WHEN DID “BRAND” BECOME A FOUR-LETTER WORD?

Why the Seismic Shift Toward Performance Marketing is Costing Companies More than they Realize

Not long ago, “brand” was the heartbeat of every CMO’s agenda.

It lived in the center of how companies connected with customers and other stakeholders, codified their values, differentiated themselves from competitors, and most importantly, built enduring equity and long-term loyalty.

But today, it seems like “Brand” has become a four-letter word, perceived as indulgent, unmeasurable, and too slow to move the needle.

In its place?

A rising fixation on performance marketing: lower-funnel tactics, real-time optimizations, cost per (click.acquisition/etc.) and very short-term ROI. No question, these priorities have critical value, especially in an age where the media landscape has become unbearably complex, everything is measurable and we are increasingly relying on machine learning – yes, AI – to do planning, analysis and optimization.

• Author note: I purposely inserted those em-dashes. I remain an unashamed fan of using this punctuation mark to set off parenthetical information. And I like…….a dramatic pause.

Back to the swing away from Brand.

This overcorrection is flawed and potentially dangerous for advertisers. But it’s understandable. We’ve entered an era where CEOs, CFOs and Boards want proof of return on every dollar. Where AI is rewriting ad copy, designing work, and building plans and segmentations in milliseconds. I mean geez, Meta has stated, not so subtly, that all advertising across their platforms will be created, measured and optimized by AI by 2026. That’s in 5 months!

Compounding this is a backdrop of a volatile economy made less stable by unclear tariffs, geo-political unrest, and an increasingly bifurcated populace. Marketers find themselves under more pressure than ever to do more with less. With little patience from above. All of this, making Meta’s declaration all too believable.

And so, here we are. The pendulum swings. “Brand” gets deprioritized, defunded, and sometimes, dismissed entirely.

• “Your brand is what people say about your company when you’re not in the room, and how much they’re willing to pay because of it.” – Jeff Bezos, Amazon

That statement should make every CEO, CFO and board member take pause. Because despite how it’s often mislabeled, Brand is not a cost center. It’s not soft. It’s not a logo. It’s not arts and crafts. It’s not something “nice to have” when times are good.

Your Brand is a Competitive Moat

A Brand is the total value of how your company and its offerings are perceived by customers, partners, employees, and investors. It’s the emotional and rational shorthand for why you exist, what your business stands for and why people should choose it over others. Strong brands command higher prices, create loyalty, attract talent, and reduce acquisition costs.

Right now, in a world where AI-generated content is leveling the playing field and performance marketing alone isn’t enough to sustain growth, a strong, differentiated brand is one of the few remaining long-term advantages that companies can leverage.

“A brand is trust at scale. It’s the sum of every experience, every promise kept, every story told, shaping how people feel and what they expect when they see your name.” – Marty Neumeier, Author of The Brand Gap

The false binary: Brand vs. Performance

Let’s be clear: performance marketing isn’t the enemy. It’s critical. The smartest companies don’t choose between brand and performance. They integrate both.

Performance tactics may drive clicks and conversions, but brand is what gets you noticed and why they arrive in the first place. It’s what gets remembered when the buying cycle is long. It’s what earns you trust before a search begins and loyalty after the sale closes.

Brand lifts your performance efforts, making every dollar work harder.Employees and shareholders rally behind it. Competitors aspire to it.

And yes, marketers steward and protect it.

Without it? You’re renting attention instead of earning it. When acquisition costs spike or channels dry up, there’s no brand equity to fall back on.

So what?

The irony is that as media becomes more measurable and AI becomes more scalable, Brand is more important than ever. It’s the one thing your competitors can’t copy and your algorithms can’t generate. It’s human connection in a digital world.

Building a brand takes time. Consistency. Investment. Leadership. Fortitude.

It’s not a switch you flip, it’s a wave you paddle into and ride, cutting, adjusting speed and occasionally getting barreled.

Which is exactly why it’s fallen out of favor. It doesn’t show up on a dashboard in 48 hours. Getting barreled is hard.

But if you look at the companies with staying power, the ones that actually grow through downturns,they’re the ones who never stopped investing in Brand. I won’t list a sample of them. You know who they are.

Reclaim Your “Brand” as a Performance Asset

If you’re a CMO or marketing leader:

Speak the language of finance. Know the business strategy. Connect brand metrics AND performance metrics to business metrics. Be a performance media pro or bring on someone who is.

But don’t abandon what makes marketing matter in the first place.

If you’re a CEO or CFO: Ask not just what’s driving this quarter’s leads, but what’s building long-term demand, loyalty, and pricing power. Hold your CMO accountable to that.

Because Brand is not a four-letter word.

It’s your company’s most valuable five-letter asset.