The creative and analytical sides of marketing must come together to raise the standards of messaging, experience, values and culture in support of brand value.
Business has always been about how much you put in, but even more so what you get out of it:
Return on Investment. Yet, with marketing’s role to, so to speak, set the scene for sales, the connection from inputs to outputs has been traditionally viewed more as a dotted line. In a world with no shortage of metrics and pressure to produce though (combined with economic anxiety), how can CMOs prove brand worth?
“At a time when being able to demonstrate impact is more important than ever, the ability for marketers to quantify the value of the brand they’ve built can serve as an asset in difficult discussions with the C-suite, all while also serving as an indicator for the health of the business,” writes Deloitte Digital’s Maggie Windsor Gross and Mark Singer in Forbes.
The two opposing camps within marketing, the creatives and the analytical, must find common ground to prove brand worth. Stronger together, armed “with precise, data-driven insights that emphasize brand impact and how brand investment lifts every part of the company,” they’ll be able to stand that ground versus the C-suite and any other critics. According to Deloitte Digital, they can do so by using the following marketing benchmarks: Values Alignment, Experience Satisfaction, Message Memorability and Share of Culture.
Values Alignment
More than three out of every four consumers (76%) would refuse to buy from a company that supported an issue conflicting with their beliefs, one study found. That’s the importance of Values Alignment, which when achieved can send a brand’s customer loyalty score substantially higher than industry averages. It fuels the trust part of the marketing-sales funnel that leads to bottom line results. “Research shows brands that do best here are purpose-driven and are unafraid of taking a stand on social and societal issues,” asserts the Deloitte Digital team.
Experience Satisfaction
Did you know that 32% of all customers would stop doing business with a brand they loved after one bad experience? And, as you’ve probably heard, unhappy customers will tell twice as many people about their bad experience as completely satisfied customers will tell about their positive ones. Not surprisingly, Experience Satisfaction, the second marketing benchmark, is vital. “The brands that perform best are human-first [rather than digital-first],” writes Gross and Singer.
Message Memorability
Like traditional brand trackers, this benchmark measures how quality content connects with the right people at the right time in the right place. Combining creativity and calculation, top brands performing well in this metric convert up to 75 out of 100 customers, showcasing full marketing-sales funnel performance, according to Deloitte Digital.
Share of Culture
This final metric prioritizes brand interaction and participation with customers. Companies that take part in extensive and inclusive cultural conversations with consumers broaden those relationships and elicit deeper feelings from them. That leads to staying power and, as Gross and Singer state, a new marketing channel: word-of-mouth recommendations.
“Since branding has been our thing for more than 31 years, you shouldn’t be surprised to know we’re brand defenders as well. That means showing the branding goods but also the gains,” said Amy Norton, Infinitee’s Director  of Strategy & Accounts. “With a reputation of combining a creative, personal touch with measurable results, we can elevate your game and boost your brand’s worth.”
