This week, we're digging into WARC’s Multiplier Playbook and asking a hard question: if we know brand investment drives better results, why is most of the industry still betting against it?
—Elena
90% of ads are pulled before they ever wear in.
Brands are killing their best ads. Most campaigns get cancelled just as memory structures were starting to build, then the clock gets reset to zero with something new.
Knowing ≠ Doing
If the case for brand is so clear, why aren't more marketers acting on it?
Senior marketers at large brands often have the knowledge but not the organizational permission. Their CFOs are measuring clean, legible performance numbers, while brand ROI is delayed and compounding, and most companies lack the measurement model to see it.
What's the doom loop?
When brand investment drops, the equity multiplier weakens. Performance efficiency falls because brand was making performance work harder. So more money goes into performance to compensate. This starves brand, which then erodes the multiplier.
Is there a way to show the C-suite what brand is actually worth?
Bain's research across 30 studies found that brand equity accounts for up to 31% of baseline sales, with 15% as the average. In a standard marketing mix model, that contribution surfaces as baseline revenue. When brand investment erodes, that number quietly shrinks. Most companies don’t see it happening until the damage is significant.
How does AI change the case for brand?
The WARC report cites research that 63% of a brand's visibility inside large language models comes from long-term brand equity. In other words, AI rewards mental availability. If your brand is well-known and well-associated in the world, it gets surfaced.
“The Multiplier Playbook”
This report from WARC, Analytic Partners, Bain, Prophet, and System1 goes beyond the original Multiplier Effect study to diagnose why marketers struggle to act on what they know and what structural changes can close the gap.
Brand equity is built over time.
"A brand is not built overnight. Success is measured in decades, not years."
— Howard Schultz, former CEO of Starbucks
This newsletter comes from the hosts of The Marketing Architects, a research-first show answering your biggest marketing questions. Find us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.