Digital advertising has become increasingly expensive, and the customer acquisition costs that startups once relied on from Google and Meta are no longer sustainable. Artificial intelligence has further disrupted the ecosystem. While it improves targeting and attribution, it has also flooded digital platforms with noise, making it harder for a single brand to stand out.
That’s why Piyush Puri, President of The Times of India Group North America and Founding Partner of Mercurius Media Capital (MMC), the first dedicated media-for-equity fund in the U.S., believes startups must move away from a purely performance-driven mindset and embrace a multi-channel strategy.
“When you only target someone once digitally, you might get a click, but you will not build long-term brand recall,” says Puri. “Pairing digital with traditional media like television, digital out-of-home, or influencer campaigns creates repeated impressions and stronger stickiness. Ultimately, when a customer is ready to make a purchase, it is the brand they have seen multiple times across multiple touchpoints that comes to mind.”
At MMC, Puri’s team works closely with startups to ensure campaigns are not only creative but also measurable, so every channel contributes to both immediate results and long-term recognition.
The Case for Traditional Media
Television still holds about 17 percent of the total U.S. ad market share and plays a unique role that digital cannot fully replace. Puri explains that traditional media gives startups a share of voice, saturation, and trust.
“If you reach 35 people through a multi-channel campaign, each of them may see your message three times compared to digital where you reach 100 people once,” he says.
For sectors where impulse purchases are rare, brand recall is critical. When someone finally needs that service or product, they will remember the brand they have seen consistently across multiple mediums. That is where traditional channels shine, embedding a brand in the customer’s subconscious in a way that one-off digital impressions cannot.
Marketing in a Funding Winter
The venture market has gone through a major correction. Valuations have dropped, capital is scarce, and many founders are faced with either taking a down round or cutting back on growth. According to Puri, the first thing founders often cut is marketing, but that’s the worst move in a competitive market because when a company goes quiet, competitors take the lead.
MMC’s media-for-equity model offers another path. Instead of waiting for better market conditions, the fund gives startups access to large-scale media inventory — television, traditional, and digital out-of-home — along with brand strategy expertise to execute it effectively. This enables companies to keep acquiring customers, building brand equity, and creating momentum even when cash is tight.
Filling the CMO Gap
As startups scale back their marketing teams or eliminate the CMO role altogether, Puri sees another challenge emerging. The need for effective marketing has not disappeared. In fact, it has become more important than ever because every dollar counts.
“That is why we built an internal brand strategy team that works like an outsourced CMO function,” he says. “They help founders plan campaigns that are optimized for their audience, geography, and growth goals, ensuring the media spend is as efficient as possible. So even if a startup does not have the in-house expertise, we provide both the capital and the know-how to deploy it smartly.”
Building Brands That Last
The takeaway is clear: startups cannot afford to treat marketing as an afterthought. In a crowded and competitive environment, a strong multi-channel brand presence is not a luxury, it’s survival.
“Our media-for-equity model provides an alternative path,” Puri says. By combining access to premium media inventory with the expertise to deploy it effectively, Mercurius Media Capital is ensuring startups can keep building momentum and brand equity, even when capital is scarce.
Spencer Hulse is the Editorial Director at Grit Daily. He is responsible for overseeing other editors and writers, day-to-day operations, and covering breaking news.
