The key to a lasting brand: When stopping power turns into staying power

When was the last time an ad made you stop scrolling? Did it make you care enough to remember the brand a week later?

I get it.

In a content-saturated world, “stopping power” is key. But grabbing attention isn’t enough. To really make an impact, brands need “staying power” too. If you can’t transform your stopping power into effectiveness, success, and popularity over time, it is all for nothing.

Stopping is often achieved through high-impact creative, a bold message or a novel approach. Sports and fitness brands are pros at this. Take Nike. The brand is known for seizing cultural moments, like when they created an ad a few moments after their athlete Saquon Barkley jumped over a defender backwards, or when they celebrated their Olympic athletes with timely ads shortly after medal wins.

But once brands like Nike have your attention, they don’t let it go. Instead of just focusing on the sale, they tell stories that stick. And honestly, that’s what keeps you coming back. We usually come back because there’s an emotional connection.

Logic doesn’t sell. Feelings do. Research backs this up. When Les Binet and Peter Field came out with The Long and Short of It over a decade ago, their findings shook up the advertising world. An emotional connection lends itself to brand loyalty for consumers. While a brand’s tangible benefits may set it apart compared to a competitor, consumers will always lean toward connection.

Peloton is another great example of how brands can turn stopping power into staying power through community and connection. The company is still regarded as “the leader in connected fitness” despite the rough ride it has had. Sure, they create slick ads and offer subscription deals, but what keeps users coming back is the experience. Personalized workout plans, progress tracking and community challenges make you feel like you’re part of a team, not just a customer.

It should be a nice balance, but here’s where things get tricky. Brands often focus too much on short-term wins (performance marketing) while ignoring the long game (brand marketing). Binet and Field’s research found the best marketing mix for brands: 60% long-term brand-building (staying power) and 40% short-term attention-grabbing methods (stopping power).

If you are always trying to hammer home your long-term messaging, your content can get stale and old, and consumers will get sick of it. That being said, if you only focus on quick hits, the ROI on those ads may look great on paper, but your long-term success will suffer.

Let’s go back to our examples. Nike pulls in the crowd with jaw-dropping moments but keeps them engaged with stories that inspire. Peloton uses discounts to draw new users in, then builds loyalty by making people feel like part of a supportive community.

So how do brands know they’re doing it right? Each area requires different metrics to prove its effectiveness. Short-term success is easier to track: ad recall, sales spikes, and audible and visual complete. Each metric will let a brand know if their efforts are being remembered by consumers and if their brand is top of mind in the short term. You’ll also be able to see a sharp uptick in sales and one-time purchases if your stopping-power efforts are successful.

Measuring staying power takes time and patience. Periodic surveys measuring brand recall at intervals (e.g., six months to a year) can help gauge the lasting impact of campaigns. And metrics like customer lifetime value (CLV) provide insights into long-term success. For Peloton, high CLV shows that users aren’t just subscribing — they’re sticking around, upgrading their equipment and recommending the brand to friends.

So whether you’re building a brand or running a business, the next time you think about branding, don’t stop at stopping power. Ask yourself, “How can I make this last?” Let’s create more stories worth sticking around for.

This op-ed represents the views and opinions of the author and not of The Current, a division of The Trade Desk, or The Trade Desk. The appearance of the op-ed on The Current does not constitute an endorsement by The Current or The Trade Desk.