Marketers have long chased the holy grail of immediate returns, pouring resources into performance advertising to drive clicks, conversions, and quick wins.
But new research from WARC, in partnership with Analytic Partners, BERA.ai, Prophet, and System1, warns that this relentless focus on short-term gains is leading many brands into what experts call the “Doom Loop”—a dangerous cycle of diminishing returns and stagnating growth.
The Fatal Flaw in Performance-Only Strategies
The study, titled The Multiplier Effect—A CMO’s Guide to Brand Building in the Performance Era, presents compelling evidence that businesses are leaving significant revenue and profit on the table by treating brand and performance advertising as separate silos.
While performance advertising delivers fast results, it lacks the longevity and emotional connection that brand-building offers.
The research found that brands shifting from a mixed advertising model to a performance-only approach suffer an average ROI decline of 40%.
Brand Equity: The Ultimate Growth Hack
The research highlights that combining performance marketing with strong brand-building efforts doesn’t just work—it multiplies results.
Data from Analytic Partners shows that brands that balance both performance and brand advertising see revenue ROI improvements ranging from 25% to a staggering 100%, with an average uplift of 90%.
Meanwhile, System1’s analysis of high-impact advertising reveals that 92.1% of strong equity-building ads also performed well in the short term, proving that investing in brand-building doesn’t mean sacrificing immediate sales.
Brand x Performance: The Magic Formula for Maximum ROI
For years, marketers have debated the balance between brand and performance marketing, often treating them as separate disciplines.
But The Multiplier Effect reveals a paradigm shift—rather than seeing brand-building and performance marketing as “brand + performance,” marketers should reframe their strategy as “brand x performance.”
This approach recognises their codependency, leveraging brand equity to accelerate commercial performance while allowing performance ads to reinforce brand perception.
Breaking Free: How to Apply The Multiplier Effect
CMOs looking to harness The Multiplier Effect and escape the “Doom Loop” should consider these best practices:
Allocate at least 30% of ad spend to brand-building, with 40%-60% being the optimal range.
Watch out for the “Search Ceiling”—spending more than 25% of your budget on search ads may indicate an over-reliance on performance marketing.
Ditch siloed thinking—opt for full-funnel creative platforms where performance and brand marketing reinforce each other.
Tie promotions to brand identity to ensure short-term sales tactics still strengthen long-term brand equity.
Build a “measurement stack” that identifies your brand’s baseline revenue and accurately tracks the incremental impact of advertising.
The Future of Marketing Lies in Integration
Ann Marie Kerwin, Americas Editor at WARC, emphasizes that this research is just the beginning.
Future studies will explore how advertising aligns with other brand-building activities, how creativity can be optimised, and how marketers can effectively present this argument to CFOs.
In an era where every marketing dollar is scrutinised, The Multiplier Effect offers a clear blueprint: brands that embrace an integrated, holistic approach—where brand-building and performance marketing work in tandem—stand to gain the most.
The question isn’t whether you can afford to invest in brand-building.
