25 billion impressions means nothing, according to Mars Snacking CBO

Rankin Carroll, the global CBO of Mars Snacking, has a message for anyone chasing 25 billion impressions: stop. "You can get 25 billion impressions and still not move the business," he said on Business Insider's CMO Insider podcast. The $36 billion acquisition of Kellanova (K) gives him the platform to enforce that view across a combined portfolio that includes M&M's and Snickers from Mars, plus Pringles and Pop-Tarts from Kellanova.

Carroll argued that the industry fixates on scale. It ignores what makes people buy. Precision targeting and frequency caps get most of the marketing budget. He said those tools waste money when the creative lacks emotional resonance. A brand that spends $100 million on impressions without a clear emotional frame is spending $100 million on reach that erodes, he said.

The Kellanova acquisition changes the math. Mars Snacking will hold more than 2,000 SKUs across snacking categories. Carroll said the breadth lets the team test emotional hooks at volume. Instead of running hundreds of small-target buys, the combined company can run fewer, better campaigns. He wants the marketing organisation to think like a studio, not a trading desk.

The bet runs counter to the programmatic push that dominates media strategy. Carroll said the best signal of success is not recall scores but purchase velocity after a campaign runs. If a creative idea shifts buying patterns, the impressions count worked. If it doesn't, the media spend was wasted.

For PepsiCo and Mondelez, the message is direct. Mars Snacking is betting that emotional creative beats scale. Both peers have invested heavily in programmatic targeting and data-driven media. Carroll's philosophy implies that investment may be necessary but not sufficient. Hershey faces a similar challenge in confectionery. If Mars proves that purchase velocity responds to emotional hooks, the rest of the aisle will have to follow.

Because Mars is private, it doesn't face quarterly earnings pressure. Carroll has more freedom to experiment with longer campaign cycles. The ad tech vendors that sell pure reach may feel pressure if Mars shifts budgets toward creative and away from programmatic efficiency.

The deal is expected to close by mid-2026, subject to regulatory approvals. Combined annual revenue will exceed $90 billion, making Mars one of the largest private food companies globally. For investors tracking the deal, the nearest public peer is PepsiCo. Kellanova carries an Alpha Score of 43 out of 100, labeled Mixed, reflecting the uncertainty around integration and competitive response.

Carroll's philosophy suggests the real edge in the Kellanova deal is not cost synergy but attention engineering. Post-merger brand-health data will show whether the market buys that argument.