Performance branding
Performance branding
If you're doing branding well, it should drive performance. If you're doing performance well, it should grow your brand.
I coined performance branding.
When you're bootstrapped, the only way to keep putting money behind a story is if the story makes money. The right ads and creative drive sales now and build the brand at the same time. The sales pay for it, and the brand shows up later in brand search, direct traffic and organic search.
A brand, to me, is a personality, a community, a feeling. Is it somebody you'd invite over for dinner, or somebody you wave at and keep walking? A logo is the reminder.
The cleanest proof I have is the Purple logo test. People knew Goldilocks smashing eggs. They didn't know the name. We put the logo in the corner where the skip button sits. Nothing else changed. Brand search lifted 2,824% for viewers versus a hold-out.
Groove Life is the other one I'll sign. $3M to $50M+. The hook people remember is "Have you seen this ring?" Low production. A question. It sold the product and it built the brand, because those were the same job.
Most brand virality is paid for.
How I measure the brand
By everything the brand drives, not just platform ROAS. That means brand search, direct traffic, organic search and blended MER. Use the data directionally, not as absolutes. How I pick the number is on What to measure. The short version of this page is on the Playbook.
The 2014 post Paid Advertising You Suck! is the early version of this argument. I was tired of paid media getting cast as the transactional villain. The long-term relationship and the measurable sale are the same customer.
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Questions
What is performance branding?
If you're doing branding well, it should drive performance. If you're doing performance well, it should grow your brand. Doing one without the other is doing it wrong.
Who coined it?
I did, back when I was at Purple. I've used it on podcasts and stages ever since.
How do you measure it?
By everything the brand drives, not just platform ROAS. That means brand search, direct traffic, organic search and blended MER. Use the data directionally, not as absolutes.