Brand or performance? On TikTok, it’s both.

There’s a tired argument we all keep rehashing: “Should we invest in brand or performance?”

But Tracksuit just released new data that shuts that down completely. Spoiler: as brand awareness goes up, performance gets better. Not theoretically. Not eventually. Quantifiably.

In fact, the data shows that brand and performance aren’t competitors. On TikTok, they’re power couples. When you build brand, your performance marketing doesn’t just ride the wave… it gets significantly more efficient.

Awareness powers conversion.

According to the Awareness Advantage Report, when prompted brand awareness increases, so does performance efficiency. Dramatically.

For example:

• A brand with 40% prompted awareness is 43% more efficient at driving conversions than one with 30%.

• At 50% awareness, efficiency jumps another 29%.

• And the pattern keeps going.

That means every percentage point of awareness is making your performance dollars work harder.

This is about math. The data shows a direct, measurable link between how well-known your brand is and how efficiently you can turn interest into action.

Why does this happen? Well, it makes intuitive sense.

• When people know you, they scroll slower.

• When your brand feels familiar, your product feels like a safer bet.

• When they’ve seen your name before, they click with less hesitation.

Brand build trust, memory, and meaning—the very things performance marketing needs to close the loop.

For a long time, marketing has pitted brand and performance like a budget tug-of-war. But Tracksuits research proves they’re symbiotic. Brand building sets the stage. And performance converts the applause to revenue.

Ignore one, and the other underperforms. Invest in both, and they amplify each other.

This is more than just a TikTok thing. It’s a marketing truth. But on TikTok, where culture and commerce blur beautifully, it becomes especially obvious.

So, what does this mean?

Well next time someone says: “Brand campaigns are nice, but what’s the ROI?”, you can say: “The ROI is lower CPA, higher conversion, and better efficiency across the funnel. Here’s the link.” (And yes, hand them this report.)

It’s time to stop asking “brand vs. performance?”. The real question is, are we connecting the dots between them? Because on TikTok, when brand awareness rises, so do results.

-Sophie Randell, Writer