TV was always performance. We just forgot how to prove it

Opinion

Let’s move beyond the idea of “brand vs performance” and instead focus on what drives growth across the whole advertising ecosystem, writes WPP Media Solutions’ SVP.

At the Connected TV World Summit, I joined a panel on how TV can take a greater share of performance budgets. 

What struck me is that we’re still asking the wrong question. It’s not whether TV can drive performance; it’s why we ever stopped believing that it could.

If we rely solely on quantifiable metrics, we rely on what can be evidenced rather than what we inherently know to be true. We substitute true effectiveness for only what can be attributed.

For years, the industry has split media into two camps: ‘brand’ and ‘performance’. Conventional wisdom looks to balance both, and digital channels came to dominate the latter because they offered something TV historically couldn’t: clear, immediate, campaign-level evidence.  

The distinction is now breaking down. 

With the growth of connected TV (CTV), improved addressability and cross-channel measurement, TV has become a more sophisticated channel. Applying more systematic approaches and AI allows for a clearer understanding of media performance and its contribution to outcomes. Open Media Studio supports this by enabling measurement and activation against defined objectives, helping to demonstrate results more clearly.

From broad proof to granular evidence 

The industry has never lacked proof that TV works. Decades of research show it drives both short-term sales and long-term brand growth.  

 What it hasn’t always had is granular, campaign-by-campaign evidence. That gap has shaped behaviour. Under pressure to demonstrate results, advertisers have shifted budgets towards channels where performance is easier to measure, even if those channels are not always the most effective. But this is changing. 

As data becomes more unified across planning, activation and measurement, and as AI helps analyse it at scale, we’re building a clearer picture of how media activity actually drives outcomes.  

At WPP Media, our Profit Ability 2 analysis, based on large cross-category datasets, reinforces what many have long suspected: TV remains one of the most powerful drivers of growth.

In fact, the data shows that TV advertising is the greatest driver of overall profit volume compared to all other channels, delivering long-term and immediate profit with a very high saturation point.

Brands should be investing significantly more in TV – across both linear and streaming – than they do today. We need to evidence this more clearly for clients, who need to invest to maximise effectiveness.

Closing this gap is key. 

Those that invest in TV – linear and streaming – see results in the market. A recent example is Jaecoo, a new entrant to the UK automotive market that used a linear TV-led strategy to drive a 250% increase in awareness and 4% market share within its first year. It’s a reminder that, even in a fragmented media landscape, TV still has a unique ability to build scale quickly. 

What performance really looks like 

 As measurement improves, there’s a risk the industry becomes overly focused on attribution – optimising for what is easiest to measure, rather than what is most effective. But there’s an important distinction between driving demand and harvesting it. 

Many digital channels are highly effective at capturing existing intent. TV, by contrast, is particularly strong at creating that intent in the first place, shaping perceptions at scale and influencing what people choose to do next. That difference matters. 

Advertising doesn’t work in a purely linear or individual way. People don’t just buy because they’ve been targeted. They buy because they believe brands are trusted, popular or widely used. 

That’s what brand building does. And it’s where TV continues to play a unique role. 

Its scale and quality shape shared perception in a way few other channels can. And increasingly, through CTV and better targeting, it can do this while also contributing to measurable outcomes. 

The opportunity now is to move beyond the idea of “brand vs performance” entirely and instead focus on what drives growth across the whole system. 

That also means removing friction – whether that’s simplifying how advertisers, including SMBs, access TV, or improving confidence in measurement so budgets can move more freely. 

As systems become more integrated and evidence continues to build, media planning is shifting towards a more outcome-led approach.

When that shift is complete, the question won’t be whether TV drives performance. It will be why we ever thought it didn’t. 

Mark Stephenson is SVP at WPP Media Solutions