For a long time, the marketing industry operated within a predictable comfort zone, structured much like an assembly line: first, you built the brand (branding), then you generated interest, and finally, you converted it into a sale (performance). Each stage had its distinct role, owner, and metrics. However, the provocation “Is branding the future of marketing, or already the present?” finds a definitive answer in the shifting digital landscape: branding is the absolute present, precisely because it has become indistinguishable from performance.
According to an analysis by Francisco Cantão, CEO of Proxy Media, the traditional separation between these two marketing disciplines is collapsing because the modern consumer’s journey is no longer linear. The days of neatly guiding a customer down a PowerPoint-drawn funnel are over.
See also: The End of the Traditional Marketing Funnel: Why Branding and Performance Are Merging
The Death of the Linear Path
Today, decision-making is a chaotic, dynamic process. A consumer might discover a brand in a short video, jump to Google to read reviews, be targeted by an ad, forget about it entirely, and then return days later to make a purchase. Because of this unpredictability, every single touchpoint in the digital realm must carry more weight. An ad is rarely just a “final push”; it is often the very first point of contact. Therefore, everything has simultaneously become an opportunity for brand building and conversion.
Branding has become the most valuable asset of a company. Being recognizable and relatable to the public became more than a feature of the product—it became the product itself, and companies all around the world are realizing this.
The process of discovering, understanding, and converting to a product became longer and non-linear, especially as most interactions and impressions happen online.
“Today, people do not follow a linear path. They discover a brand in a short video, jump to Google, check reviews, are targeted by an ad, forget about it, return days later, click, abandon, return. This process can take weeks or happen in just a few minutes,” as stated by Francisco Cantão, CEO of Proxy Media.
1. The Rise of Branded and Collab Real Estate
At this stage, companies that already have established branding have become a valuable, and in some cases, they are actually selling this. This exemplifies a new trend happening in Brazil and around the world regarding branded real estate projects, from São Paulo to Dubai.
Brand partner projects are not a new thing, with mostly mainstream hotel brands like Marriott doing it for a long time, but now the trend extends to car brands, luxury boutiques, and watch brands.
Branded properties have roughly a 30% to 35% premium compared to unbranded properties. As high-income buyers increasingly see properties as rentable assets, branded properties tend to hold their value and have higher resale value, bringing exclusivity and more attractiveness to buyers. This trend shows a marketable reality of consumers: the premium on trust that branding, even if unrelated to real estate, gives to projects.
- Tonino Lamborghini Residences: Located in Barra Sul, Balneário Camboriú (SC), Brazil, this is a clear example of the immersion of a luxury design brand into the Brazilian real estate market. Developed by the construction company Embraed with the seal of the Italian brand Tonino Lamborghini, the 53-story project adopts the “total-living” concept, where finishes, coatings, and even the shape of the leisure areas reflect the brand’s DNA. The units, which have areas starting at 194 m², are sold with values starting at R$ 6.94 million ( $ 1.4M USD), resulting in an approximate value of R$ 35,000 ($7K USD) per square meter, giving roughly a 20% premium over similar properties.
- Heritage by Pininfarina: In São Paulo, this illustrates the weight of automotive design and designer architecture in justifying high premiums. Launched in 2019 in the upscale Itaim Bibi neighborhood, the project emerged from a partnership between developer Cyrela and the legendary Italian design firm Pininfarina, which designed cars like the Ferrari Testarossa. The project focuses on extreme exclusivity, featuring only one residence per floor and colossal sizes ranging from 570 m² to 700 m². Although the project’s General Sales Value (GSV) is not publicly detailed, the premium charged for the brand association pushed the square meter value into ranges that exceed R$ 25,000, reaching over R$ 30,000. At a time when high-end projects in the neighborhood averaged between R$ 14,000 and R$ 19,000 per square meter, the brand premium propelled the Heritage’s pricing to over 40% above regular prices.
- Mercedes-Benz Places | Binghatti City: Abroad, this project in Dubai represents the financial pinnacle of this trend, transforming a building into a complete ultra-luxury urban ecosystem. Bearing the signature of the German automaker Mercedes-Benz, the mega-project registers an astronomical General Sales Value (GSV) of AED 30 billion (approximately $8.2 billion USD). In this development, studio-type units started at $550,000, while three-bedroom apartments hit the $4 million mark right off the plan.
In this market, branding immediately translates into financial performance. A project that carries the seal of a global brand achieves what the market calls “sales velocity,” often selling out units before construction even begins, thanks to the inherent trust the brand transmits. As the base article preaches, the brand is no longer a final varnish; it is the immediate conversion trigger for high-net-worth investors.
2. Trust Equity in Personal Branding
The Creator Economy serves as the ultimate financial laboratory for this phenomenon. Unlike traditional companies that must spend millions guiding consumers down a prolonged marketing funnel building awareness, then consideration, and finally trust—creators have already spent years cultivating deep, parasocial relationships with their audiences.
