Over half of business leaders, including 30% of senior-level marketers, rate their knowledge of brand building as average to very poor, in spite of being responsible for setting marketing objectives across both the short- and long-term, according to the Board-Brand Rift, a new report conducted by the FT in partnership with the IPA.
The report finds that less than a third of organisations use ‘brand health’ metrics, which report on factors such as salience, distinctiveness and favourability, at board level.
Leaders also expressed a desire for better measurement of the commercial impact of brands and claim that this shortcoming is the primary reason for the imbalanced approach to marketing investment.
Says Janet Hull OBE, Director of Marketing Strategy, IPA: "From analysis of our IPA Databank – which contains quantitative data from 1500 advertising and marketing effectiveness case studies spanning almost 40 years, we know that brand-building lies at the heart of sustainable profitable growth for businesses. We welcome access to senior executives to share this evidence base, and our learnings about how to build, rather than diminish, brand power. The EffWorks programme is built for this purpose and, with the support of marketers and partners like the FT, we have high hopes of a constructive dialogue and positive action.”