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Why a Fashion Marketing Manager Grows the Bottom Line

There is a version of marketing that consists of driving traffic, running promotions, and reporting a return on advertising spend. It is measurable, it feels productive, and over a long enough period it tends to make a brand poorer.

The rationale is that discounting and short-term promotional sales erode margins, whereas the true safeguard for margins, a brand that consumers are willing to purchase at full price, develops gradually and is not reflected in any quarterly performance metrics.

A marketing manager who understands this distinction grows profit. One who does not grow revenue and loses money doing it.

Why does a fashion marketing manager increase profits?

A fashion marketing manager grows the bottom line by building the brand strength that reduces price sensitivity, rather than buying sales through discounting.

The most rigorous evidence base in the field, drawn from around 996 campaigns in the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising Databank, found that long-term brand building and short-term activation do different jobs on different timescales, with an optimal budget split of around 60 percent for brand and 40 percent for activation.

It also established that a brand's share of voice relative to its market share predicts whether it grows or shrinks; that broad reach outperforms narrow targeting; that penetration beats loyalty campaigns; and that emotional and fame-driving work is several times more efficient than rational messaging.

For a fashion brand, the practical outcome is fewer markdowns and better full-price sell-through, which is where the bottom line actually moves.

Two jobs, two timescales

The foundational distinction is between brand building and sales activation, and confusing them is the most common expensive error in the field. Brand building creates mental availability through broad reach, emotional storytelling, and sustained investment.

Activation converts that accumulated equity into immediate sales through targeted, rational, often price-led messages. They operate on different clocks: activation produces a sharp uplift that decays quickly, while brand building produces a slower, durable, compounding effect (Growth Method, 2026).

The critical finding is that brand effects take time to appear. Campaigns generally need around six months before long-term effects emerge and overtake short-term benefits, which means a brand judged on thirty-day attribution windows will systematically defund the thing that makes it profitable (System1, 2025).

They also interact. Activation spending in a high brand equity environment converts more efficiently than the same spending in a low equity environment, so brand investment increases the elasticity of activation rather than competing with it (Leadgen Economy, 2026).


The 60:40 finding

Les Binet and Peter Field analyzed roughly 996 case studies from the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising Databank, covering campaigns entered between 1980 and 2010, and published the results as The Long and the Short of It in 2013 (Alex Murrell, 2025; Deep Marketing, 2026).

The headline conclusion was that the optimal balance is approximately 60 percent of the budget on brand building and 40 percent on activation. Later analysis found the most efficient campaigns and those achieving the greatest growth still adhered to roughly that split (System1, 2025). Binet and Field have consistently framed their findings as a guideline rather than a law, flexed by category, purchase cycle, brand maturity, and competitive intensity (Semetis, 2025).

The practical use is diagnostic rather than prescriptive: a team allocating 20 percent to brand and 80 percent to activation, which is common among performance-led operations, is probably underinvesting in long-term growth (Growth Method, 2026).


The equation that predicts growth

The most operationally useful part of this research is the share of voice model. For any level of market share there is an equilibrium level of share of voice, and the simplest version assumes equilibrium is reached when share of voice equals share of market.

Brands whose share of voice sits above their market share tend to grow. Brands below it tend to shrink (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, n.d.). This gap is called excess share of voice, calculated as share of voice minus share of market.

The link between growth and excess share of voice has been measured: about 10 points of excess share of voice leads to about 0.5 percentage points of market share growth per year. This means that a typical brand needs to keep about 20 points of excess share of voice to see one percent annual share growth (Will Patrick, 2024).

Separate analysis by Nielsen across 123 brands arrived at a comparable figure, while noting that returns vary by brand size, category, and campaign quality (Semetis, 2025). Two implications follow.

Growth is slow, and most campaign investment maintains share rather than increasing it. And the metric is relative: a small brand does not need a large absolute budget to achieve a positive excess share of voice in a defined niche (Deep Marketing, 2026).


Why this is a margin argument in fashion

The link to the bottom line runs through price sensitivity, which is where the fashion application becomes specific. Among the business effects Binet and Field measure, price sensitivity sits alongside sales, share, loyalty, and penetration, and fame-driving campaigns showed substantial improvements across all of them (Alex Murrell, 2025).

A brand that customers actively want is one that discounts less. That matters enormously in a category where markdown is the default response to weak sell-through and where apparel already carries the highest return rate in e-commerce at roughly 25 percent against about 20 percent overall (Eightx, 2026).

Every point of discount comes directly out of the contribution margin, and unlike a marketing cost, it cannot be switched off later without training customers to wait for the sale.

A brand marketing program that reduces the need to discount does more for profit than an activation program that generates the sales requiring the discount in the first place.

Penetration, not loyalty

One finding regularly surprises people, and it should change how fashion brands allocate attention. Loyalty campaigns targeting existing customers are dramatically less successful in business terms than campaigns aimed at acquiring new buyers or at the whole market (Alex Murrell, 2025).

