Why Canvas CEO Paul Woolmington Says Full-Funnel Thinking Is the Future of Communications
What you will learn from this article:
Why a full-funnel performance mindset is reshaping how leading brands approach marketing and media
How Canvas Worldwide is redefining data storytelling to bridge silos and drive smarter decisions
What marketers must understand about cultural nuance, fandom, and the evolving role of creators in a fragmented media world
At a Brand Innovators discussion held at Paramount Studios, Paul Woolmington, CEO of Canvas Worldwide, unpacked a sweeping vision for the future of marketing and communications in a fast-paced fireside chat with Tom Cline, Director of Ad Sales at Vizio Ads. For communicators, the message was clear: a performance mindset must permeate every level of the funnel, storytelling must be data-driven, and cultural nuance can no longer be ignored.
Woolmington, a recognized innovator in advertising and media, has led Canvas to become the second-largest independent media agency in the world. With global brands like Hyundai, McDonald’s, and Zillow under its belt, Canvas has been named Adweek’s Breakthrough Agency of the Year and Campaign US’s 2025 Agency of the Year. But Woolmington’s message to the audience was less about accolades and more about adaptation.
“Everything is performance,” Woolmington said, challenging the old binary between brand marketing and performance marketing. “Whether you’re selling fast food, cars, or mortgages, your creative and media need to serve full-funnel outcomes.” He emphasized that Canvas built a performance mindset not just around bottom-funnel KPIs, but across the entire customer journey. This approach has now become core to their operating system.
Canvas’ recent award-winning campaign with Zillow, in partnership with Chalice, demonstrated the power of premium environments and quality data. “We paid a premium and blew away the metrics,” Woolmington said, arguing that chasing the cheapest impressions often leads to brand damage rather than lift.
When it comes to data, Canvas is betting big on a new breed of talent: the “data storyteller.” This emerging role blends business acumen with data fluency and emotional intelligence. “It’s not just about understanding attribution,” he said. “It’s about knowing how to communicate insights across a siloed organization and guide decision-making at every level.” He credited Canvas Chief Data Storyteller Anita for helping institutionalize this discipline at the agency.
Cultural insight was another core theme. Woolmington, who was born in Africa, raised in the UK, and now a U.S. citizen, challenged communicators to move past “lazy general market” planning. “Would you trust a 25-year-old who’s only lived in New York to understand how to reach audiences in Houston or Miami?” he asked. His point: geographic and cultural nuance matters. That’s why Canvas chose to lead both the strategy and media buying for McDonald’s Hispanic marketing efforts—to better align insights with execution.
On sports marketing, Woolmington was enthusiastic about its omnichannel potential. From Kia’s long-standing NBA sponsorship to Hyundai’s FIFA World Cup partnership, he described fandom as one of the most powerful emotional levers in marketing today. “It’s like religion,” he said. “You have to understand how to activate that passion at the local and national level simultaneously.”
The conversation wrapped with a look at creator marketing and the creative future. Woolmington called for a more nuanced, scalable approach to influencer content, one that balances brand compliance with authentic voice. “We’re probably in the second inning of the creator evolution,” he noted. “And if we over-systematize it, we risk killing the goose that laid the golden egg.”
For communicators, the takeaway was crystal clear: marketing is evolving into a fusion of data, emotion, performance, and culture. Agencies and brands that master this blend will not only connect with audiences—they’ll win.
