There’s a familiar tension that every Chief Marketing Officer knows all too well: how do they defend long-term brand building in a boardroom that’s laser-focused on short-term numbers?
When economic pressure tightens budgets, the marketing department is often the first under scrutiny. ROI must be immediate. Spend must be justified. And the line items that don’t drive instant conversions—often the brand-building ones—become vulnerable.
But cutting brand investments during tough times can be a short-sighted move with lasting consequences. This is the core of the CMO’s dilemma: choosing between what looks efficient today and what builds equity for tomorrow.
The Nature of Brand vs Performance
Performance marketing is easy to justify. It comes with numbers—CPC, CTR, CPA, ROAS. You launch a campaign, see the results within days, and optimize accordingly. The board sees growth graphs and thinks, “This works. Do more of this.”
Brand marketing, on the other hand, plays a different game. It builds affinity, awareness, and emotional connection—things that can’t always be measured in a week or even a quarter.
But here’s the catch: the brands that consumers remember during a crisis are usually the ones that didn’t go dark when times got tough. Strong brand equity becomes a moat when competitors are chasing conversions in a saturated market.
CMOs are stuck trying to argue for both—defending a budget that balances short-term wins with long-term resilience.
Why Cutting Brand Spend Hurts More Than It Helps
The instinct to reduce top-of-funnel and brand marketing spend is understandable. It doesn’t drive immediate revenue, and it’s hard to attribute directly. But the fallout of pulling back on brand visibility is significant.
First, it creates a vacuum. When your voice disappears from the market, someone else fills it—your competitors, newer entrants, or simply more visible brands. Second, it weakens pricing power.
Brands that aren’t distinct or well-positioned become commodities, fighting on price instead of perception. Lastly, it disrupts the trust cycle. Familiarity breeds trust, and trust drives purchasing decisions—especially in uncertain markets.
There’s data to back this up. Brands that continue investing in brand building during downturns often rebound faster and capture greater market share when recovery begins. Those who go silent spend more later trying to reclaim relevance.
The Emotional Side of the Decision
Beyond metrics, there’s a psychological component to this dilemma. CMOs are often the stewards of brand vision, creativity, and culture.
When forced to make hard cuts, it can feel like sacrificing the soul of the company for quarterly targets. The creative team feels it. The internal culture feels it. The brand identity becomes shaky, just when consumers crave consistency.
And yet, CMOs also know they can’t ignore performance marketing entirely. They’re under pressure to prove value, justify headcount, and feed the pipeline.
So they’re left trying to do more with less, fighting to preserve the intangible aspects of marketing in a world obsessed with spreadsheets.
Striking the Right Balance
The smartest CMOs aren’t choosing between brand and performance. They’re integrating the two. They’re finding ways to make brand-building efforts more measurable, and performance campaigns more aligned with the brand story.
This means moving away from siloed campaigns and toward full-funnel thinking. It’s about asking, “How does our paid search campaign reflect our brand promise?” or “Is our landing page telling the same story as our brand film?” It’s not one versus the other—it’s both working together.
How Ekakshar Helps
At Ekakshar, we understand this dilemma because we work with people who face it every day. Our approach is rooted in balance—ensuring your brand voice doesn’t get lost in the numbers, and your numbers don’t fall flat due to weak messaging.
We help brands build narratives that scale across the funnel. From strategic brand frameworks to campaign messaging that’s both emotionally resonant and performance-oriented, we bring consistency without sacrificing creativity.
Our content systems are designed to serve brand equity and conversion goals at once—so you’re not constantly choosing one over the other.
Looking Ahead
The CMO’s role has evolved from brand custodian to growth driver. That means making difficult choices, often in real-time. But in the race for efficiency, let’s not forget the power of memory, trust, and emotion—the very things that drive long-term value.
Cutting brand spend may win this quarter’s battle. But building a brand wins the war.
The future belongs to brands that can perform without losing their personality. That keep showing up, even when times are uncertain. And that trust that a strong brand isn’t a luxury—it’s a multiplier.
When brand and performance aren’t at odds, but in rhythm, marketing becomes unstoppable.
