The Real ROI of Marketing: Why Brands That Invest, Win

1. Short-term pressure – Quarterly targets push teams to favour tactics that deliver quick sales, even at the expense of long-term brand health.
2. Measurement bias – We can easily track the clicks from a Facebook ad, but not the gradual rise in brand preference over three years.
3. Misunderstanding the discipline – Marketing isn’t “making things look nice.” It’s about creating mental availability, building trust, and ensuring your brand has a place in the customer’s decision set before they’re ready to buy.

The danger is clear: over time, an underfunded brand becomes less visible, less relevant, and more reliant on discounts to shift stock. It’s a slow erosion that often goes unnoticed until it’s hard to reverse.[/tk_text_row][tk_text_row sub_heading=”The Investment Mindset” color_theme=”dark-text” row_height=”default-height” content_width=”col-sm-12″ alignment=”start” bg_type=”color”]In contrast, brands that see marketing as an investment play the long game, and they win. Research by Les Binet and Peter Field, drawn from decades of IPA Effectiveness Awards data, shows that the most successful companies typically spend 60% of their budgets on brand building and 40% on activation.
(Read more at IPA)

Why? Because brand-building activity — emotional storytelling, distinctive creative, consistent presence — creates demand before customers are in-market. Activation then harvests that demand when they are ready to buy.

Kantar’s analysis reinforces this: strong brands can achieve five times the sales volume and command price premiums over weaker brands. (Source: Kantar / Radio Connects) That extra margin cushions you against price wars and enables reinvestment in further growth.

And crucially, this level of strategic brand-building requires both creative skill and a deep understanding of market positioning, something you won’t get from simply commissioning a designer for a one-off project. It’s the product of integrated thinking, sustained over time, to ensure every touchpoint strengthens your brand’s equity.[/tk_text_row][tk_text_row sub_heading=”Short-Term vs. Long-Term ROI” color_theme=”dark-text” row_height=”default-height” content_width=”col-sm-12″ alignment=”start” bg_type=”color”]Think of activation spend as the “carbs” of your marketing diet, quick energy that fuels immediate action. Brand-building is the “protein”, slower to digest but essential for strength and resilience.

Cutting brand investment may boost short-term profit, but it risks starving future sales. The AA provides a cautionary tale: when the motoring organisation cut brand-building spend, it quickly saw declining margins and greater reliance on price-led offers. (Case study at System1)[/tk_text_row][tk_text_row sub_heading=”Measuring the Unseen” color_theme=”dark-text” row_height=”default-height” content_width=”col-sm-12″ alignment=”start” bg_type=”color”]One common objection is: “If we can’t measure it, how do we know it’s working?” The answer: you can measure it, just not always in the same way you measure a pay-per-click campaign.

Indicators of long-term brand health include:

• Share of voice vs. share of market – Brands that maintain a higher share of voice tend to grow their market share over time.
• Brand consideration and preference scores – Often measured in annual brand tracking studies.
• Customer lifetime value – Increased loyalty and repeat purchase frequency can be tied back to brand strength.

These metrics don’t spike overnight, but they compound, and compounding is the marketer’s best friend.[/tk_text_row][tk_text_row sub_heading=”The Garden and Home Lens” color_theme=”dark-text” row_height=”default-height” content_width=”col-sm-12″ alignment=”start” bg_type=”color”]One common objection is: “If we can’t measure it, how do we know it’s working?” The answer: you can measure it, just not always in the same way you measure a pay-per-click campaign.

In the garden and home sectors, the principle is clear. Brands like Miracle-Gro or Le Creuset don’t just sell products, they sell aspirations. A beautiful garden, a home that feels warm and welcoming, a sense of pride in the space you’ve created. These emotional connections are built over years, through consistent storytelling, distinctive packaging, and seasonal campaigns that feel part of the customer’s life.

Conversely, brands that treat marketing as a quick sales lever often get stuck in a cycle of promotions. That might move stock in spring, but it rarely builds a customer relationship that lasts until next year’s planting season.[/tk_text_row][tk_text_row sub_heading=”What the Data Says Right Now” color_theme=”dark-text” row_height=”default-height” content_width=”col-sm-12″ alignment=”start” bg_type=”color”]The latest IPA Bellwether Report (Q2 2025) shows marketing budgets rebounding by 5.5% after a rare dip earlier in the year. But the growth is heavily skewed towards tactical spend — direct marketing and promotions — while investment in brand-building remains underweight. It’s a strategic blind spot that will cost brands in the next downturn.[/tk_text_row][tk_text_row sub_heading=”The Assumptions Worth Challenging” color_theme=”dark-text” row_height=”default-height” content_width=”col-sm-12″ alignment=”start” bg_type=”color”]Assumption: If it doesn’t drive sales this quarter, it’s wasted.
Reality: Brand-building creates the conditions for future sales, allowing you to maintain price and reduce reliance on discounts.

Assumption: Activation spend is always safer.
Reality: Without brand equity, activation becomes less effective and more expensive over time.

Assumption: We can’t measure brand ROI.
Reality: You can, through the right mix of brand tracking, customer value analysis, and market share trends.[/tk_text_row]