Why brands must break free from marketing silos in 2025

The playbook for 2024 was marked by caution and conservatism.

Shrinking budgets and economic uncertainty pushed many brands to play defence, favouring short-term performance campaigns over long-term strategies.

But 2025 presents an inflection point. With consumer confidence on the rise, inflation poised to ease, and over 80% of APAC CMOs anticipating bigger budgets as per a recent global dentsu study, marketers have an opportunity to rewrite the playbook.

However, the clock is ticking.

The latest World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) Outlook report predicts media price inflation in Australia will rise to 4.7% next year, amplifying the urgency to prove ROI. The days of siloed strategies and disconnected vanity metrics that fail to drive real business outcomes are over.

Meanwhile, the same dentsu study reveals that almost 9 out of 10 CMOs see media as a critical lever for business growth – yet many continue to rely on outdated approaches.

For years, brand building and performance marketing have operated in silos, competing for budget and attention. But in a landscape where every dollar must deliver growth, this divide is unsustainable.

A full-funnel measurement strategy integrates upper-funnel brand building with lower-funnel performance tactics, creating a cohesive framework measuring impact across the entire customer journey.

This approach isn’t about doing more at every stage of the funnel – it’s about understanding how each stage can influence the full funnel, allowing brands to optimise for both immediate conversions and long-term equity.

The case for full funnel measurement

The upper funnel is where awareness sparks curiosity and sets the tone for everything that follows. However, measuring brand perception requires more than just reach and frequency metrics.

Tools like brand lift studies (BLS) provide granular insights into how consumers perceive a brand after exposure, tracking metrics like recall, awareness, favourability and consideration.

For instance, if a BVOD campaign resonates particularly well with young adults aged 18-34, marketers can use these insights to refine targeting and creatives in the next stage of the funnel to optimise performance.

The mid-funnel is where curiosity converts into consideration. Metrics from The Trade Desk’s Search and Social Impact report allow marketers to understand how advertising on one channel drives consumer behaviour on others.

For instance, they can reveal how BVOD impacts search activity, or how audio might influence conversion lift, which might otherwise be credited to social media platforms. Foot traffic data adds another dimension, measuring the impact of digital campaigns on physical store visits.

The final stage is where consideration transforms into conversions. By integrating data from a brand’s own online and physical stores, or by leveraging retailers’ loyalty programs and verified purchase data, marketers can connect upper-funnel exposure to in-store or online sales.

This closed-loop approach not only ties media investments to measurable outcomes but also elevates advertising from being viewed as a cost centre to a strategic growth investment.

Australia’s leading bedroom furniture retailer, Snooze, utilised a single media-buying platform to create a unified campaign strategy, seamlessly integrating BVOD, audio, and display inventory for maximum impact. This approach provided Snooze with a holistic view of their customers, enabling them to blend strategies for different channels while leveraging data-driven insights for real-time optimisations.

To measure success, Snooze tracked online and offline intent metrics such as foot traffic, website visits, cart views, and online purchases. The results were impressive and reached over 7 million people across all channels, with an average cost of just $0.02 per person. The campaign also drove 56,000 visits to their stores, exemplifying how this campaign translates into measurable business outcomes.

As we step into 2025, marketers should acknowledge that inertia isn’t just costly, it’s a risk to long-term success in today’s high-stakes landscape.

A full-funnel, data-driven approach to marketing is essential for navigating complexity, delivering sustained value, and unlocking growth.

The brands that succeed will be those that pivot boldly, think holistically, and measure success at every stage of the consumer journey.

James Bayes is vice president at The Trade Desk.