This accumulated “trust equity” functions as a highly liquid asset. When an influencer launches a product, they bypass the traditional funnel entirely through direct-to-consumer (DTC) sales. The followers aren’t evaluating a newly discovered item; they are purchasing a physical manifestation of a relationship they already trust, transferring years of accumulated loyalty onto a brand-new product overnight.
Long-Term Success Cases:
MrBeast and Feastables - Snacks:
Launched in 2022, the chocolate brand Feastables did not rely solely on YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson’s popularity. The company hired industry veterans and focused on physical distribution (Walmart, Target), generating an estimated $250 million in 2024, with a reported profit exceeding $20 million. They used the creator’s personal branding to generate the trial, but the infrastructure and quality guaranteed the repurchase (the definitive metric of long-term performance).
Virginia Fonseca and WePink - Cosmetics:
As one of the biggest influencers in Brazil, she launched WePink in 2021. With over 50 million followers, Virginia leveraged a multi-channel strategy in Brazil, and WePink recently published that they aim to reach 1.3 billion BRL (or $300M USD) in sales in 2025—an impact mostly bought by the connection of her brand with her lifestyle and a strong fanbase.
The Case That Didn’t Work:
Logan Paul, KSI and Prime Hydration - Beverages
While transferring brand equity from influencers can be highly lucrative, it doesn’t guarantee long-term success. This is evident in the collapse of Prime Hydration. Created by Logan Paul and KSI—two influencers with over 50 million followers each—the beverage hit $1.3 billion in global sales in 2023, driven fundamentally by artificial scarcity and massive sponsorship contracts with brands like the UFC. The product, which was heavily targeted at Gen Alpha but had little authentic connection to the creators themselves, initially saw explosive sales built entirely on online hype. However, once the product became widely available and the illusion of scarcity vanished, the brand floundered, with sales plummeting by 75%.
The controversial public histories of its two creators did little to stabilize the company, but the root cause was deeper. The failure to connect with the public, differentiate the product, and cultivate genuine consumer loyalty represented a fundamental failure in sustainable brand building. As Francisco Cantão rightly points out: “If you only look at short-term metrics, you begin optimizing for clicks, not for value creation. And then you enter a dangerous cycle: requiring more and more investment to maintain the same results, with less and less differentiation.” Ultimately, this approach proves completely unsustainable once the initial hype fades.
3. Niche Branding: On Running and “Operational Luxury”
The third convergence occurs in the sports market focused on technology and wellness. The Swiss brand On Running, originated in 2010 by the hands of former triathlete Olivier Bernhard and boosted by the corporate entry of Roger Federer, challenged monopolies like Nike and Adidas without using traditional mass advertising.
Instead of pushing the customer into a rigid purchase funnel, On Running understood that the community experience acts simultaneously as a brand and a conversion.
Even if in the beginning the brand was linked to the personal branding of athletes like Olivier Bernhard, the real grip of the company started with the creation of a community around a very niche group—in this case, high-intensity activities like marathons and duathlons. Bernhard, a three-time world duathlon champion, was on a quest to create a running shoe that felt like running on clouds. On’s patented CloudTec® technology provided a cushioned landing and an explosive takeoff, distinguishing it from competitors.
Instead of traditional marketing strategies, On focused on strategically distributing their shoes to professional runners and influencers to create organic buzz. By leveraging athlete endorsements and testimonials, On established credibility and desirability in a highly competitive market.
In 2021, the company launched its IPO on the NYSE (ONON), raising over $746M USD with a capitalization of $12B. This is an example of how a specific niche can grow to the mainstream by relying on deep community branding, breaking the traditional sales funnel.
On Running stopped thinking in “stages” of the funnel and focused on “intensity, consistency, and relevance”.After all, who doesn’t want the same shoe that super athletes use to run marathons or cross mountains?
Conclusion: Adapting to the “Living System”
In the end, the evolution of marketing has shifted permanently from a predictable assembly line to a dynamic, living system. Whether we look at the colossal financial premiums generated by luxury automotive brands on skyscrapers, the rapid DTC empires built (and sometimes lost) by digital influencers, or the community-driven rise of specialized brands like On Running, one unifying truth emerges: the classic marketing funnel is dead.
As Francisco Cantão notes, the separation between branding and performance is no longer viable because “everything influences everything all the time.” Consumers no longer follow a straight line from discovery to purchase. Because every interaction can trigger an immediate decision or be the start of a months-long journey, companies can no longer afford to treat creative assets as mere functional tools. A single piece of content must carry the brand’s identity, build emotional trust, and prompt a sale all at once.
The successful companies of the future are those that recognize this digital convergence. By abandoning rigid structures and focusing instead on maintaining intensity, consistency, and relevance across every single touchpoint, brands can transform themselves from mere products into genuine, indispensable lifestyles.
