us, strategy is a shared mindset, a collective skill that strengthens the impact of every media recommendation.
What is the ambition of our program?
This year marked the second edition of our Octopus Program. Compared to the first one, which focused on inspiration and marketing foundations, Octopus 2.0 goes further into strategic practice, from media planning to measurement, helping Semetissians grow into better business partners.
Unlike other agencies, we choose to invest in this strategic mindset across all levels. Because when everyone thinks like a strategist, our work becomes sharper, more relevant, and business-driven. That means knowing how to challenge briefs, understand business contexts, stay ahead of trends and build media plans that serve both brand and performance.
What we tackled in Octopus Program 2.0
During the program, we worked on key strategic habits and sharpened our understanding of what it takes to build a media strategy that serves business goals. Here are the main topics:
1. Think like a marketing scientist
Like last year, we anchored our thinking with research from experts like Binet & Field or Byron Sharp. We also drew on key papers from System1 and WARC to support our approach. Key principles we explored:
- The Long vs. Short framework: how to balance brand-building and activation over time.
- The importance of reach & mental availability.
- Why emotion beats rational arguments in driving long-term effectiveness
- The multiplier effect of combining channels
2. Tame the measurement chaos
We took a deep dive into marketing measurement complexity, and how to make sense of imperfect data. Instead of relying on a single source of truth, we explored the principles of triangulation. We discussed:
- The limits of today’s measurement.
- Why correlation ≠ causation, and how to avoid false learnings.
- The strengths of MMM, attribution, and incrementality.
- How to measure properly depending on the business goal.
- The value of pre/post campaign analysis.
3. Use the right tools, at the right moment
Great strategy starts with great inputs. Throughout the program, we worked on when and how to use the right tools to support smarter decision-making. For example, we covered:
- Audience insights via GWI, to better understand consumer motivations, behaviors, and mindsets beyond demographics.
- Reach & media performance using CIM data for Belgium, to assess media consumption.
- ToVA to compare and plan video reach across TV and online, and find the best media mix for your audience
- Internal group tools from Omnicom, such as Channel Planner, to simulate the impact of different media mixes
4. Understand the total media landscape
We worked on understanding the full media landscape with topics including:
- How to articulate online & offline media in a single plan.
- The role of TV, radio, OOH in a digital-first world.
- The unique strengths of local media vs. the dominance of GAFAM platforms.
5. Make strategy real and actionable
Finally, we trained Semetissians on how to go from thinking to concrete plan:
- How to structure a strategic recommendation that’s clear, concise, and convincing.
- How to defend a recommendation with business logic, not just media rationale.
- How to use visuals, storytelling and prioritization to make strategy land.
The Octopus Challenge
The highlight? The program ended with the Octopus Challenge: a full day to put everything into practice. Our teams were given a real client brief and had just a few hours to develop and present a strategic recommendation.
This year, we had the pleasure of welcoming Geert Desager from Peasy, who brought us a stimulating marketing challenge and joined the jury to hear the final pitches. The briefing was both realistic and strategic: How can Peasy move beyond the performance plateau and unlock new growth without increasing their marketing budget?
The Challenge gathered 14 participants, working in 7 duos mixing all seniority levels. Again, big congratulations to Alizée & Shanon, who earned the title of Octopus of the Year! This immersive challenge is the perfect opportunity to activate what we’ve been cultivating throughout the program: critical thinking, research, creativity, business understanding, and persuasive storytelling.
Geert Desager: “I thought the Octopus Challenge was a very strong initiative. The various teams absolutely threw themselves into it for a whole day and all came back with valuable insights, ideas, and plans. There are several that I will definitely incorporate into our future plans.”
More than a training, a culture in motion
The Octopus Program is not a one-off initiative. It’s a long-term investment in our culture, a way to evolve the role of every Semetissian from media executor to strategic business partner.
If your teams are also navigating these kinds of challenges…
- How do we balance brand-building and performance without compromising either?
- How can we move away from an “always-on-discount” brand image?
- Which touchpoints to prioritise when budgets are tight?
- How to integrate real consumer insights into digital activations?
- Are we using the right KPIs and what does success really mean?
- How do we stand out in a world saturated with messages?
… Then let’s talk, we would be happy to connect! These are the questions we love to explore with our clients. At Semetis, we don’t just manage media, we shape strategies that move businesses forward.
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Olivia Lohest
