Every peso spent has to reinforce who the brand is
En Ciudad de México, cuatro líderes del marketing latinoamericano se reunieron para cuestionar una de las divisiones más arraigadas de su industria: la separación entre construcción de marca y marketing de desempeño. Lo que emergió no fue una respuesta técnica, sino una invitación a recordar que el consumidor nunca ha distinguido entre los dos propósitos, y que la efectividad real exige coherencia, intención y un conocimiento profundo de las personas a quienes se dirige el mensaje. En un entorno donde solo el 17% de las campañas genera crecimiento real, la pregunta no es cuánto se gasta, sino con cuánta claridad se piensa.
- La industria lleva años dividiendo presupuestos entre marca y desempeño como si fueran mundos separados, pero la evidencia muestra que esa separación cuesta caro: el 83% de las campañas no genera crecimiento.
- Los consumidores en ciudades como Ciudad de México reciben más de 3,500 estímulos publicitarios al día, lo que convierte cada pieza creativa en una oportunidad desperdiciada si no dice algo coherente sobre la marca.
- La inversión en creadores de contenido creció más de 33% en 2025 en México, pero el sector enfrenta contratos ambiguos, regulación laxa y desconfianza que frenan su adopción frente a mercados como Brasil.
- Los panelistas coincidieron en que el verdadero problema no es tecnológico ni presupuestal: es la falta de intención estratégica y de un conocimiento genuino del consumidor antes de lanzar cualquier campaña.
- La solución que emergió es tan antigua como la publicidad misma: sentarse a entender profundamente a la persona, generar un insight poderoso, y luego asegurarse de que el mensaje llegue por el canal donde realmente vive su atención.
Cuatro directores de marketing se reunieron en Ciudad de México para debatir una pregunta que Mariana Lavigne, de Stellantis México, puso sobre la mesa sin rodeos: ¿es real la división entre publicidad de marca y marketing de desempeño, o es una falsa dicotomía que la industria se ha impuesto a sí misma?
Rosalina Tornel, de Grupo Lala, señaló que el mercado ya no permite el lujo de campañas que solo persigan volumen sin construir identidad. Cada peso invertido debe reforzar quién es la marca. Manuel Medina, de Henkel, añadió que el consumidor no distingue entre los propósitos de un anuncio: simplemente lo recibe o lo ignora. Alejandra Restrepo, de Mercado Ads, cerró el argumento con una idea práctica: el dinero debe seguir a la atención, no al revés. La palabra que resumió el consenso fue equilibrio.
El tema de los creadores de contenido reveló una tensión distinta. En México, la inversión creció más del 33% en 2025, impulsada por la confianza que los consumidores depositan en personas reales antes que en instituciones. Medina destacó su capacidad para construir identidad alrededor de productos cotidianos difíciles de hacer interesantes. Tornel, más cautelosa, recordó que el valor de un creador se mide en si la marca ganó algo concreto, no en el tamaño del presupuesto asignado. Restrepo explicó que Brasil lleva tres años de ventaja, no por velocidad sino por haber resuelto antes los problemas de contratos, regulación y medición que aún generan desconfianza en México.
Lavigne introdujo el dato más incómodo de la conversación: solo el 17% de las campañas realmente impulsa el crecimiento, combinando creatividad sólida con soporte de medios inteligente. Medina trazó una línea directa desde los anunciantes del siglo XX, que admitían no saber qué mitad de su inversión funcionaba, hasta el presente, donde los datos abundan pero la intención escasea. La conclusión fue unánime: antes de elegir canales o formatos, hay que volver al principio y conocer de verdad al consumidor.
Four marketing leaders gathered in Mexico City to talk about what actually works. Mariana Lavigne, who runs marketing for Stellantis México, posed a question that cut to the heart of how the industry operates: Is the split between brand advertising and performance marketing real, or is it a false choice we've invented?
The premise came from research showing that advertising works best when it chases both goals at once—building the brand while driving conversions. Yet most chief marketing officers, the study suggested, were treating them as separate disciplines, spending money on campaigns that did one or the other, rarely both. Rosalina Tornel, head of marketing for Grupo Lala's consumer brands, said the industry had evolved. Years ago, volume campaigns didn't need to build equity. Now that luxury no longer exists. Every peso spent has to reinforce who the brand is and what it stands for. The name of the campaign matters less than clarity on what metrics you're actually trying to move.
