• by Talia Arnold , May 13, 2025

Talia Arnold from Managing Director of Exverus Media writes “In times of economic uncertainty, marketing teams meticulously dissect budgets, scrutinize sales, and reconsider growth projections but a crucial element often slips: brand equity.”

In times of economic uncertainty, marketing teams meticulously dissect budgets, scrutinize sales, and reconsider growth projections. But amid this flurry of performance-focused discussion, a crucial element often slips through the cracks: brand equity.

While executives chase tangible metrics like conversions and sales, the less tangible value of their brand—consumer perception and its effects on the bottom line—remains largely unmeasured and undervalued. This oversight is a critical misstep in strategy, because despite our appetites for instant gratification, brand equity is not a luxury—it is the key to lasting, sustained business growth.

What exactly is brand equity? Simply put, it's the reason people choose (and pay more for) your product instead of a generic equivalent. It encompasses brand awareness, associations, loyalty, and perceived quality. Brand equity explains what a customer just bought and determines whether they'll return next year. Since most people aren't in the market for your product today, strong brand equity ensures they think of you instead of competitors when they're ready to buy.

Why does this matter for your media planning? Stronger brand equity acts as a multiplier, enhancing the impact and efficiency of all marketing efforts. When brand equity is high, both brand and performance marketing achieve better results, leading to increased sales and customer retention. As WARC confirmed in its 2025 paper "The Multiplier Effect," the biggest returns come when marketers see brand equity as an accelerant of commercial performance.

If it's so important, why is brand equity often overlooked? Most marketers don't intend to devalue their brand; it just gets lost in the pursuit of immediate results. While CMOs usually understand the importance of equity-building, convincing the rest of the C-suite can be challenging when they fail to grasp how equity investments correlate to bottom-line results.

The solution starts with measurement: what gets measured gets managed. We recommend collecting both quantitative and qualitative data points.

Qualitative methods include brand lift studies with open-ended survey questions, sentiment analyses, and focus groups that provide insights into emotional connections and brand differentiations.

Quantitative methods encompass financial metrics like price premiums customers will pay, customer satisfaction surveys, and website analytics including branded search volume.

• To integrate brand equity into your media plans:

• Include specific brand equity KPIs from the outset

• Link brand equity to revenue through statistical modeling

• Use predictive analytics to test various budget scenarios, starting by allocating approximately 40% of your media budget to brand-building tactics

Brand equity is essential in paid media planning, as it informs budget allocation, enhances advertising effectiveness, and multiplies long-term business success. When brand equity is high, all marketing achieves better results, leading to increased sales and customer retention—making you the hero of the C-suite.

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