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TSM | Thinksmart Marketing

Why Brand is Your Pipeline Multiplier: Insights from TSM x LinkedIn 

TSM Brand to Revenue webinar

In a world where marketing teams are under constant pressure to deliver pipeline and revenue, it’s easy to see why performance and lead gen often take priority. But as we explored in our recent webinar with our CEO Janine Pares, and Daniel Hochuli, Head of Content Solutions, APAC at LinkedIn – if brand isn’t part of your growth equation, you’re missing the biggest multiplier you’ve got. 

At Thinksmart Marketing (TSM), we’ve long believed in the power of full-funnel thinking. And this conversation reinforced what we see every day working with clients across APAC: brand is not a nice-to-have, it’s essential if you want to unlock long-term commercial outcomes. 

Here are some of the key takeaways from the session. 

1. Brand ≠ Fluffy. Brand = Revenue. 

The webinar kicked off by tackling the perception challenge: for many B2B marketers, “brand” can still feel like a dirty word – too fluffy, too emotional, too far from ROI. But the data paints a very different picture. 

We unpacked three powerful mental models: 

  • The 95:5 Rule: At any given time, only 5% of your addressable market is ready to buy. Brand plays to the 95% who aren’t in market yet, so when they are, your brand is top of mind. 
  • Buying Committees and Hidden Buyers: It’s not just about the target buyer anymore. Half the decision-making power in B2B deals sits with “hidden” buyers in legal, finance, and procurement. These folks don’t care about your product or service, they care about your reputation and any risk is poses to their organisation. 
  • The Day-One Shortlist: B2B buyers don’t start from scratch. They shortlist the vendors they already know. If you’re not in their mental set, you’re not in the game. 

The big point? Brand builds salience. Salience builds consideration. And consideration builds pipeline. 

2. Build Fame in a Way That Works for B2B 

You don’t need to be Coca-Cola famous. But you do need to be recognisable, relevant and memorable within your category. 

The session explored the role of creativity and storytelling in B2B. Emotional resonance, consistency and fluency (i.e. how easily your brand is recognised) all contribute to effective brand marketing. Done right, brand doesn’t just build awareness, it drives stronger conversion and efficiency across the funnel. 

We discussed the “Creative Dividend” research from System1 and Effie which shows that emotionally resonant creative isn’t just good for the brand, it makes media spend work harder. In short, good creative isn’t a trade-off with performance – it amplifies it to deliver a revenue and profit multiplier. 

3. Think Full Funnel, Always On 

A key theme of the conversation was that marketers shouldn’t have to choose between brand and demand. It’s not either/or, it’s both/and. 

Running full-funnel, always-on campaigns means you can hit the 5% who are ready to buy, while also building awareness and trust with the 95% who aren’t. And you don’t need a separate brand campaign to make this work. Brand thinking can, and should, be embedded into every go-to-market initiative. 

As Janine put it, it’s not about breaking what’s coming from global. It’s about building relevance and resonance within it.

4. Measuring Brand: It’s Not Impossible

Yes, proving ROI on brand can be tricky. But that doesn’t mean it can’t or shouldn’t be done. 

Janine and Daniel shared some practical ways to start measuring brand impact: 

  • Share of Voice: A leading indicator of future market share. 
  • Sales Velocity: Faster-moving deals often signal stronger brand trust. 
  • Efficiency Metrics: Improved CPCs and conversion rates can reflect greater brand salience. 
  • Anecdotal Feedback: Don’t discount what you hear in the market or from sales teams – those stories matter. 

The bottom line? You don’t need perfect data to make a case for brand. Start by showing the leading indicators and build from there. 

5. A Pragmatic Path for Regional Marketers

We know many APAC marketers don’t have an allocated brand budget. But as both Janine and Daniel pointed out, that doesn’t mean you’re powerless. 

The key is to start where you are: 

  • Localise global messaging to reflect your audience’s needs. 
  • Layer brand into existing GTM and demand gen activity. 
  • Use brand to solve practical problems like sales enablement, positioning or category confusion. 

Often, the fastest path to brand investment is to solve a pain point. As we’ve seen in our work with Iron Mountain and Fujifilm, brand became the unlock for sales traction, messaging clarity and pipeline growth, even when that wasn’t the initial remit. 

Want More?

This blog summary only scratched the surface. To dive deeper into the frameworks, mental models and real-world examples we covered, watch the full webinar on demand here.