Only 17% of Marketers Say Their Business Invests in Long-Term Brand Health

696

Despite widespread industry consensus on the importance of brand-building, new research from Marketing Week, in partnership with Kantar and Google, paints a sobering picture: just 17.3% of brand marketers believe their business is adequately investing in long-term brand health.

The findings, based on a survey of over 1,000 brand professionals, highlight a deepening disconnect between marketing rhetoric and investment realities. Only 12.5% of B2C marketers — and a nearly identical 12.9% of B2B counterparts — strongly agree that their organisations are playing the long game when it comes to brand.

Market volatility, budget pressures, and quarterly obsession appear to be shifting priorities away from strategic brand-building in favour of short-term gains. The result: companies risk eroding brand equity in pursuit of immediate performance metrics.

Experts warn that deprioritising long-term brand health comes at a cost. Brands that underinvest in salience, distinctiveness, and emotional connection may struggle to sustain pricing power, customer loyalty, and even market share over time.

As attention spans shorten and competition intensifies, marketers are being pushed to deliver instant results. But the data suggests that without long-term thinking, the price of short-term wins could be long-term irrelevance.