The data on efficiency is stark: campaigns targeting the whole market showed substantially higher excess share of voice efficiency than those targeting new customers only, which in turn beat those targeting existing customers (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, n.d.).

This finding connects to the Double Jeopardy law, first observed by McPhee in 1963 and extensively validated by the Ehrenberg Bass Institute, which finds that brands with higher penetration also show higher loyalty and that loyalty does not vary much independently of size. Growth comes from expanding the buyer base rather than extracting more from existing customers (Deep Marketing, 2026; Marketing Across Borders, 2020).

The broader the reach, the broader the effects, which is a direct argument against the tight targeting that digital platforms make easy and attractive (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, n.d.).

The dispute worth knowing about

Any honest treatment must acknowledge that another serious school contests this evidence base. Professor Byron Sharp of the Ehrenberg Bass Institute has publicly dismissed the 60:40 ratio as based on unsound awards data, describing it as misleading while remaining on friendly terms with Binet. His position is that brands should concentrate on building mental and physical availability, reach everybody rather than narrow segments, and advertise consistently throughout the year (Marketing Science, 2025).

What both camps agree on is more important than where they differ. Both hold that brands need advertising as well as performance activity and that without building memory structures, no amount of activation delivers growth. Both favor broad reach over narrow targeting.

Both regard penetration as the engine of growth. The disagreement is about the precision of a specific ratio, not about whether brand investment is necessary.

For a working manager, that means treating 60:40 as a diagnostic prompt rather than a mandate, and treating consistent broad reach as the settled part of the budget.

Creative quality is a multiplier, not a decoration

The research produces one further finding that changes how budgets should be argued for. Emotional campaigns are approximately twice as likely to achieve top-level profit performance as rational ones and over twice as efficient at driving market share growth per ten points of excess share of voice.

Campaigns designed to drive fame are around four times as efficient on the same measure. Creatively awarded campaigns have been found to be many times more efficient at driving share growth than non-awarded ones (Tom Roach, n.d.; Alex Murrell, 2025).

There is a sobering counterpart. Ehrenberg Bass's analysis of 143 television advertisements found average recall of around 40 percent, with correctly branded recall around 40 percent of that, implying that as little as 16 percent of advertising is both remembered and correctly attributed (Tom Roach, n.d.).

Separate analysis has also found that strong long-term brand-building work tends to perform well in the short term as well, which undercuts the assumption that the two objectives require different advertising (System1, 2024).

Creative quality is therefore not a subjective preference. It is a measurable multiplier on every other pound spent, which is a useful argument to have available when a finance team asks why production budgets matter.


The trap the industry keeps falling into

The study additionally records a shift deserving of mention. The emphasis on short-term objectives increased significantly, from approximately 8 percent of submitted cases in 2006 to nearly 25 percent in 2016, while the proportion of activated budgets surged from around 31 percent in 2014 to 47 percent in 2016. During the same timeframe, the incidence of substantial business impacts reported by campaigns significantly decreased (System1, 2025).

The apparatus serves as a measurement artifact. Return on investment metrics favor activation, as its effects are instantaneous and directly linked, whereas brand effects are postponed and less distinct. Maximizing reported returns frequently entails constricting target demographics and diminishing the overall budget, thereby enhancing the ratio while contracting the business (System1, 2025).

A marketing manager's primary responsibility involves safeguarding long-term investments against the demands of short-term reporting, necessitating both political acumen and analytical prowess.

The Indonesian application

Two regional factors render this pragmatic instead of merely theoretical. The market is expansive and youthful. In 2025, Indonesia's creative economy engaged 27.4 million individuals, constituting approximately 18.7 percent of the national labor force, with over half of its employees being under 40 years old, and modest fashion exports amounted to USD 8.4 billion in 2024 (Badan Pusat Statistik, 2025; Antara, 2025; Invest Indonesia, 2025).

Categories under this circumstance incentivize penetration tactics, as there exists a substantial number of light and non-purchasers to engage with. The marketplace is highly competitive at the discount segment, which is precisely where brand equity holds the greatest significance.

A brand possessing mental availability can maintain its pricing while rivals engage in discounting, and sustaining price is essential for a fashion enterprise to endure and maintain its own return rate.

What prepares someone for this

The position occupies a space between artistic discernment and business acumen. Studying business administration and fashion marketing and management helps students comprehend margin, pricing, and unit economics.

Assessing the uniqueness and emotional impact of creative endeavors necessitates closeness to their creators, a perspective afforded by studying fashion design, visual communication design, and digital media design.

Live case studies, business models, and consultancy-style projects under the guidance of practitioners expose students to authentic allocation decisions prior to managing a budget.

The synopsis is uncomplicated.

Activation capitalizes on pre-existing demand. Brand development generates demand that can be cultivated, allowing the brand to set prices independently of market pressures.

