Companies that shift from a performance-dominated mix to a balanced one see a median 90% lift in revenue ROI, and the reason comes down to how brand and performance work together. 

At BERA’s Multiplier Playbook Day, a gathering of marketing, insights, and analytics leaders focused on connecting brand investment to business growth, David Tiltman, chief content officer at WARC, opened with research showing how brand multiplies performance, and pointed to the gap marketers need to close to put those insights into practice.

Three findings set the foundation for the rest of the day:

• Brand still matters, and stronger brands perform better across a range of business measures.
• Advertising works hardest when it does two jobs at once, converting people in market today while building relevance with people who will be in market tomorrow.
• Those two jobs are intertwined, so siloing brand and performance puts growth at risk.

Brand and performance work best together

Data from Analytic Partners, one of the research coalition partners, shows the return on balancing brand and performance. Companies that moved from a performance-dominated mix to a balanced one saw a median 90% increase in revenue ROI, with a range of 25% to 100%. Companies that cut back on brand and shifted toward performance saw a performance penalty, with revenue ROI falling about 40% on average.

BERA.ai data shows why the two approaches can’t be separated. As brand equity rises, the likelihood of converting from one funnel stage to the next improves at every step. The steepest increase comes between consideration and usage, which lies at the bottom of the funnel where performance marketing usually gets the credit. A stronger brand makes every part of the funnel work harder. 

Close the say-do gap

Moving from the theory in The Multiplier Effect to the practical guidance in The Multiplier Playbook revealed the “say-do gap.” Most marketers know the theory and have seen the research, but they struggle to put it into practice. Two disconnects drive this gap.

The first is the brand disconnect. Most C-suite leaders agree a strong brand matters, yet few measure brand’s contribution to sales, revenue, or profit. Leadership treats brand as a long-term asset instead of a driver of today’s performance. 

The second is the advertising disconnect, a real split between CMOs and the rest of the C-suite over the role of advertising. In an ANA survey conducted before the playbook’s release, 60% of CMOs said the C-suite doesn’t understand the role of advertising, and only 20% reported high alignment between advertising objectives and company objectives.

Digging deeper, Tiltman identified eight structural, procedural, and cultural blockers that keep CMOs from acting on the research. They sit on three levels: alignment with the C-suite, how marketing teams are built and whether they work in silos, and the work itself.

Strong brands have an edge in AI discovery

The brand and performance conversation is also gaining momentum as AI changes how consumers discover brands. Research from UK-based Charlie Oscar found 63% of a company’s LLM visibility was attributable to long-term brand equity. Brands with a clear identity built over years have a natural advantage as consumers turn to generative AI to discover and compare options. Marketers focused on generative engine optimization will find the fundamentals of the Multiplier Effect shape those results too.

The research gives marketers a clear starting point. Brand and performance multiply each other, and the companies that move from theory to practice by measuring that relationship gain an advantage across the funnel and in AI-driven discovery.

Measure where brand multiplies performance

BERA.ai data shows where brand equity does its work across the funnel. A brand that needs to grow its customer base may need to build Familiarity, while a brand facing price pressure may need to strengthen Meaningfulness and Uniqueness to protect pricing power. The investment mix should follow the brand outcome you’re trying to drive.

BERA.ai quantifies both paths to growth: media’s direct impact on sales and the indirect impact it creates by building brand equity. Brand finally earns its place in the growth plan, with numbers finance can trust.