The digital brand handbook from MerkBrouwers

Why brand building takes staying power

You don’t build a brand in one campaign. Large analyses of campaigns, share prices and buying behaviour show why consistency over years makes the difference.

2 min read4 sources

Key figures

60:40

is the best split between brand building and direct activation, according to 996 campaigns.

MeasuredSource [13]

43%

of emotional brand campaigns showed very large profit effects after three years or more, against 23% of rational ones.

MeasuredSource [13]

95%

of B2B buyers are not in the market for what you sell right now.

EstimateSource [14]

84%

of companies are stuck in a ‘brand doom loop’: the brand is under-measured and therefore underfunded.

SurveySource [16]

Short effect, long effect

For the IPA, Les Binet and Peter Field analysed 996 campaigns from 700 brands in 83 categories. Activation, such as offers and direct calls to action, drives sales quickly, but the effect also fades quickly. Brand building works more slowly, but it accumulates: the brand gets stronger and customers become less price sensitive.

The difference only shows after years. After one year, 13% of emotional brand campaigns showed very large profit effects; after three years or more, 43%. Rational campaigns stalled at 23%. The best results came from roughly 60% of budget for brand and 40% for activation.

In B2B, almost nobody is buying today

John Dawes of the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute and LinkedIn’s B2B Institute point to a simple rule: only about 5% of business buyers are in the market right now. The other 95% will buy in months or years.

If you only address today’s buyers, you miss almost the entire market. Your brand has to stay recognisable and familiar until the other 95% do buy. That only works if your logo, colours and tone come back the same every time.

Strong brands hold their value

Since 2006 Kantar has tracked the share prices of the most valuable brands. Companies with the strongest brands consistently outperform the market average.

Yet many companies barely measure the strength of their brand. Gartner calls this a ‘brand doom loop’: what isn’t measured gets less budget, and what gets less budget is measured even less. According to Gartner, 84% of companies are caught in that loop.

What does this mean for your brand?

Choose your distinctive brand assets and keep them the same for years.
Judge brand work not only on immediate results, but also on what it builds over years.
Measure regularly how recognisable your brand is, so you can back up brand building.

Sources used

[13]
The Long and the Short of It
Les Binet and Peter Field for the IPA, analysis of 996 campaigns from 700 brands in 83 categories, 2013
Measured2013
[14]
The 95:5 rule is the new 60:40 rule
Peter Weinberg and Jon Lombardo (LinkedIn’s B2B Institute) in Marketing Week, based on work by John Dawes (Ehrenberg-Bass Institute), September 2021
Estimate2021
[15]
Using Kantar BrandZ to make the case for long-term brand-building investment
Kantar BrandZ, share price performance of the most valuable brands since 2006, October 2024
Measured2024
[16]
Gartner Marketing Survey Finds 84% of Companies Are Stuck in a Brand Doom Loop
Gartner, 426 senior marketing leaders, September–October 2025, published June 2026
Survey2026

Scientific background

Sharp, B. (2010). How Brands Grow. Oxford University Press.
Romaniuk, J. (2018). Building Distinctive Brand Assets. Oxford University Press.
Binet, L. & Field, P. (2013). The Long and the Short of It: Balancing Short and Long-Term Marketing Strategies. IPA.

Figures are taken from the source pages. Survey figures reflect what respondents report or expect, not a measured effect.

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