Branding

How to measure and track the impact of brand marketing

Dan Fleming, Tracksuit
Brand tracking can feel intangible — but it doesn’t have to be. In this session, Dan from Tracksuit broke down how marketers can prove the value of brand marketing, even in performance-driven environments. Here are the big insights: 📈 1. Brand is a Long-Term Growth Lever 🧪 2. Don’t Rely on Vanity Metrics 🧮 3. […]
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Brand tracking can feel intangible — but it doesn’t have to be. In this session, Dan from Tracksuit broke down how marketers can prove the value of brand marketing, even in performance-driven environments. Here are the big insights:

📈 1. Brand is a Long-Term Growth Lever

  • Most marketers fight for brand budgets because results aren’t immediate — but that doesn’t mean they’re not powerful.
  • Dan shared how investing in brand is about creating future demand — building familiarity now so people buy later.

🧪 2. Don’t Rely on Vanity Metrics

  • Impressions and engagement don’t equal awareness.
  • A TikTok study across 147 brands showed zero correlation between engagement and brand awareness — but strong correlation between awareness and conversion.

🧮 3. Measure What Matters

For most brands, the 3 essential metrics are:

  • Aided awareness (do people know you?)
  • Brand perceptions (do people trust you?)
  • Connection to business outcomes like revenue growth and customer acquisition cost (CAC)

🏋️‍♂️ 4. Brand vs. Performance? It’s a False Choice

  • The best brands think in terms of existing demand (short-term buyers) and future demand (long-term growth).
  • Brand marketing raises the ceiling for your performance marketing — the two are complementary, not competing.

🧃 5. Use Controlled Experiments to Prove Brand Impact

  • Can’t afford full-funnel measurement? Compare regions or time periods.
  • Dan shared how brands with higher awareness in certain areas saw improved conversion, helping justify future investment.

💡 6. In Tough Times, Don’t Cut Brand Completely

  • Many brands slash brand budgets in hard times and go all-in on performance — but that trades long-term growth for short-term wins.
  • Instead, rebalance. Shrinking both brand and performance sensibly maintains future growth potential.

🧔 7. Founders = Brand Signals

  • Founders can be brand assets or liabilities.
  • Tesla’s trust erosion due to Musk is real — whereas Zuckerberg’s rebrand shows how intentional image-shaping can work.

💬 8. Speak in Business Language

  • To get leadership on board, frame brand around:
    • Growth
    • Lowering CAC
    • Building defensibility (brand loyalty, price resilience, etc.)
  • Avoid marketing jargon. Connect brand metrics to commercial outcomes.

🧰 9. Tools Vary by Stage

  • Startups: focus on product-market fit, branded search, and CAC/LTV.
  • Mid-stage: begin tracking brand health metrics like awareness and consideration.
  • Enterprise: consider econometric modelling or ongoing brand tracking like Tracksuit.

📊 10. Case Study: The RealReal

  • A campaign featuring fake luxury items in NYC drove:
    • 9% uplift in awareness
    • $15M revenue growth
    • No increase in media spend — just smarter brand investment

👉 Final thought from Dan: Think of brand marketing as delayed-response marketing. Performance marketing is your short-term engine — but brand is what expands the road ahead.