Gartner: Brands Are Trapped in a 'Doom Loop'

Is your brand stuck in a ‘doom loop’? 

According to a survey of 426 marketing leaders conducted by Gartner, 84% of brands are trapped in a ‘brand doom loop’ – where companies are underinvesting in brand measurement, meaning they lack confidence in their results and attract even less funding in the future. 

This, Gartner says, is preventing marketing leaders from proving the impact a brand can have on overall business growth. 

“Brand has long been treated as a communications asset, but it is actually a growth engine,” says Julie Reeves, VP Analyst in the Gartner Marketing practice. “The challenge is that most organisations lack the measurement discipline and executive narrative needed to connect brand health to business performance. This creates a cycle where brand is undermeasured, underfunded and undervalued.”

Maintaining consumer trust through branding

Despite this, a company’s unique branding may be the key to building trust and long-term growth with consumers – particularly in an AI-led era. 

Gartner predicts that, by 2028, more than 80% of companies will be making “significant” changes to the identity of their company – spanning mission, brand and culture – in order to remain competitive and keep pace with AI’s impact on markets. 

“Brand clarity becomes even more critical,” in an AI-driven market, says Julie, with Gartner sharing that brand is one of the “few remaining levers” companies can use to position themselves as distinctive and trustworthy in their markets as AI “accelerates commoditisation and fuels disinformation”. 

“CMOs have an opportunity to help their organisations define what makes them distinctive, trusted and relevant as customer expectations and competitive dynamics shift,” says Julie.

According to Thom Newton, Global CEO of Conran Design Group, who has worked with companies such as Aston Martin, Coca-Cola and McDonald's, the importance of brand identity is only increasing. 

“It's changed hugely in the last five to 10 years,” Thom notes. “The understanding and leveraging of brand value was minimal even a decade ago, when the perception of brand focused on how you look, your logo or the way that you present yourself.

“Now, CEO and C-suite-level understanding is more sophisticated. Our interactions with the C-suite show that the most useful lever for brand is actually as a framework to understand the current state of business health, or as a tool to surface challenges and to find common understanding and solutions to them.”

Elevating brand strategy

Brand strategy often has a significant impact beyond marketing – with Gartner’s research finding that when a company has a strong brand strategy, it is two times more likely to exceed its growth goals. 

Many C-suite executives also reported being open to elevating the importance of brand strategy in their organisations. More than 50% reported to Gartner that they want their CMO to clarify the relationship between brand and business strategy, while 43% say they want a “clear, simple story,” about brand health and business performance. 

According to Gartner, marketing leaders should establish regular brand health measurements and connect brand metrics to business outcomes in order to improve this visibility among senior executives.

“CMOs need to move beyond tracking brand metrics in isolation,” explains Julie. “They must show how brand influences enterprise priorities, such as revenue, profit, customer experience, innovation and market expansion. When brand measurement becomes a dashboard for growth decisions, CMOs are better positioned to earn executive confidence and investment.”