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Brand vs. Performance: The B2B Power Struggle

  • Writer: Winnie Chan
    Winnie Chan
  • Feb 12
  • 2 min read

B2B Marketing is often just two people in a room fighting over whether a font choice or a UTM tag will save the company.


After 12 years in the game, working across both agency and client sides, I have seen this movie many times. It usually features a Performance Manager clutching a spreadsheet like a shield and a Brand Lead defending a "vision" that nobody can actually measure.


The Conflict: Short-Term Wins vs. Long-Term Moats


A classic two-panel meme showing a character in a red suit sweating while deciding between two red buttons. The buttons are labeled "Storytelling" and "Ugly Ads."

The Performance team lives for the "now." They want "ugly" ads with neon yellow buttons because, frankly, they convert. They see Brand as the department of "expensive art" that gets in the way of a clean CPL.


The Brand team lives for "forever." They want minimalist hero shots and emotional storytelling. They see Performance as the department of "spam" that erodes the premium feel they have worked so hard to build.


The Uncomfortable Truths of B2B Strategy


A digital comic of a dog sitting in a room full of fire, wearing a hat and holding a mug labeled "UTM." Text overlays read "Privacy Change" and "Rising Ad Costs" on the flames, with a caption at the top stating: "As long as we have our UTM tags, everything is under control."


The reality is that both sides are right, and both sides are wrong:

  • Attribution is a polite lie: We pretend we can track every touchpoint, but most buyers see your brand ten times, ignore every ad, and then finally click a "direct" link because they remembered your name while making coffee.

  • Creativity is a multiplier: You can optimise a bad ad until you are blue in the face, but if the creative is boring, your ROAS will eventually hit a floor.

  • Logic doesn't sell as well as we think: Even in B2B, people buy with emotion and justify with logic. If your "Performance" ads have no soul, they won't stick.



The Verdict

After a decade of balancing these two worlds, here is the conclusion I have reached:


👉 Performance without Brand is just expensive shouting. If people do not trust your name when it pops up, you are just paying for "ignored" impressions.

👉 Brand without Performance is just an expensive hobby. If you cannot prove that your "awareness" eventually leads to a pipeline, you aren't marketing; you are just decorating.

The best marketers don't pick a side. They build the bridge between the two.

About the Author


Winnie Chan is a Performance Marketing Lead and Strategist based in Melbourne, Australia. With over a decade of experience across Agency and In-House roles, she specialises in bridging the gap between creative brand building and commercial targets. She is currently on an "Involuntary Sabbatical" (ask her about it) and writing about the future of marketing.

 
 
 

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