Manuel Medina, leading marketing for Henkel, agreed. Consumers don't wake up thinking about whether an ad is meant to position the brand or drive sales. They're drowning in stimuli—more than thirty-five hundred messages a day in a city like Mexico City. Every piece of creative a brand puts out should say something about the brand itself. Alejandra Restrepo, top advertisers director at Mercado Ads, added a practical layer: different channels have different purposes, and the key is knowing where people's attention actually lives. Money should follow attention, not the other way around. The word that kept surfacing was balance—each campaign playing its role, speaking through the right channel, all of it coherent.
Then the conversation turned to content creators. Global investment in creator partnerships grew 33 percent in 2025. In Mexico, multiple panelists suggested the number was higher. Medina said Mexico trusts people more than institutions. A creator with real engagement can spike sales in ways traditional advertising struggles to match. For mass-market products—detergents, deodorants—creators help build identity around items that are otherwise hard to make interesting. But the space remains messy. Contracts are unclear. Regulations are loose. Creators can say the wrong thing or work with competing brands. It's growing anyway, and it will keep growing.
Tornel offered a more measured take. Not every brand needs creators in the same proportion. Lala brought in a creator to explain the difference between lactose-free milk and milk without lactose—a concept that's nearly impossible to convey in twenty seconds of copy but matters enormously to the consumer who stopped drinking milk. The creator had a specific, important role. She'd spoken with brands that bragged about their creator spending without asking whether anything actually changed. The real question is whether the brand gained something measurable from the investment. If the answer is yes, it works. If not, it's just spending.
Restrepo noted that Brazil was three years ahead of Mexico in creator strategy, not because Mexico was moving backward but because of distrust. Clients worry about contracts, about creators saying something wrong, about being associated with the wrong brand through a creator's other partnerships. The industry is professionalizing. Standards are forming. Eventually, creator partnerships will be easier to measure and safer to manage.
Lavigne then surfaced a statistic that hung in the air: only 17 percent of campaigns actually drive growth. That 17 percent combines solid creativity with smart media support. The rest—83 percent—doesn't. Medina traced the problem back a century. In the early 1900s, advertisers said half their spending was wasted; they just didn't know which half. Now we have data, and we still fill channels with purposeless ads. The fix is to go back to basics: sit down and actually know the consumer. Be intentional. Generate insights powerful enough to move people. Tornel closed by naming the three elements that matter: growth, creativity, and media. A deep conversation with the consumer is just as important as putting the message in front of them.
Citações Notáveis
The consumer doesn't think about whether an ad is meant to position the brand or drive sales—they're drowning in stimuli— Manuel Medina, Henkel
Not every brand needs creators in the same proportion. The real question is whether the brand gained something measurable from the investment— Rosalina Tornel, Grupo Lala
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why does the brand-versus-performance split persist if everyone agrees it's false?
Because it's easier to measure one thing at a time. Performance is immediate—you see the sale. Brand building is slower, harder to attribute. So budgets get divided, teams get divided, and suddenly you're running two separate wars.
And the creator economy—is it actually working, or are brands just following the trend?
It works when there's a real reason for it. If you're trying to explain something complicated to someone who trusts creators more than ads, it works. If you're just spending money because everyone else is, it doesn't. The problem is most brands haven't figured out which one they're doing.
You mentioned Mexico trusts people more than institutions. What does that mean for how brands should operate here?
It means a creator with genuine connection to their audience can move more product than a million-dollar campaign. But it also means brands have to be careful. If that creator says something wrong or works with a competitor, the brand gets hurt. The trust cuts both ways.
Only 17 percent of campaigns drive real growth. That's devastating. What are the 83 percent doing wrong?
They're not asking the right questions before they start. They're not sitting with the consumer long enough to understand what actually moves them. They're just making ads and hoping something sticks.
So the fix is going slower, not faster?
The fix is being intentional. You can move fast, but you have to know why you're moving. You need insights that actually inspire people, not just reach them.