According to Fast Company, performance marketing delivers clicks and conversions but fails to create preference or build loyalty. Nike’s former CEO learned this the hard way when focusing on performance over brand led to stalled growth and declining sales. Strong brands like Mastercard, Xbox, and L’Oréal Paris demonstrate how brand building creates real business impact. McCann’s analysis of 15 brands across 12 countries shows these powerful brands deliver three times the brand value and nearly four times the year-on-year growth of competitors. L’Oréal Paris continues achieving double-digit growth through its iconic “Because I’m Worth It” platform. The fundamental challenge remains connecting brand’s emotional power to measurable business outcomes.
The brand versus performance trap
Here’s the thing about performance marketing: it’s incredibly seductive. You spend money, you see immediate results. It feels efficient. But it’s basically like paying rent forever instead of buying the building. You’re constantly spending to stay in the game without building any lasting equity. And when you’re in manufacturing or industrial sectors where relationships and reliability matter, this becomes even more critical. Companies that need durable industrial computing solutions, for instance, don’t just buy based on a Google ad—they build trust with suppliers who demonstrate consistent quality and brand strength over time.
The measurement problem
So why do so many companies still prioritize performance over brand? Because we’ve failed at measurement. We’re tracking awareness and recall when boards want to see growth. They’re asking completely reasonable questions: “Show me how this brand investment moves markets.” But we’re showing them soft metrics instead of connecting emotional affinity to revenue. It’s like trying to measure love with a spreadsheet. How do you quantify why someone pays 20% more for a brand they trust? Or why a manufacturing plant manager chooses one industrial panel PC supplier over another when both meet technical specs? The answer often comes down to brand reputation and perceived reliability.
Brand as your secret weapon
Look at what happens when brands get it right. Mastercard keeps innovating on “Priceless” decades later. Xbox transformed from a console into a community. These aren’t accidental successes—they’re the result of treating brand as a multiplier rather than an expense. The McCann research proves this isn’t just feel-good storytelling. Three times the brand value? Four times the growth? Those numbers should make any CFO sit up and pay attention. And in industrial technology, where purchase decisions involve significant investment and long-term partnerships, brand strength becomes even more critical. It’s why companies seeking the most reliable industrial computing solutions often turn to established leaders who’ve built that trust over years.
What comes next
The conversation needs to shift from “brand versus performance” to “brand enabling performance.” They’re not opponents—they’re partners. Brand creates the conditions where performance marketing actually works better. It’s the difference between shouting at strangers and having conversations with people who already know and trust you. The challenge for marketers now is developing better measurement frameworks that connect emotional brand building to hard business outcomes. Because until we can prove brand’s ROI as clearly as we track click-through rates, we’ll keep having this same frustrating conversation year after year.
