Summary

Under board pressure and slow revenue attribution, the instinct is to lean too hard on leading signals. The real problem is disconnected measures and decisions. The shift comes when a proof ladder and clear time horizons link leading to lagging. That’s how belief, focus, and brand return compound.

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Our Perspective

What this means for leaders navigating growth, change or transformation in their organisation.

The Real Trade-Off

When leaders prize only early signals, they often downplay the slower, steadier proof that compounding brand value provides. In tighter conditions, that bias can be costly: Gartner reports that marketing budgets have levelled at 7.7% of company revenue this year, narrowing the margin for trial-and-correction. The answer isn’t to choose sides. It’s to connect signals that guide momentum with outcomes that validate decisions.

Treat brand return on investment (ROI) as a sequence, not a single event. Signals earn the right to continue; behaviours build evidence of progress; outcomes secure confidence for future investment. That sequence turns weekly variation into learning, quarterly shifts into choices, and annual performance into strategy.

Build A Proof Ladder

A useful discipline is a ladder of proof that links what you see, how people act, and what value lands. Most organisations we work with find this reduces debate and speeds decisions because everyone can see how the rungs relate to investment.

• Signals: Reach, recall, relevance and sentiment shaped to priority segments.
• Behaviours: Trial, sign-ups, price acceptance, referral rates by stage.
• Outcomes: Revenue quality, win-rate shifts, customer lifetime value patterns.
• Decision gates: Thresholds that trigger scale-up, course-correction, or stop.

This ladder works only if each rung is defined in plain language and owned. Keep it simple, consistent and visible across functions.

Measure By Horizon

Leading and lagging metrics work best when aligned to time horizons. Match what you measure to what you intend to learn—and when you intend to act.

• Weekly: Are we reaching and resonating with the right people? What small experiments should we run next?
• Quarterly: Are buying behaviours changing as intended? Does pricing hold? Are we improving conversion quality?
• Annual: Did the strategy lift revenue resilience and market position? What do we double down on?

This cadence reduces anxiety between board cycles. You can show learning now and prove value later without shifting targets midstream.

Leadership Implications

The leadership challenge is less “what to track” and more “how to use it.” Gartner notes that only 52% of senior marketing leaders can convincingly evidence marketing’s contribution and receive credit for business outcomes, which suggests the gap is as much organisational as analytical.

• Make brand goals inseparable from business aims: pipeline quality, margins, retention and pricing power.
• Assign owners for each rung of the ladder and agree decision thresholds in advance.
• Protect a few long-term choices, even when early signals are noisy, so the strategy has room to work.

When signals and outcomes move together, belief and performance stop competing—and brand becomes an operating system for growth rather than a report to defend.

Sources:

• Survey Finds Only 52% of Senior Marketing Leaders Can Prove Marketing's Value — Gartner
• Marketing budgets have flatlined at 7.7% of company revenue — Gartner

Further Resources

1. Brand ROI: Metrics That Matter in the First 90 Days
2. Brand’s Role in Driving Strategic ROI
3. Maximising Brand ROI Through Strategic Positioning

No two brand journeys are the same — connect with us if you’d like to test where your next step might lead. Let’s talk.

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