Branding trumps advertising as driver of brand value

UK — New research has suggested with a strong branding proposition are more likely to see growth than those with strong advertising.

WPP brand consultancies Lambie-Nairn and The Partners, in collaboration with Millward Brown, have released findings from a global survey, Brand Value Growth. Based on analysis of 10 years of BrandZ data (between 2006 and 2015 ), the report reveals that brands with a strong brand proposition and strong advertising have increased their brand value by 168% over 10 years.

But while brands with strong branding and weak advertising saw an average growth of 76%, brands with strong advertising and weaker branding grew in value by only 27%. Those where both advertising and branding was weak grew by 21%.

“The most remarkable finding from this study is the extent of the brand value growth that comes from establishing a strong proposition and identity at the heart of a brand,” said Jim Prior, CEO of The Partners and Lambie-Nairn.

“The data clearly demonstrates that great advertising is, by itself, insufficient and inefficient- it needs to be underpinned by broader, deeper strategic and creative definitions. While brand consultancies have long argued this point in principle, this data clearly shows it.”

We hope you enjoyed this article.
Research Live is published by MRS.

The Market Research Society (MRS) exists to promote and protect the research sector, showcasing how research delivers impact for businesses and government.

Members of MRS enjoy many benefits including tailoured policy guidance, discounts on training and conferences, and access to member-only content.

For example, there's an archive of winning case studies from over a decade of MRS Awards.

Find out more about the benefits of joining MRS here.

1 Comment

chris robinson

Isn't this a bit of an oxy-moron? How can a brand have strong advertising but weak branding. Surely one of the key measures of advertising effectiveness are its achievements on brand positioning dimensions. Am I missing something here? Or were they defining ad effectiveness by simple recall measures? How could one even tell if a brand had poor positioning? How was that defined? An intriguing piece but ... ?

Like Report

Display name

Email

Join the discussion


Display name

Email

Join the discussion

Newsletter
Stay connected with the latest insights and trends...
Sign Up
Latest From MRS

Our latest training courses

Our new 2025 training programme is now launched as part of the development offered within the MRS Global Insight Academy

See all training

Specialist conferences

Our one-day conferences cover topics including CX and UX, Semiotics, B2B, Finance, AI and Leaders' Forums.

See all conferences

MRS reports on AI

MRS has published a three-part series on how generative AI is impacting the research sector, including synthetic respondents and challenges to adoption.

See the reports

Progress faster...
with MRS 
membership

Mentoring

CPD/recognition

Webinars

Codeline

Discounts