• by Elizabeth Cagen , November 13, 2023

It’s no surprise that in today’s turbulent economy, CMOs and marketers are under more pressure to drive business results. They are constantly challenged with how to balance brand and performance marketing, prioritizing short terms wins vs long term growth. When senior marketing executives at the 2022 Cannes Lion International Festival of Creativity were surveyed about their burning issues, twice as many voted for “managing the tension between brand and performance marketing,” than any other issue, including “marketing talent for the future” and Web 3.0.

Separation between brand and performance is impacting consumer experience more than ever before. Today’s buying behavior is too dynamic for separation. Everything is shoppable, with 98% of people planning to make at least one purchase through social or influencer commerce, according to Sprout Social. And 67% of retailers are working on extending their customer experience to new channels including shoppable TV, live streaming, and social commerce, according to an Adobe/ Econsultancy study. Therefore, a consumer’s first experience with a brand may be a purchase, blurring the lines between brand and performance even further.

To make a complex issue even more complex, there is so much data that only paints one part of the picture. And often the technology that connects the data can be expensive and resource-exhaustive. Even with the most comprehensive and clean data, media management still has its obstacles. Media platforms continue to use AI to drive innovation and new solutions, and they tout consolidation. This leads to inherent overlap in audiences, which can increase media costs and oversaturate audience with the same messaging.

The challenge is compounded with marketing & agency teams often siloed across brand and performance. The marketplace is chock-full of brands with separate brand and performance agencies, or brand’s managing one piece of the business in-house and outsourcing the other. This makes driving efficient and scalable business growth ever more challenging. It’s hard to orchestrate and creates overlaps and gaps in media and in resources.

Interconnectivity is the solution -- with a foundation of data, media, and people-fueled ideas. Brands need to unite on one shared goal, break down internal and agency silos to be connected in holistic media strategy, planning, and execution, and integrate data and measurement to quickly decide and chase revenue.

Here’s our top three ways to orchestrate harmony between brand and performance needs:

Align on a shared goal -- more than just saying we need to drive revenue. There needs to be KPI alignment across brand and performance and the channel and tactic level.

Create a holistic audience strategy that drives efficiency and increased incremental revenue through strategically managing overlap between brand and performance. This can come to life through nuanced prospecting, thoughtful consolidation, and ensuring for a shoppable and personalized experience throughout the consumer journey.

Connecting the audience strategy underpinned by data not only creates efficiencies but unlocks scale and revenue. Shared data and connected teams uncover new touchpoints and consumers, as well as strengthening the ability to test and learn across the programs.

Connect the process between brand and performance. None of this is possible without a joined-up approach. Being cohesive, actionable, streamlined, and holistic in our audiences, measurement, reporting, planning, and test and learn is crucial. It’s important to connect all teams across strategy, brand, performance, data, and technology. It makes sense, and it’s doable. It’s trying to see past the noise, bring teams together, and work together to drive scalable growth.