Why going all-in on brand or performance marketing is a mistake

At a recent healthcare marketing conference, I sat in two back-to-back sessions that couldn’t have been more different.

In the first, a prominent CMO from a major health system explained why his organization had walked away from a digital first strategy — ditching performance marketing efforts, mobile apps, and ROI attribution — in favor of traditional media and brand-building alone. Then, just 45 minutes later, another respected CMO from an equally large system made the opposite case. Performance marketing was everything, and brand work was a waste of money. “No healthcare provider has an awareness problem,” he said.

What’s going on here?

We’re watching experienced marketers rush to opposite extremes. But the truth is, healthcare marketing strategy should never be binary. It’s not brand vs. acquisition. It’s both.
In fact, strong brand preference reduces customer acquisition costs. The more people trust, recognize, and prefer your brand, the less you have to spend to win them over.

We’ve known this instinctively. What’s been missing—until now—are the insights and frameworks to put that balance into action. That’s where our latest thinking comes in.

We call it the tipping point. And it could change how your team plans, measures, and invests—starting today.