This post was created in partnership with Teads
Key takeaways
- Brand and performance are strongest when treated as one strategy.
- Over-prioritizing performance can erode long-term brand value.
- Creative experimentation delivers impact, even without clear metrics.
Brand and performance marketing teams, long-time frenemies, have traditionally competed for C-suite love, attention, and budget. But unifying these two marketing forces can generate short-term business results and long-term brand equity—both of which are essential for success.
During an ADWEEK House Cannes Lions Group Chat co-hosted with Teads, industry leaders discussed why they’re super excited about the “brandformance” era.
The perfect power couple
While brand and performance are sometimes diametrically opposed, Katie Secret, EVP, global head of marketing and go-to-market strategy at Teads, opened the discussion by describing those functions as two important pieces of the same puzzle that need to fuel each other. “The more we can harness the two together, the better the results.”
On the one hand, brand building is a long game that can help grow a loyal customer base. “The reason why brands last forever is because of the brand. It’s not because of what they did in a particular quarter,” said Aïda Moudachirou-Rebois, SVP and general manager of MAC Cosmetics.
On the flipside, performance is what helps companies meet short-term revenue goals. “I find there’s a tendency when you talk about brand to sort of demonize or denigrate performance marketing. It feels cheap and maybe not that significant—but it works,” said Peter Giorgi, SVP of brand marketing at Rocket.
But what’s most ideal is when both functions feed off each other. David DeMuth, CEO of Doner, cited the example of his automotive clients. “When you’re in the market to buy a car, we’ve got to get you, so performance marketing plays a very important role. But the other way to look at that is we have 6-8 years to influence your decision. So, I think it’s very much a matter of playing with those dials and turning them in the right direction,” he said.
Balancing the relationship
Finding the right balance between brand building and performance marketing remains an ongoing challenge for marketers navigating shifting priorities.
“Four or five years ago, everyone swung way too far into performance, and now in the last 18 months, there’s been a massive tick back to ‘we have to over-invest into brand,’” shared Liz Vance, chief client officer of iProspect.
Mary Vrančić, senior director of marketing at McDonald’s Australia, described the brand vs. performance dynamic as more of an ebb and flow. “When we had really strong sales, we took a step back and said we could be better at storytelling and bringing these two things together,” she shared.
Measuring ‘brandformance’ goals
David Kostman, CEO of Teads, said better ways to measure are on the way. “We’re looking at the opportunity of combining branding and performance and providing primarily large enterprise brands the capabilities and a platform where they can launch and optimize between branding and performance—with emphasis on the ‘and,’” he shared.
For retail brands using a full omnichannel funnel approach, like CVS, access to all sorts of metrics is important, added Melissa Gallo, executive director and head of client success for CVS Media Exchange (CMX). “You have to go ahead and try to get your ROAS goals and try to get sales, but we’re also trying to move up the funnel,” she said.
Megan Jones, chief media officer of Digitas, shared that her team has also been engaging more with clients about their business objectives—even asking to be included in meetings with their CFOs.
“We remind clients we’re in service of their business doing well, and their business doing well is not delivering a clickthrough rate,” Jones explained. “Their business doing well is actually driving sales and getting customers that are going to deliver a longer or higher lifetime value.”
Some aspects of creative work may not be measurable, however, explained Jonathan Rigby, chief strategy officer at Initiative and IPG Mediabrands. “There’s an intangible element that we still want to protect as an industry, while trying to find ways to convince our CFOs that there’s a multiplier effect to distinctiveness,” he said.
Rocket’s Giorgi agreed, adding that experimentation can lead to great ideas. “It’s OK to do some things that can’t be measured. Some of the best ideas around here were not expensive. And that kind of thing keeps me inspired.”
Featured Conversation Leaders
- David DeMuth, CEO, Doner
- Melissa Gallo, Executive Director, Head of Client Success, CVS Media Exchange (CMX)
- Peter Giorgi, SVP, Brand Marketing, Rocket
- Megan Jones, Chief Media Officer, Digitas
- David Kostman, CEO, Teads
- Aïda Moudachirou-Rebois, SVP, General Manager, MAC Cosmetics
- Jonathan Rigby, Chief Strategy Officer, Initiative and IPG Mediabrands
- Zoë Ruderman, Chief Content Officer, ADWEEK
- Katie Secret, EVP, Global Head of Marketing and Go-to-Market Strategy, Teads
- Mary Vrančić, Senior Director, Marketing, McDonald’s Australia
- Liz Vance, Chief Client Officer, iProspect
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