Marketing's Missing Middle

A couple of weeks ago we wrapped the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity where everyone was talking about everything from AI (we definitely have hit the inflection point where AI is no longer an anticipation but is rather an expectation!), to cookies, retail media, intersectionality, all the way to empowering personalization. And except for a handful of passing remarks, there wasn't much discussed about this massive gap in the funnel that we call the missing middle. I mean I’m just going to say it, but WTF??? The missing middle has become the often overlooked but how the heck are we forgetting about it void in marketing strategy?? The term may sound abstract, but it represents a very tangible gap in most marketing strategies.

The missing middle is this overlooked void between the brand world at the top of the funnel and the performance world at the bottom. It’s where marketing’s impact on the bottom line takes shape, but also where we as marketers have been somewhat negligent.

You see, brand is filled with beautiful storytelling, creative excellence, and a craft that excels at positioning brands in awe-inspiring ways. But it often needs more sophistication of science, martech, and media integration to drive purchase and prove its value. At the bottom of the funnel, we find performance —a realm driven by technology, data analytics, and optimizations geared toward conversions. It promises precision and efficiency but often falls short in terms of creative vision and emotional engagement. The middle is how brand awareness converts into relevant mental availability. It’s where emotional connections form into intent and then slowly transform into action. The middle is where sentiment meets precision and needs to be better connected. The truth is, that neither approach can fully succeed without the other. The real opportunity lies in connecting brand and performance marketing by focusing on the middle of the funnel, where customers actively try to understand products and brands.

This is where the magic happens. Customers seek information that helps them understand the value and emotional connection of a product or a brand. The fact is, that different tactics and messages play different roles simultaneously. These are all MASSIVE creative opportunities, capable of establishing deeper emotional connections between brand and customer, that lead to longer relationships. All contribute to eventual decisions to buy and all drive longer-term value. But for some reason, we have left them completely alone.

The legendary Nick Law , Creative Chairperson of Accenture Song, has urged our industry about this topic for years, as have several others. Yet, in the whirlwind of today’s marketing chaos, it’s an issue that is often neglected. As Nick said, we need to start from the middle. An innovative stance that refocuses on simplicity and customer decision-making SIMPLY by connecting the top and bottom of the funnel. In turn, better connecting with our audience and significantly improve both brand and performance metrics.

Time for a Reset

I think it’s time for a reset. Well maybe not a “reset” in its traditional sense, but we need to take a step back and re-examine our approach. It’s time that we stop overcomplicating to justify internal decisions and focus outward on what really matters - the customer. We need to get back to delivering clear, straightforward messages that help our customers in making informed decisions. We need to help customers justify their decisions.

Connecting Brand and Performance Marketing

I’m not going to dwell on how we can creatively address the missing middle. There’s been enough already written and spoken about it that my opinion just adds to the clutter. And I won’t pretend that my creative marketing leadership experience is enough to transform an entire industry. But there is still a MASSIVE opportunity for us to connect the creative and performance marketing groups. It’s an organizational culture thing.

We have an opportunity to implement a more unified approach between these two groups that matters to them and where everyone works toward shared goals. For instance, while brand marketers may focus on metrics like brand awareness and customer perception, performance marketers might look at click-through rates and conversion metrics. By identifying overlapping KPIs, such as customer engagement and retention, these teams can find common ground. Facilitating data and insights sharing between the teams can provide a more comprehensive view of the customer and inform more effective marketing strategies. Coordinating on campaign strategies ensures that brand-building efforts and performance-driven initiatives are not working at cross purposes but rather complementing each other. It seems so fundamental, but too often it is overlooked.

The creative marketing process significantly benefits from this unified approach. When brand and performance marketing teams collaborate, they better understand their audience, how the brand is perceived in the market, and how to effectively reach and engage their audience. This collaboration leads to better creative, stronger impact, and relevance of marketing campaigns. With shared insights and a cohesive approach, marketing messages become more consistent and resonate better with the audience, thereby strengthening the brand's position in the market.

Ultimately, the benefits of a unified approach extend beyond improved campaign performance and stronger creative outputs. When brand and performance marketing teams work together seamlessly, they can enhance the overall customer experience, providing a more holistic and personalized interaction with the brand. This collaborative effort leads to a more comprehensive view of marketing effectiveness, encompassing both short-term and long-term goals. Such synergy not only drives immediate sales and conversions but also fosters sustainable growth and a competitive edge in the market. By integrating brand and performance marketing efforts, businesses can achieve a more robust and resilient strategy that endures.

What He Said…

By starting in the middle we can create a more integrated approach that leverages the strengths of both brand and performance marketing. This middle ground is where decisions are clarified, and it's the perfect place to combine the emotional appeal of brand marketing with the data-driven tactics of performance marketing.

For example, you might use brand storytelling techniques to create compelling mid-funnel content but distribute and optimize that content using performance marketing tactics. Or, you could use performance marketing data to inform your messaging, ensuring that your brand communications resonate with the specific needs and interests of your target audience.

Key Considerations When Starting From the Middle

Here are some things to consider:

Combine Data with Emotion: Data is essential for understanding customer behavior, but it should be combined with emotional storytelling to create a more compelling message. Fully engaging the audience means striking a balance between the analytical and the emotional.

Creativity doesn’t just matter, it’s imperative for capturing people’s attention and long-term success. But when enhanced with data, you don’t just capture attention you also capture their heart, their loyalty, and their wallet.

Personalization at Scale: I touched upon this in a prior edition, but as we focus on working from the middle out it's crucial to deliver personalized experiences to our customers. Use data and AI-driven technologies to create tailored content, product recommendations, and offers based on individual user behaviors and preferences. This level of personalization can significantly enhance engagement and move leads closer to conversion.

Focus on Value: Don’t waste people’s time with product demos and unnecessary jargon, please!!? Complexity is overwhelming enough. Ensure they understand how what you’re offering solves their problems or meets their needs. They need to understand why they should choose you and choose you only - every time. It is possible to capture their hearts and their minds at the same time without overwhelming them.

The missing middle represents both a challenge and an opportunity for us as marketing leaders. By recognizing the importance of this often-neglected stage of the customer journey, bringing together the two marketing tribes of brand and performance, and developing integrated strategies to address it, we can unlock significant value for our brands.

The key lies in breaking down the silos between the two groups, starting with a focus on the middle of the funnel where customer decisions are clarified. By personalizing experiences, integrating across channels, and measuring the impact of mid-funnel activities, brands can create more effective and efficient marketing strategies. By focusing on emotional connection, simplicity, and on the customer as they are making their decision we can drive bigger success for brands.

As the marketing landscape continues to grow more complex, those brands that can successfully navigate their customers through the growing complexity are the ones who stand to reap the most rewards. By focusing on emotional connection, simplicity, and customer decision-making, we can bridge the gap and ultimately drive success for the brands we serve.

Addressing the missing middle needs to be a top priority. It's time to reshape the process, connect the dots, and create marketing strategies around the middle - where we can bring bigger value to our customers and our business. The rewards for doing so are too significant to ignore.