Why Brand Equity Matters (Even if It’s Harder to Measure)
According to Nielsen’s 2024 Marketing Mix Modeling Report, brand equity accounts for up to 58% of long-term sales impact — yet less than 25% of marketing budgets are allocated to it.
That means most brands are underfunding the one thing that keeps them relevant.
Ehrenberg-Bass’s 2023 book Better Brand Health argues that marketers should track Mental Availability—how easily your brand comes to mind in buying situations—alongside Physical Availability as core brand-health metrics, rather than leaning on attitude or satisfaction scores alone.
Source: https://marketingscience.info/better-brand-health/
In other words:
People buy what they remember.
If they don’t remember you, you don’t exist.
How to Measure the Immeasurable
Let’s get practical. Brand strength can’t be tracked by a single metric, but you can triangulate it through several signals.
Here’s how to build a more complete picture:
1. Brand Awareness
How many people recognize your name or logo — and can describe what you do?
- Track: Google Search Console impressions, branded search volume, social reach, and direct traffic.
- Tools: Google Trends (https://trends.google.com), SEMrush, or Brandwatch (https://www.brandwatch.com).
2. Brand Recall
How quickly do people think of your brand when they need what you offer?
- Track: Customer surveys or aided recall studies.
- Proxy Data: Search query correlation (“X near me” searches).
3. Sentiment and Reputation
How do people feel about you?
- Track: Social sentiment analysis tools like Meltwater (https://www.meltwater.com) or Sprout Social (https://sproutsocial.com).
- Listen: Read your reviews. Monitor Reddit threads, niche forums, and comments — the raw truth lives there.
4. Share of Voice
How much of the industry conversation includes your name?
- Track: Mentions across news, social, and industry blogs.
- Compare: Benchmark against competitors monthly.
5. Brand Loyalty and Advocacy
How likely are existing customers to recommend or repeat purchase?
- Track: Repeat rate, referral rate, NPS surveys.
- Pro Tip: A customer who tells your story for you is worth more than any paid ad.
Connecting the Dots Between Brand and Performance
When you view brand and performance as two sides of the same coin, marketing becomes holistic instead of fragmented.
Here’s the flow most successful brands follow:
- Storytelling fuels awareness.
- Awareness builds trust.
- Trust increases conversions.
- Conversions create advocates.
- Advocates fuel organic growth.
And round it goes.
The result is what McKinsey calls the “flywheel effect” — momentum that compounds over time.
Source: https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/the-missing-data-link-five-practical-lessons-to-scale-your-data-products
Short-term marketers run marathons like sprinters.
Brand-first marketers understand endurance.
Case in point: Airbnb’s brand carried the load.
During the pandemic, Airbnb slashed performance marketing and still saw traffic skew heavily to direct and unpaid channels (in June 2020, 98% of traffic was direct/unpaid). By 2021, the company was posting record results while noting that “most traffic…remains organic,” and its sales & marketing mix had shifted toward brand with reduced performance marketing versus 2019. In short: strong brand equity let Airbnb cut spend, stay visible, and rebound faster.
Source: https://news.airbnb.com/airbnb-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-2021-financial-results/
The New ROI: Return on Identity
At Syndicate Marketing, we believe that the most overlooked metric in marketing is Return on Identity (ROI²) — the compounding value your brand builds when every touchpoint reinforces who you are.
It’s the reason a Nike swoosh can move $50 billion worth of sneakers a year, and why Apple doesn’t have to introduce itself in every ad.
They don’t just measure transactions. They measure trust velocity — how fast belief turns into business.
The Takeaway
Stop chasing the wrong numbers.
Yes, track conversions. But measure meaning too.
Because if your marketing drives traffic but doesn’t build brand, you’ll spend the rest of your life paying rent on attention instead of owning it.
Clicks fade.
Stories stick.
Brands endure.
Next in the Series:
👉 Article 6: “Retention, Advocacy & Word-of-Mouth: The Most Underrated Marketing Channel.”
We’ll break down how to turn satisfied customers into storytellers — and why retention marketing is the most profitable play almost nobody’s talking about.
