Bottom-Line ROI: Does Branding Really Matter?

Forbes

6 days ago

Kayden Michael, founder of Watson Branding + Marketing, empowers brands to perform at their best.
Here in Texas, we know a thing or two about brands. To this day, cattle in Texas wear a permanent posterior stamp of ownership—a brand—to remind you who you're doing business with. Of all the branches of business and their perceived value, branding can be one of the hardest to quantify. Quarterly sales figures are easy to count, but can we measure the impact of a logo or a tonal shift in messaging?
Few business owners would dismiss the impact of branding outright, but a lingering question looms overhead: How much difference does branding make?
In our agency's work with businesses across the U.S., we've helped numerous companies turn around sales, increase site traffic and create deeper campaigns that connect with their audiences. As the founder, I've witnessed how branding can redefine businesses.
It Ain't Marketing
Branding and marketing perform a delicate, often beautiful dance. But when one foot steps too far ahead of the other, the stumble is hard to ignore. If you haven't paused to distinguish between the two, here's one way to think about it: Marketing is how you reach your audience. Branding is how you keep them.
So, does branding move the ROI needle? Here are a few key areas where the impact is measurable.
1. Positioning: Pick a lane.
Every company starts out with a stance. Too often, that stance is either uncertain or misaligned. Being true to yourself takes courage, and great brands know who they want to attract and who they need to repel.
An e-commerce brand came to us after their handbag product had plateaued from a promising start. We repositioned them to show their audience that women can be tough and a little fancy. The next year, product sales increased even more and site traffic more than doubled.
2. Visual Identity: Look the part.
A small college with a powerful value proposition asked us to review their website. An inaudible cry for help leaped off the page. Antiquated presentation and bland composition begged the question: Would I be proud of this as my Alma Mater?
We led a ground-up branding refresh that instantly modernized their image, careful not to meddle with historic seals or color schemes. The effect was a transformative increase in branded search, marking a clear shift for a school serious about its future and the future it offers with every degree.
Your customers constantly ask silent questions: Will support help me? Will the product last? Will this company still be around in two years? Leverage your visual identity to answer for them. A serious brand answers objections that never need to be spoken.
3. Messaging: Empathize out loud.
AI has propelled messaging in new directions, but AI-generated copy routinely falls short without professional guidance. Remember that the pillars that undergird effective messaging are unchanged by technology. Buyers have a hardwired nervous system that chooses one product over another for one reason: They feel seen.
We revised the messaging for an upscale venue in the Midwest and helped them significantly raise pricing compared to a sister venue under the same ownership. The shift? Audiences went from thinking "just another venue" to "the venue for me."
Making Art Count
With results like these, why does branding still carry a dubious reputation? Simple: Keeping score matters—and not every agency does it.
Branding attracts creative minds. Many love art for art's sake, and some use a company as their personal canvas (and benefactor) to commission artistic expression that may be vivid, but still fail to effect change. There's nothing wrong with beautiful art. But the question remains: How do you make it work for your brand?
Branding should begin with measurable goals. For example:
• Increasing market share from 3.1% to 4.5% in 2 years
• Increasing product sales through Q4 by 45% YoY
• Increasing branded search queries by 30% in six months
This kind of alignment keeps expectations clear on both sides. Your business has the right to ask great things. Your agency should report on goals alongside the strategic debuts of assets and campaigns that should be exciting! Done right, branding helps you get there, and more importantly, it can help you stay there.
Build Something That Lasts
If you're weighing a brand update and unsure about ROI, that's fair. You're not wrong for protecting your business from sunk costs. But standing still isn't a growth plan.
Branding is a powerful tool. You remember slogans, jingles and commercials from your childhood. You glance at four different sports drinks on the shelf and think, "That one will make me feel better."
Our minds are proof that branding works. So give your branding something to aim at with distinct metrics and expectations. Then make the world a little bit better by leaving an unforgettable impression that your audience will still carry through the years, even the decades.
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