The Brand X Performance equation isn’t your chicken and egg situation, neither is either optional. They are a powerful multiplier when combined, but when the brand marketing aspect is overlooked, you’re throwing money at performance without the foundation it really needs to for optimal results. This article takes the components we see as interdependent and illustrates the point with a powerful example from one of the worlds biggest sporting brands.
Brand
Brand marketing is the ‘in it for the long-term’ relationship-building glue. It’s being present, shaping perceptions, building trust and forging that all-important emotional connection. We make sure we show up where our audience hangs out, and tell them stories they care about, using words and pictures that mean something to them. This is the magic that builds mental availability and positions your brand top-of-mind when customers are ready to buy. Is it hard to measure, yes. Does that make it any less valuable, hell no!
Performance
Performance stands on the shoulders of brand. It’s the short-term engagement initiative designed to deliver measurable business outcomes like clicks, sign-ups, leads, conversions to sales and ROI. Because of its measurability it’s easier to optimise dynamically to increase the value it’s delivering.
Out Of Home, Connected TV, search, social media, email, paid, display, affiliates, PR… there’s a myriad of channels at our disposal, we just need to make sure we connect with our audience with the right message, at the right time, via the right channel (simple!?!).
How Brand Drives Performance
Investing in brand marketing as the foundation has been proven to be the smartest way to make performance marketing easier, more cost effective and sustainable.
- Trusted brands have lower customer acquisition costs as they convert more easily.
- Strong brands can charge a premium, as their audience is bought in and less price sensitive.
- There’s a compounding effect when performance marketing is supported by brand equity.
- Brand investment creates future demand, ensuring more sustainable growth than performance-only strategies.
If brand marketing creates demand, then performance marketing delivers on it.
Forget the symbiotic relationship at your peril
Even big brands have managed to forget the golden rule and forgo their brand investment. Maybe it’s some kind of arrogance that leads them to believe that they can rely on the strength of past band building? Whatever the misinformed reasoning, they go on to discover that you’re soon forgotten in a fast-moving world where consumers are bombarded with brand choice.
Nike who?
The must-have brand, Nike, lost their way in recent years. They focused on digital marketing and sales activation, deprioritising the brand building they used to excel in. Collaborations and partnerships fell by the wayside. Product innovation lagged behind. Emotive advertising wasn’t happening and because they weren’t active in the space, consumers perceived them to be a less relevant brand.
Brands need momentum
It’s not enough for the iconic swoosh and ‘Just do it’ strapline to exist, Nike needs to be a brand in motion. In stasis, they simply don’t have enough momentum to connect with a new audience in an increasingly competitive space. With both old rivals like Adidas and new disruptors like On Running and Hoka encroaching on their market share, there’s no room for complacency.
The cost of brand neglect
Sales plummeted and revenue was down 10% YoY, on 28th June 2024 their stock value fell 21%! Brand measurement of the Q2/3 data showed that people’s intent to purchase the brand was in decline with 5.7M less people considering the brand for sportswear purchases and 8M less preferring the brand.
A change in leadership was needed and brand veteran Elliot Hill took the reins to make Nike great again. He’s since gone on to launch new emotive campaigns like ‘Winning Isn’t Comfortable’ to get back into the minds (and onto the bodies) of consumers.
Brand X Performance
This is why our approach is Brand X Performance, because we know that the investment in brand multiplies the return on performance. If you’re an ambitious brand looking to explore this further, we’d love to hear from you.