Instead of focusing on new leads, justify large-scale events by partnering with the CRO to measure how existing customer deals progress and close post-event. This shifts the metric from lead generation to pipeline acceleration, providing a clear ROI story for the CFO.

Rippling doesn't measure brand campaigns on direct-response metrics. Instead, creative top-of-funnel ads are designed to "implant a seed" of brand awareness. Success is measured by how these campaigns increase the efficiency and conversion rate of subsequent mid- and bottom-funnel ads shown to the same audience.

For high-growth brands, the value of partnering with major figures like athletes isn't immediate sales. The real return is in access and the 'co-sign' effect. One partnership can unlock several other valuable opportunities, making the investment worthwhile through indirect, long-term benefits.

Ally proves the ROI of brand-building through its commitment to women's sports. The initiative resulted in a 6x higher likelihood of account openings and an 87% more efficient customer acquisition cost among fans, showing how purpose-driven marketing directly impacts performance.

Wix's CMO views expensive brand activities like Super Bowl ads through a dual lens. While building the brand is key, the investment must also generate a measurable spike in relevant user traffic to be considered successful. All marketing, regardless of type, must be treated as an investment.

Brand campaigns reach the 95% of buyers not currently in-market. Instead of relying on vanity metrics, Square ties this investment to business outcomes by tracking the subsequent lift in organic traffic, which they've found converts better than paid channels.

To justify brand advertising beyond awareness metrics, SAS partnered with LinkedIn. They used a clean room to connect ad exposure directly to won revenue. This data demonstrated that customers exposed to the brand campaign were five times more likely to convert, providing hard ROI data for a traditionally soft metric.

Qualcomm's Manchester United sponsorship delivered massive brand awareness (9.5 billion impressions) even while the team was underperforming. This shows that for globally recognized sports franchises, the brand ethos and massive, passionate fanbase provide value that is largely independent of the team's current win-loss record.

Shift the mindset from a brand vs. performance dichotomy. All marketing should be measured for performance. For brand initiatives, use metrics like branded search volume per dollar spent to quantify impact and tie "fluffy" activities to tangible growth outcomes.