New TransUnion and MMA Global Whitepaper Reveals Brand Building is Undervalued by Up to 83%

Brand as Performance shows brand campaigns lift favorability up to 24%, with consumers who hold favorable opinions buying 4–5x more and driving 6x greater long-term sales impact

TransUnion, in partnership with MMA Global, released a new whitepaper, Giving Marketing the Credit it Deserves, revealing how traditional measurement methods have undervalued the impact of brand marketing on sales by as much as 83%. The findings demonstrate that when properly measured, brand campaigns don’t just build sentiment; they deliver performance by helping win new customers and driving long-term revenue growth.

For years, CMOs have struggled to make the business case for brands when boardroom metrics favored short-term performance. The new Brand as Performance (BaP) framework changes that by proving how brand-building translates directly to customer acquisition, retention, and sales. BaP was first introduced by MMA Global in 2022 and has now been validated across multiple industries.

“Brand as Performance gives marketers the language and evidence to prove what they’ve always known: brand drives growth,” said Matt Spiegel, EVP of TruAudience Growth Strategy at TransUnion. “By linking brand-building directly to measurable outcomes, we’re helping CMOs protect budgets, accelerate results, and speak to the C-suite with confidence.”

“We now have a framework that proves brand investment compounds over time and drives growth in ways short-term tactics never could,” said Greg Stuart, CEO of MMA Global. “It is the kind of evidence the industry has been missing.”

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The whitepaper features results from major U.S. brands, Ally, Kroger, and The Campbell’s Company.

Key Takeaways:

• Marketing impact has been systematically undervalued — by up to 83% under old methods.
• Marketing drives favorability — with lifts of up to +24%, even for established brands.
• Favorability drives conversion — favorable consumers purchase 4–5x more than non-favorables.
• Brand impact compounds over time — long-term effects are 1.8x to 6x greater than short-term.
• Brand-first strategies deliver real business growth — as shown by Ally’s +16% more customers and +29% more accounts.

“We’ve always believed our incredibly strong brand was the foundation of our growth,” said Andrea Brimmer, Chief Marketing & PR Officer, Ally. “This work proved that a brand-first strategy not only builds equity, but also drives measurable business results — more customers, more accounts, and stronger long-term growth than chasing short-term wins.”

The analysis was conducted by TransUnion’s Marketing Solutions Knowledge Lab, MMA Global, and Rubinson Partners, Inc., with case studies from Ally, Kroger, and Campbell’s. The studies used large-scale identity backbones — ranging from 400,000 to more than 1 million households — combined with 10,000+ consumer surveys and tracking periods of 9–10 months. Each case employed causal lift experiments, advanced attribution, and long-term measurement techniques.

TransUnion is a global information and insights company with over 13,000 associates operating in more than 30 countries. We make trust possible by ensuring each person is reliably represented in the marketplace. We do this with a Tru picture of each person: an actionable view of consumers, stewarded with care. Through our acquisitions and technology investments we have developed innovative solutions that extend beyond our strong foundation in core credit into areas such as marketing, fraud, risk and advanced analytics. As a result, consumers and businesses can transact with confidence and achieve great things.

Comprised of over 800-member companies globally, MMA Global is the only marketing trade association that brings together the full ecosystem of marketers, martech, adtech, media and other marketer supporting companies that work collaboratively architecting the future of marketing — while relentlessly fixated on delivering growth today. Led by CMOs, the MMA helps marketers lead the imperative for marketing change by taking on marketing’s unanswered questions and challenging our commonly held beliefs. We are committed to science and questioning; believing that creating new & even revolutionary marketing impact is steeped in constructively challenging the status quo. MMA also works directly with members and business leaders to aggressively adopt peer-driven, proven, science-supported best practices — without compromise. The MMA invests millions in groundbreaking research to enable marketers with unassailable truth and actionable insights & tools. By enlightening, empowering and enabling marketers, the MMA shapes marketing’s future success — while also propelling business growth.

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