Hone Your Advertising Strategy To Go Far In the Brand-Building Journey

Balancing Long-Term Growth With Short-Term Sales Impact

Successfully navigating today’s advertising landscape means striking the right balance between building lasting brand loyalty and driving quick sales results. 

Industry experts Les Binet and Peter Field have long championed the 60/40 approach – allocating 60% of budgets to brand-building and 40% to activation – while emphasizing flexibility depending on the brand’s goals, market research, and context.

Their influential work, The Long and the Short of It, also challenges the idea that ads must juggle both rational and emotional messaging simultaneously (“Double Duty”). Instead, they highlight the power of emotionally engaging advertising to deliver stronger brand recall and better support both short- and long-term marketing objectives.

At System1, we’ve analyzed user engagement and emotional reactions to over 100,000 digital and TV ads, allowing us to accurately predict their commercial effectiveness. In 2023, we teamed up with marketing expert Mark Ritson to explore whether ads designed for short-term activation could also drive enduring brand value, and vice versa.

Mark’s insights from our UK data – featured in Marketing Week – confirmed that brand-focused campaigns tend to excel in both immediate sales and lasting brand equity, while activation-heavy ads often fall short in brand-building.

But do these trends hold true in the US market?

Insights from US Advertising Performance

We analyzed over 40,000 US TV ads aired between June 2018 and May 2024 to revisit the question of whether “double-duty” ads can truly deliver both short-term sales and long-term brand growth. To do this, we evaluated each ad’s Star Rating – a System1 metric that predicts potential for sustained brand building – and Spike Rating, which measures immediate sales impact.

The results revealed strong evidence that ads designed for brand growth also tend to excel in driving short-term sales. Specifically, 92.1% of ads scoring 4- or 5 Stars (out of a maximum 5.9) for long-term brand building also achieved above-average Spike Ratings, indicating effective sales activation in the 8–10 weeks after airing.

This confirms that successful advertising strategies focused on brand building don’t just work over the long haul – they also generate immediate returns. These campaigns stretch the value of marketing investments by boosting mental availability and triggering demand from consumers who are ready to buy. By capturing attention and creating an emotional connection, they help embed the brand in memory – making it easier to recognize, recall and, ultimately, to choose.

Why Activation Ads Often Miss the Mark on Brand Growth

But how do activation-driven ads perform in the brand-building race? Our follow-up analysis sheds light on this.

Looking at the top 25% of ads by Spike Rating – those with the greatest short-term sales potential – over half (53.4%) scored low on the Star Rating scale, landing in the 1- or 2-Star range for long-term brand-building potential.

Many marketers continue to prioritize activation tactics like limited-time offers or product launches, using rapid-fire visuals, voiceovers, and rhythmic soundtracks to generate immediate responses. While these ads appeal well to existing customers or those already interested, they frequently overlook the crucial opportunity to build lasting brand equity and maximize long-term profitability.

In fact, brands relying heavily on ads with strong short-term engagement are essentially gambling on whether their messaging will resonate more broadly. High Spike Ratings don’t guarantee effective user engagement with the wider target audience necessary for sustained growth.

Be On the Right Side

Successful brand-building campaigns tap into the creative, emotional side of the brain, forging instant mental shortcuts that make brands unforgettable. These right-brain triggers include:

• Compelling Stories & Characters: Narratives with a clear arc and relatable, memorable characters create deep emotional connections. Brand-owned characters or “fluent devices” accelerate brand recognition and drive positive emotion when used consistently.
• Subtle Communication & Meaningful Dialogue: Sometimes, a glance or gesture says more than words ever could. Implicit storytelling and character interactions often engage audiences far better than hard sells or direct pitches.
• Catchy, Melodic Music: Tunes that audiences can hum or sing along to leave a lasting impression. Repetitive sonic hooks, with simple lyrics or melodies, elevate emotional engagement, attention and recall.
• Nostalgia & Cultural Touchpoints: Ads that evoke shared memories or tap into cultural moments build emotional resonance, forging stronger bonds with viewers by triggering positive feelings tied to the past.

A prime example of nailing this balance is Amazon’s Christmas campaign, which combines heartfelt storytelling, beloved characters, and rich emotional cues. It captivates both immediate buyers and those forming long-term brand impressions.

Endurance & Consistency: The Marathon of Marketing

Effective advertising isn’t about quick bursts of effort; it’s a test of stamina and smart pacing. Our research shows that investing in emotionally driven, creative ads doesn’t just build enduring brand equity – it also fuels short-term commercial impact.

But patience is key. 

Just like in any race, timing and endurance determine the winners. Marketers often give up on their campaigns too soon – long before their audience loses interest. Our data on “wear-in” and “wear-out” effects confirms that great ads deserve to be given time to build momentum and deliver results.

Pre-Test and Benchmark for Success

Top advertisers don’t rise to the top by sheer chance. 

They rigorously pre-test their creative assets, and closely monitor their competitors’ performance. This ongoing measurement and benchmarking helps them stay ahead in the brand-building race.

Thankfully, tools like System1’s Test Your Ad database – with insights from over 100,000 ads – allow marketers to benchmark their ads against industry peers. This enables smarter decision-making and creative testing, helping brands maximize impact in both the short and long term. Test Your Ad also helps brand pre-test creative to predict and improve its commercial impact, delivering campaigns that drive both short- and long-term business effects. A win-win for marketers and their brands.

Learn more about Test Your Ad now →