Marketing keeps evolving, but not every shiny idea delivers. From performance pressures to the endless purpose debate, it’s easy for brands to get lost in complexity.
At IVALO, we help clients cut through by focusing on what really drives growth: clear strategy, distinctiveness and creative execution. We chose these topics because they reflect the crossroads marketers face today: how to reframe performance as a growth system, how to choose the right creative “modes” for your brand, and why purpose remains the most fragile and contested of them all.
In this issue of IVALO Insights: how to elevate performance beyond short-term tactics, how to pick the right mix of marketing modes, and why Nick Asbury’s The Road to Hell is essential reading for anyone tired of purpose grandstanding.
INSIGHT 1
Performance Marketing Reframed: From Tactic to Growth System
Performance now takes nearly 60 % of marketing budgets, yet it is still run like a short-term lever. Adobe x MMA’s global survey shows the gap: frequent budget shifts, martech sprawl, slow measurement, and thin talent readiness hold teams back.
The next stage is not more spend, but better orchestration across brand, CX, and performance with modern measurement, creative velocity, and confident use of AI.
What works?
- Make performance a strategy, not a silo – Set shared goals and KPIs with brand and CX. Coordinate planning cycles, and judge performance by business outcomes, not only channel efficiency.
- Modernise measurement – Bridge fast signals with rigorous tools. Use real-time data as leading indicators, and pair it with MMM and incrementality so budget moves are evidence-based, not reactive.
- Build creative velocity – Treat content speed and quality as performance levers. Streamline approvals, scale personalisation, and close the loop between insight and creative testing.
- Tame the martech stack – Integrate and simplify. Most stacks average eight tools, yet integration and advanced automation lag. Consolidation and journey orchestration matter more than adding another point solution.
- Close the talent and AI gap – Only a quarter of leaders are satisfied with training. Invest in upskilling, cross-functional pods, and governance so AI can scale confidently across planning, targeting, and content.
The takeaway for marketers
Performance will not win on speed alone. Reframe it as a strategy-led growth system that integrates brand and CX, balances quick signals with rigorous measurement, scales creative well, and equips teams to use martech and AI with trust. Do that, and the 60 % of your budget works harder and proves it.
Read More
Adobe: The State of Performance Marketing
INSIGHT 2
Seven Modes of Modern Marketing: Beyond Channels, Toward Growth
The old playbook of mass advertising no longer holds. Algorithms change overnight, shiny tech distracts, and audiences tune out. As Rei Inamoto argues, it’s more useful to think of modes, like distinct approaches to building brands, rather than chasing the next channel or formula. The art is in finding the right mix of modes for your brand, your organisation, and your moment.
What works
- Product Mode – Innovation is the marketing. Without a strong product, even fame won’t save you.
- Storytelling Mode – Narrative craft creates emotional resonance and cultural meaning.
- Technology Mode – Systems and tools shape engagement, enabling scale and personalisation.
- Halo Mode – Cultural cachet and desirability drive organic pull and word of mouth.
- Spectacle Mode – Orchestrated moments grab mass attention, from Super Bowl ads to cultural stunts.
- Purpose Mode – Social impact can build trust and loyalty, but only when it’s real and consistent.
- Business Model Mode – Rethinking how you sell can itself become the most powerful form of marketing
The takeaway for marketers
INo brand needs all seven, but every brand needs to know its mix. The strongest growth comes from treating creativity not as a department, but as an organisational culture, and choosing the modes that fit both your capabilities and your customers’ expectations.
Is your brand playing in the right modes, or just chasing channels?
Read more
The Intersection: The Seven Modes of Modern Marketing
INSIGHT 3
Brand Purpose: A Fever Dream Finally Breaking?
For more than a decade, “brand purpose” has been sold as a growth engine. Jim Stengel’s 2011 book Grow helped fuel the movement, claiming brands with higher purpose outperform the market.
As writer Nick Asbury points out, the backlash didn’t just start now, but it’s been building since Byron Sharp first dismantled Stengel’s methodology in 2011. From Richard Shotton to Mark Ritson, critics have long pointed out the gap between lofty claims and actual impact. Today, the vibe has shifted: purpose looks less like strategy and more like self-delusion.
What works?
- Scrutiny isn’t new – Pushback began over a decade ago. The “timely conversation” is late to the party.
- Purpose ≠ performance – Businesses can do good, but tying social impact directly to growth has always been a stretch.
- Hypocrisy runs deep – Iconic cases (Patagonia, Ben & Jerry’s, Dove) show that moral grandstanding often masks contradictions, tax benefits, or harmful categories.
- Real marketing is simpler – Selling good products at fair prices, with distinctive branding and creativity, beats inflated claims of saving the world.
- Purpose fatigue is here – The Cannes “orgy of purpose” has worn thin. Most brands are better off focusing on relevance, value, and consistency.
The takeaway for marketers
Purpose may still help a handful of brands, but for most it’s a distraction. The strongest brands win by being useful, distinctive, and creative, not by preaching. As Ritson says, “the purpose of purpose is purpose.” Is your brand chasing ideals, or building something real?
Read more
Thoughts on Writing: Stengel and a strange purpose autopsy
If you want the definitive take on this debate, Nick Asbury’s book The Road to Hell is essential reading.