• by Phil Sitilides , March 18, 2025

Many marketers mistakenly see brand and performance marketing as separate, even opposing forces. Historically, brand marketing is associated with long-term value and awareness, while performance marketing is linked to immediate results and conversions.

It's time to argue for a more holistic perspective: These two approaches are deeply interconnected. A strong brand significantly enhances performance marketing, and at the same time, performance marketing contributes to brand growth, creating a synergistic relationship that drives overall business success.

Integrating Brand as a Performance Amplifier

When these two approaches are aligned, they amplify each other, driving both brand awareness and conversions. Brand marketing introduces the brand and its value, paving the way for performance marketing to target and convert customers, creating a full-funnel marketing strategy. Brand awareness and trust increase customer engagement and conversions, which lowers costs and boosts overall success.

Apple seamlessly integrates brand and performance marketing with iPhone launches. Brand marketing creates an emotional connection and highlights the iPhone's lifestyle appeal, while performance marketing drives sales through targeted ads and pre-order campaigns.

The combination of brand and performance marketing creates a powerful cycle. Brand marketing generates the desire, and performance marketing fulfills that desire, leading to measurable sales results. One without the other is less effective. If Apple only focused on emotional appeal, the company might have a lot of interested people but miss out on sales. If it only focused on performance tactics, those tactics might be less effective, because consumers wouldn't have the initial emotional connection to drive their purchase.

Measuring the Combined Impact

While traditional performance marketing metrics like conversion rates and cost per acquisition are valuable, it's also important to consider brand-centric metrics. Measuring ROI for brand and performance marketing provides insight into overall marketing effectiveness.

WARC’s recent Multiplier Effect Report indicates that this combined approach can boost advertising effectiveness and ROI by 25% to 100%, with an average increase of 90%. To achieve optimal results, it's recommended to allocate 40% to 60% of a marketing budget to brand while dedicating the remaining funds to performance advertising.

The success depends on being able to measure the impact throughout the consumer journey and attribute the proper credit to upper-funnel tactics that lead to conversions. We’ve executed insurance

campaigns featuring brand-focused CTV ads and successfully measured their direct impact on driving

incremental leads through search, leading to a more efficient ROAS when combining the investments. Early framework development ensures proper campaign structure and eliminates uncertainty.

The Dangers of Prioritizing One Over the Other

Prioritizing either brand or performance marketing exclusively can be detrimental. Overemphasizing performance for quick wins can weaken the brand, resulting in degradation, customer churn, and declining returns.

Conversely, focusing solely on brand building without a performance-driven approach may result in strong brand awareness but fail to generate sufficient conversions and revenue. Without performance marketing that leverages brand awareness, businesses risk missed sales, stunted growth, and lost market share.

By recognizing the symbiotic relationship between these two approaches, businesses can unlock significant growth potential and achieve greater marketing effectiveness.