Brand marketing: the operator's ultimate guide

Brand marketing is the discipline of building awareness, associations, and trust with your target audience — the work that makes paid acquisition more efficient over time. The brand-vs-performance debate is largely settled in 2026: both compound, both are required, and the brands that invest in both outperform the brands that invest in only one.

RGM Experts Say

The 60/40 brand-vs-performance split isn't a starting point — it's where mature brands land. New brands shouldn't start there. The honest sequence is: 90% performance until you've proven unit economics, then start shifting 5-10% to brand each quarter as performance starts hitting diminishing returns. Trying to do 60/40 from day one usually means you starve performance before you've found product-market fit, then have nothing to show for the brand spend either. Get the unit economics first; the brand investment compounds on top.

By David Schaefer · LinkedIn · Updated May 2026

What brand actually is

Brand is the sum of mental associations a customer carries about your company. It includes:

  • Recognition — does the customer know who you are?
  • Recall — when they think of the category, do they think of you?
  • Reputation — what do they associate with you (quality, value, trust, ease, etc.)?
  • Preference — given options, do they pick you?
  • Premium — are they willing to pay more for you?

The Byron Sharp framework

MENTAL AVAILABILITY BE REMEMBERED PHYSICAL AVAILABILITY BE FOUND DISTINCT ASSETS BE RECOGNIZED LIGHT BUY PENETRATION REACH NEW FIG. 01 RGM® · BLUEPRINT

FIG. 01 — Byron Sharp's growth drivers

Byron Sharp's How Brands Grow (2010) reshaped the industry's thinking. The core arguments:

  • Brand growth comes primarily from acquiring new customers, not from deepening loyalty.
  • Mental availability (being remembered) and physical availability (being findable) are the dominant growth levers.
  • Loyalty is a function of market share — bigger brands have more loyal customers because they have more customers.
  • Distinct brand assets (logo, colors, mascots, slogans, jingles) drive recognition at moments of choice.

The implication: brand investment in broad reach to category buyers is usually higher-leverage than deep retention investment.

The Les Binet and Peter Field framework

Binet and Field's research at the IPA showed:

  • Brand-building and performance marketing both compound, but at different rates.
  • The optimal mix is roughly 60% brand-building, 40% performance for most categories.
  • Pure-performance budgets eventually hit diminishing returns.
  • Brand-building works on longer time horizons (months to years).
  • Performance works on shorter time horizons (days to weeks).

See brand vs performance marketing for the cross-channel implications.

Brand-building tactics

  • CTV advertising for mass reach.
  • YouTube and video advertising for visual storytelling at scale.
  • Podcast advertising for attentive audiences.
  • Out-of-home and DOOH for high-frequency brand impressions.
  • Organic content — long-form video, podcasts, books, manifestos.
  • PR and earned media for credibility.
  • Sponsorships and partnerships for category association.
  • Distinctive brand assets — visual identity, voice, signature moments.

Brand measurement

  • Aided awareness. "Have you heard of [brand]?" — survey-based.
  • Unaided awareness. "What brands of [category] can you name?" — harder, more honest.
  • Brand consideration. "Which brands would you consider for [purchase]?"
  • Brand preference. "Which brand would you choose?"
  • Net Promoter Score (NPS). Existing customer loyalty signal.
  • Branded search volume. Trends in searches for your brand name.
  • Share of voice. Your category mentions vs competitors.
  • Brand lift studies. Survey-based measurement post-campaign.

How brand fits the broader stack

What's the right brand-vs-performance split?

Binet and Field's research suggests 60% brand, 40% performance for most categories. Early-stage brands skew more performance; mature brands skew more brand-building.

Is brand marketing measurable?

Yes, but with longer time horizons and softer signals than performance. Aided/unaided awareness surveys, branded search trends, NPS, brand-lift studies, share of voice. MMM captures brand impact on revenue over time.

What does Byron Sharp say?

Brand growth comes from acquiring new customers, not deepening loyalty. Mental availability and physical availability are the dominant levers. Distinctive brand assets drive recognition.

Brand or performance first?

Early-stage: performance first to find product-market fit and unit economics. Once those are proven, layer brand investment to compound performance efficiency.

What's distinctive brand assets?

Logo, colors, mascots, jingles, slogans, signature visuals — anything that triggers recognition of your brand without naming it. Distinctive assets are why Coca-Cola red and Nike's swoosh work without text.

How long does brand-building take to pay off?

6-18 months for first measurable lift in awareness and consideration. 24-60 months for full compounding. Brand-building is slow; the brands that started 10 years ago benefit now.

Operating checklist

  1. Define the business outcome before opening tools.
  2. Configure measurement and audit baseline.
  3. Onboard data, verify quality and coverage.
  4. Build foundational programs before advanced layers.
  5. Launch controlled; monitor daily.
  6. Refresh quarterly; document for the next operator.