Brand Favorability Drives Business Outcomes, Study Finds
A recent study by TransUnion and MMA Global has shed new light on the impact of brand marketing. The research, conducted between 2022 and 2024, found that brand favorability significantly drives business outcomes, challenging traditional measurement tools.
The study, titled 'Brand as Performance', tracked consumer behavior over 9-10 month periods following test campaigns. It involved case studies on Ally Bank, Kroger, and Campbell's, using identity backbones spanning hundreds of thousands to over a million households and over 10,000 consumer surveys.
Key findings include: favorable consumers opened accounts at Ally Bank 4.1 times more than non-favorables, while Kroger's favorable customers made online purchases at 4.7 times the rate of those without favorable opinions. Campbell's favorable consumers purchased at 2.9 times the rate of non-favorables, with long-term conversion rate lifts up to 6.0 times greater than the short-term impact.
The research introduces the Brand as Performance framework, which suggests that traditional measurement tools may undervalue brand marketing's contribution to sales by up to 83%. This framework connects brand marketing activities to measurable outcomes like sales growth and consumer sentiment, benefiting marketing teams and CMOs in companies focusing on direct-to-consumer sales.
TransUnion and MMA Global released these findings in a whitepaper on October 2, 2025. The research addresses the challenge CMOs face in demonstrating brand marketing's contribution to business growth, providing quantifiable evidence that connects brand investments to measurable outcomes. This new framework offers a more accurate way to measure brand marketing's impact, helping businesses make informed decisions about their marketing strategies.
