Performance + Branding = Outcomes

“Performance branding” joins two traditional worlds of performance and branding together so consumer engagement thrives.

In the old days (meaning, more than 10 years ago), there used to be two very distinct schools of thought when it came to advertising. One was brand-focused and the other was performance-focused. You couldn’t be both. Practitioners of our discipline – “marketers” – were dubbed as highly-refined brand experts…or they were considered gritty, performance-based, DR-focused experts. Again, there was no gray area.

You were in one camp or the other, devoted to one discipline but not both.

Clearly, this way of thinking began to break. At the very least, this thinking was ineffective and slow. The true breaking point likely stemmed from the rise of mobile advertising (or, mobile consumption in general by consumers). No longer could brand marketers control the environment in which consumers would experience their brand. The phone or mobile device made interacting with brands ubiquitous. Similarly, performance marketers, you know the ones historically focused on clicks, actions, conversions, downloads and the like, have in recent years gained a greater, more vocal seat at the budget table.

ROI, or ROAS, became trendy. Go figure.

Imagine a world where the two disciplines meet, connect, overlap and actually…talk to one another. Imagine a world where these two historically different marketing hats understand one another. Root for each other, even. 

It’s here, folks. This year, and in the coming year or two, the barriers will have become broken down almost entirely. Thanks to digital, and mainly mobile, marketers will be marketers. They won’t wear a brand hat or a performance hat, they’ll be required to use both sides of their brains and be marketers. Specifically, business-minded marketers. 

You see, this world that is here now by way of technology, has provided marketers a way to align brand goals, product goals, marketing goals, and channel goals. Not only that, communication and engagement strategies are seamlessly weaved into an educated analysis of campaigns. Channels – traditional ones like search and display, along with newer ones like social and programmatic – can be, and are, evaluated using several multivariate combinations.

Of course, the biggest area that branding will meet performance is creative. Creative optimization has always been a bellwether for performance marketers. It’s an indispensable tool to evaluate the effectiveness of campaigns based on look, size, message and style. Now, brand marketers are able to understand that creative optimization is (and always has been) the quickest form of market research about a brand that you can possibly have. It gives a marketer instant feedback on what people think of the brand and how they are interacting with it, and engaging with it. 

What’s not different is that these two worlds are here to stay. What is different is that these two worlds are here to stay, together, intertwined with one another.

Call or email us today to find out how we can bring performance and branding together for you!