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. Measure […]

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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.