We cultivate the essence incrementally, finance it with patience, and safeguard it from the reporting cycle that penalizes it.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the 60:40 rule in marketing? It is the finding that brands achieve optimal long-term growth by allocating roughly 60 percent of budget to brand building and 40 percent to short-term sales activation. It came from Les Binet and Peter Field's analysis of around 996 case studies in the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising Databank, published as The Long and the Short of It in 2013. Its authors describe it as a guideline flexed by context rather than a fixed law.

What is share of voice, and how does it predict growth? Share of voice is a brand's share of category advertising. The model holds that for any market share there is an equilibrium share of voice, and brands advertising above their market share tend to grow while those below tend to shrink. The gap is called the excess share of voice, and roughly 10 points of it have been associated with about 0.5 percentage points of market share growth per year.

How does marketing improve profit rather than just sales? This goal is primarily achieved by reducing price sensitivity. Brand building makes customers willing to pay full price, which reduces the need to discount.

In fashion, reducing discount dependence is more impactful on the bottom line than generating additional discounted sales, especially since markdowns are the default response to weak sell-through and every point of discount directly affects contribution margin.

Is it better to target existing customers or new ones? The evidence favors acquisition and broad reach. Loyalty campaigns targeting existing customers were found to be dramatically less successful in business terms than campaigns aimed at new customers or the whole market. This aligns with the Double Jeopardy law, which finds that growth comes from expanding the buyer base rather than extracting more from existing buyers.

Do marketing experts agree on the 60:40 rule? No. Professor Byron Sharp of the Ehrenberg Bass Institute has publicly dismissed the specific ratio as based on unsound awards data. However, both schools agree that brands need advertising alongside performance activity, that memory structures must be built for growth to occur, that broad reach beats narrow targeting, and that penetration drives growth.

The dispute concerns the precision of the ratio rather than the principle.

Why does creative quality matter commercially? Because it multiplies the efficiency of every other pound spent. Emotional campaigns are around twice as likely to achieve top-level profit performance as rational ones; fame-driving campaigns are roughly four times as efficient at driving share growth per ten points of excess share of voice; and creatively awarded campaigns are many times more efficient than non-awarded ones.


Marketing Manager




References

Alex Murrell. (2025). Les Binet and Peter Field, The Long and the Short of It. https://www.alexmurrell.co.uk/summaries/les-binet-and-peter-field-the-long-and-the-short-of-it

Antara. (2025). Indonesia's creative economy beats jobs target in 2025. https://en.antaranews.com/news/396817/indonesias-creative-economy-beats-jobs-target-in-2025

Badan Pusat Statistik. (2025). BPS: Creative economy employs 27.4 million workers in 2025. https://www.bps.go.id/en/news/2025/11/17/805/bps--creative-economy-employs-27-4-million-workers-in-2025.html

Deep Marketing. (2026). 60/40 rule 2026: Brand versus performance budget split. https://www.deepmarketing.it/en/blog/60-40-rule-budget-brand-performance-2026

Eightx. (2026). Average ecommerce return rate 2026. https://eightx.co/blog/average-ecommerce-return-rate

Growth Method. (2026). The Long and the Short of It: Binet and Field's framework explained. https://growthmethod.com/long-and-short/

Institute of Practitioners in Advertising. (n.d.). The Long and the Short of It presentation. https://ipa.co.uk/media/5811/long_and_short_of_it_presentation_final.pdf

Invest Indonesia. (2025). Indonesia modest fashion industry sees 3.9% export rise. https://investindonesia.co.id/2025/12/11/indonesia-modest-fashion-industry-sees-3-9-export-rise/

Leadgen Economy. (2026). The brand performance balance: Applying Binet and Field's 60/40 rule. https://www.leadgen-economy.com/blog/brand-performance-balance-binet-field-60-40/

Marketing Across Borders. (2020). You should know your marketing velocity. https://marketingacrossborders.blog/2020/02/03/you-should-know-your-marketing-velocity/

Raffles Jakarta. (n.d.a). Business administration. https://www.raffles-indonesia.com/business-administration

Raffles Jakarta. (n.d.b). Fashion marketing and management. https://www.raffles-indonesia.com/fashionmarketing

Raffles Jakarta. (n.d.c). Programs offered. https://www.raffles-indonesia.com/programmes

Raffles Jakarta. (n.d.d). International academic team. https://www.raffles-indonesia.com/international-creative-practitioners

Raffles Jakarta. (n.d.e). Raffles career development. https://www.raffles-indonesia.com/raffles-career-development

System1. (2024). The long and short of it: How to win the brand building marathon. https://system1group.com/blog/the-long-short-of-it

System1. (2025). Binet and Field return with Media in the Digital Age. https://system1group.com/blog/binet-and-field-return-with-media-in-the-digital-age

Will Patrick. (2024). The Long and the Short of It: Summary and notes. https://www.willpatrick.co.uk/notes/the-long-and-the-short-of-it-field-binet/

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