It’s time to bring pricing power into the business case for advertising

The evaluation and planning of advertising investment typically focuses on direct sales effects measured via econometric modelling or other forms of sales attribution. In the short run this approach serves marketers well, but when planning takes place over longer time horizons (more than one year) the limitations become clear.

Rory Sutherland once described brand as “the irrational ability to charge more for the same product.” Why then is pricing power so rarely part of the business case for advertising investment?

What is currently considered best practice Return on Investment (ROI) calculation regularly fails brand owners as it does not accurately reflect all of their motivations to advertise. Reported ROI typically captures the direct sales effect of advertising in the short-, medium- and (sometimes) long-term. But it usually misses its indirect effects which can be transformational. 

The consequences of this are felt more strongly in some categories than others. In...

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Insights Team
Bray Leino

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