Years ago, I had a travel client who told me they “couldn’t justify anything they couldn’t measure”.
They wanted more bookings. More clicks. More data.
Fair enough you might think.
But I was trying to open his mind to something else.
What if you could do something bolder, braver and far less attributable?
Huh?
What about if you could spend your money in a way where the metrics don’t follow - at least not right away? What if you committed budget, energy, belief - without a dashboard lighting up or an algorithm telling you it’s working?
No spreadsheet to reassure you or attribution model to justify it.
OK, you’re probably thinking - what are you talking about Ben? Have you gone mad?!
Stay with me.
Nearly all marketers have been trained to think: ROI or die. Track every penny, optimise every campaign to within an inch of its life. And Covid only made this approach more attractive and appealing.
The reality is, when we only invest in what’s measurable, we sometimes ignore what’s meaningful.
Believing in brand
We all say we believe in the power of brand but I think we’ve forgotten what that actually means.
The most powerful brands are built on feeling, trust, emotional connection and the creativity which makes people care.
These are the metrics which develop loyalty, pricing power and long-term growth.
But they don’t show up in digital attribution models.
When you invest in nurturing emotional connections it makes you more memorable and, done well, gives your brand ‘fame’. That’s when your name comes to mind more often, for more people, because they feel something for you. It’s not just “I’ve heard of them” - it’s a much more powerful connection.
However, without that emotional connection, you risk engaging people on a rational level, and being rational is where price comparisons live. It will prompt your customers to ask: “Is this one better value? Is that one cheaper?”
By connecting emotionally, you make people feel like they want your product, and crucially, you ‘defang the price pain’ (not my soundbite but one from the high priest of marketing effectiveness, Les Binet).
Take one of the many travel brands we’ve worked with - Just You. When this solo-travel specialist approached us they were being undercut by cheaper copycat operators. Competing on price was a race to the bottom.
So we said: “Don’t compete - differentiate.”
Just You had 60 years of heritage behind them. We helped them lean into that history, own their story and reconnect with what made them special in the first place. As a result they reclaimed the mantle of the brand for solo travellers. When you give people something to believe in, to connect with, they’ll happily pay a premium for it. Emotional connection builds resilience and dials back price sensitivity.
The problem with short termism
Right now I’m seeing so many brands - especially travel brands - who are stuck in performance purgatory.
They're spending more on paid, pumping money into Meta and Google because it’s familiar, it’s trackable and everyone else is doing it. Often there is an overall reliance on one channel. Rising business and marketing costs are pushing CMOs to focus on tactics which deliver immediate returns, and results which they can represent month on month.
And what do we see happening as a result?
You spend, you see immediate results, and it feels like growth. But turn off the taps and everything stops. There’s no momentum building underneath, no compounding effect like you get with brand.
It also makes brands vulnerable when the rules change, which they will. One tweak to Google’s algorithm can dry up your organic traffic and require you to rely even more on paid.
Even when it’s working, what kind of relationship are you building? Performance ads are brilliant at driving transactions, but they rarely build loyalty.
Performance kills creativity
When was the last time an ad made you feel something?
Like when your pulse matched the rhythm of “tick followed tock followed tick followed tock” as white horses crashed through dark waves.
I haven’t even named the brand, but I bet you know which one I’m talking about.
When we rely on performance, there’s zero space left for the big ideas which actually stick in people’s heads.
Modern brand building
Let’s not pretend your customers live in one app. They watch TV, scroll, spot ads, chat to friends, read reviews. The strongest brands weave themselves into culture through content, influencers, social buzz and clever multichannel thinking that reaches people wherever they are.
That’s exactly what we did with The Eden Project. When visitor numbers dipped, we didn’t just stick up a few posters and hope for the best. We followed people on their entire journey to, and around, Cornwall; from motorway service stations to the beaches - flying giant aerial banners, installing 20ft tall inflatables, creating huge sand drawings of gorillas and even branding fish and chip bags. Layered with digital, press and outdoor, we made Eden exciting and as a result, a must see attraction. The result was that visitor numbers bounced back, and the campaign delivered their highest ever recall for paid media.
Measuring the impact of brand
At the beginning of this blog, I alluded that brand couldn't be measured, which isn’t strictly true.
It can be. There are years of data-led case studies like Binet’s The Long and the Short of It, successful clients and iconic brands who played the long game and won.
According to Binet, the effects of brand building can also be immediate. They are often less dramatic than running a Meta campaign, but they are still apparent.
And yes, seeing and reaping those sustained benefits from brand building, often takes time. Things like intent, flow of sales, long-term sustained price premiums and margins may take years of investment.
Should we avoid performance marketing?
No, that's not what I’m saying - and we do a lot of that for a lot of clients - and in some instances, it is 100% the right strategy. For a lot of businesses, especially smaller ones where cash flow matters, performance is essential. Paid media brings in sales. It keeps the lights on. We all need that.
But there’s a balance to be struck.
There’s direct evidence to support the fact that the most profitable campaigns combine both emotional brand building with short-term activation. And, that brand fame boosts both short-term sales and long-term growth. Integrating both performance and brand is one of the most powerful things you can do.
At Bluesoup, we help brands strike that balance through a brand-first, consumer-centric, media-neutral approach. That means blending emotionally-led creative with smart, integrated media planning - online, offline, and everywhere in between. We don’t just chase clicks; we build brands people remember, trust and come back to.
Too many brands treat bold marketing like it’s risky. Like stepping away from the safe, measurable stuff is some kind of gamble. But honestly, playing it safe is often where the real risk lies.
When so few brands are willing to sound different, stand for something or make people feel anything, the space is wide open for those who do.
So if we know it works, is making a move even that brave?
The best marketers will give themselves permission to do what’s right, and play the long game.
Because as we all know, good things come to those who wait.
Sound familiar?
If you’re stuck in the performance loop and wondering how to actually build something that lasts - that’s where we can help.
At Bluesoup, we work with ambitious brands who want to do it right.
We help you to build emotional connections, find the right balance with performance and give your marketing some proper long-term muscle.
If you fancy a chat, drop us a line.
