The brand balancing act: New study reveals how to drive long-term equity with today’s marketing tools

Finding the right prioritization and approach to balance these two fundamental business needs is further complicated by the current economic climate, massive changes in consumer behavior and expectations and continued technological advancements. The reality is marketing decisions are under increased scrutiny to quantify impact on both. However, while advertisers typically have a wealth of data points proving that media drives short-term sales, the impact on long-term brand equity isn’t examined with the same level of granularity and is therefore often deprioritized.

In order to understand brand equity on a more granular level and paint a more holistic picture that can be used to inform balancing short- and long-term planning, Meta partnered with Kantar to conduct a first-of-its-kind analysis¹ on two years of marketing, media, brand investments and brand equity tracking data. We studied a diverse set ​of four well-respected consumer brands across industries, with varying starting points when it came to brand equity metrics, the split between upper-funnel and lower-funnel investment focus and overall investment with Meta. The analysis leveraged thousands of data points with over 100 variables feeding into each model.

Here we’ll dive into the key learnings from the study, including quantifying media’s contribution to brand equity and identifying which levers matter most on Meta. We’ll also take a look at how the research findings have already helped a major advertiser and how you can use the insights to achieve both your short- and long-term goals.

Rebalancing your media mix to meet today’s consumers

The research clearly shows that media drives long-term brand equity. Across the advertisers studied, media investment had an 11% contribution, on average, to unaided brand awareness and a 7% contribution to metrics such as preference, consideration and affinity. While these numbers may seem small at first glance, it’s important to keep in mind that equity metrics are difficult to move and base factors such as brand size, life stage and long-standing awareness have a huge impact on equity, so media’s contribution is in fact quite substantial.

The research also reveals that both brand and performance investments drive long-term brand equity, although dedicated brand investment works harder. In other words, while “brand” campaigns are better, even “performance” campaigns have a halo effect on your brand building.

As for the contributions of specific media, the research shows the channels that typically tend to be top-of-mind and top-of-wallet for brand building—television and online video (OLV)—do deliver their fair share. However, Meta and search significantly overperform in terms of contribution versus share of investment.

Looking at Meta specifically, the research shows a 34% greater contribution to brand equity compared with share of investment and a 20% higher return on equity (ROE) compared with other media. For the advertisers examined, it is estimated that Meta achieved an average of $4.95 in long-term brand value for every $1 invested, which is 35%-40% more efficient than TV and OLV and nearly 2 times more efficient than display.

The overperformance of channels such as Meta and search makes sense given the changing landscape. Technological advancements, especially in mobile, have dramatically altered the way people connect, consume and contribute to culture. As advertisers look to efficiently build brand equity going forward, it will be increasingly essential to rebalance the media mix toward channels that align with these changing consumer behaviors.

Understanding the levers that matter most for driving brand equity on Meta

Diving deeper into the research reveals there are four levers that matter most when seeking to drive long-term equity on Meta: optimization, scale, cadence and creative.

Optimization in this context means upper-funnel executions that lead with brand cues, brand positioning or brand points of differentiation and that have objectives like reach, brand awareness and video views. The big benefit of this focus is efficiency: The analysis found that while both upper funnel and lower funnel ads drive long-term brand equity on Meta, upper funnel executions are 1.5 times more efficient at doing so. And the higher the share of Meta investment​ in upper funnel optimizations, the stronger the return on equity for the advertiser.

The research also shows that scale (reach) and cadence (frequency) are key factors for driving long-term equity on Meta. While optimal reach varied among the brands examined, the overall finding was that most are highly undersaturated: On average, brands could have tripled their reach before hitting diminishing returns on equity. For frequency, keeping a brand top-of-mind can require higher levels than what may be needed to boost lower-funnel sales—3 or more exposures per week was optimal for driving unaided brand awareness. And maintaining continuity can help nurture connections: Diminishing returns on equity contribution for a given campaign weren’t observed until it had been running for 35-36 continuous weeks, on average.

When it comes to creative, the findings highlight the power of video—especially shorter video—for telling brand stories. The research found video creative is 2.1 times more effective, on average, at driving brand equity outcomes compared with static creative. And while the optimal video length varied across the brands studied, short-form video (particularly video under 10 seconds) was more effective, on average, at driving long-term equity outcomes compared with video that was 15 seconds or longer.

As with the overall findings, the Meta-specific findings show that the landscape is shifting. Although advertisers have historically relied heavily on longer format videos for brand campaigns, today’s consumers are not just comfortable with but actually often prefer shorter formats. People increasingly process information more quickly, and brands can now generate substantial equity value by developing powerful, well-crafted short-format video.

Applying the learnings to achieve your long-term and short-term goals

What does it look like when the learnings from the research are applied? Let’s take the example of sports performance brand Gatorade, which participated in the study. The advertiser implemented a number of the best practices, including focusing on short-form video, campaign continuity with consistent weeks and broad reach across multiple placements. These optimizations led to a 4 time increase in Meta’s contribution to brand preference (a key long-term equity metric for Gatorade) driven by media, with Meta becoming the top channel for long-term equity (accounting for 61% of media contribution to preference).

While the specific benefits and optimal strategies will vary, applying the general findings from the research can help advertisers of all types better achieve their long-term brand equity goals. By rebalancing toward channels that align with ​today’s consumer behaviors, you can ensure your media mix is efficiently achieving your desired outcomes. And by applying the optimization levers, you can make the best use of Meta as a brand-driver for your business. Finally, don’t forget about measurement: By implementing a rigorous methodology that holds media accountable for both performance and brand equity, you can continually improve your strategies and effectively balance driving short-term sales with creating long-term lifetime consumer value.