CMOs struggle to align brand and performance, report

World Advertising Research Center, WARC, and a group of marketing effectiveness partners have identified eight major barriers preventing brands from integrating brand and performance advertising strategies, despite growing industry consensus around the commercial benefits of combining the two approaches.

The findings appear in The Multiplier Playbook – The CMO’s guide to integrating brand and performance, produced with Analytic Partners, BERA.ai, Prophet and System1. The report includes survey data from more than 200 senior marketers gathered with the Association of National Advertisers between December 2025 and March 2026.

C-Suite alignment remains a major challenge

The report found that many marketing teams struggle to align advertising objectives with wider business priorities. While 67 percent of marketers said their CEO considers brand important, only 19 percent reported that the C-Suite regularly connects brand equity with measurable business outcomes.

At the same time, 60 percent of respondents said the role of advertising is not fully understood by senior leadership, and only 21 percent strongly agreed that advertising objectives align with broader corporate goals.

David Tiltman, Chief Content Officer, WARC and SVP Content, LIONS Intelligence: “Since the launch of The Multiplier Effect study last year, it has become clear that the challenges facing marketers are not about knowing the theory. Most CMOs cannot simply change their strategic and investment approach wholesale without overcoming a number of hurdles.”

The report argues that an overreliance on efficiency metrics such as return on ad spend has narrowed perceptions of advertising’s role, reducing it to a short-term sales function rather than a driver of long-term value creation.

Brand and performance silos hinder integration

Structural divisions within marketing departments also emerged as a significant obstacle. Nearly half of surveyed organisations operate separate brand and performance teams, while only 25 percent described their teams as fully integrated.

The research also found that 65 percent of companies maintain separate budgets for brand and performance activity, while only 44 percent said both teams shared a common language or understanding of growth-driving audiences.

WARC said marketers should focus on creating shared objectives rooted in customer behaviour and identify larger campaigns or events that encourage collaboration across teams.

Laura Jones, chief marketing officer at Instacart: “We have to ‘make our own weather’. We have to create events and campaigns that are big where we can all row in that same direction and get more return out of all of our effort when it’s united.”

Creativity and long-term investment remain under pressure

The report also highlighted challenges around creative confidence and campaign duration. According to Analytic Partners ROI Genome data, 90 percent of ads are not left running long enough to achieve their full impact.

WARC recommended a “fewer, bigger, longer” approach to campaigns, with closer integration between media, creative and measurement teams to improve effectiveness in fragmented media environments.

A separate survey referenced in the report found that 41 percent of marketers see creativity-led strategies as risky, while 52 percent reported a lack of confidence in advertising effectiveness.

The report builds on findings from The Multiplier Effect, which previously found that brands shifting from performance-only advertising to a combined brand and performance approach achieved a median 90 percent uplift in revenue return on investment.

WARC outlines practical steps for marketers

The Playbook advises marketers to move beyond channel-specific metrics, improve communication with CEOs and CFOs, and build stronger links between brand-building and commercial outcomes.

Mike Cessario, founder and CEO of Liquid Death: “If you’re a small company, it’s literally reckless to be safe. Trying to mimic a big company as a small company is reckless ... because we can’t afford to buy the eyeballs like the big guys do.”

WARC said the report is intended to provide marketers with practical frameworks and examples to help overcome cultural, procedural and structural blockers that limit advertising effectiveness.