Between the brand and the button

There’s a tension in marketing we don’t talk about enough.

The quiet pull between branding and conversion.

Between staying true to what you stand for, and doing what gets results.

I first noticed it when I worked alongside a marketing director who lived and breathed branding. Everything had to fit. Everything had to feel right. Birthday emails, goodie bags, thank-you notes ... every little touchpoint had to reflect the brand. Not just visually, but emotionally. You had to experience it. That was the priority. Always.

Then in my next role, I met a very different kind of marketing director. He wasn’t chasing experience. He was chasing performance. Conversion was the name of the game. A/B testing, button colors, heat maps. If something worked better, it stayed. Even if it clashed with the brand guide. I remember a conversation about a green call-to-action button that outperformed all others. It wasn’t in our brand palette. It didn’t match. But it converted. And that, to him, was what mattered.

The branding purists in the team were horrified. “This isn’t who we are,” someone said. And he replied, “But it’s working.”

And honestly, I get both sides.

Because yes ... branding matters. Your brand is the soul of your business. It’s what people remember. It builds trust, creates connection, makes things feel consistent and intentional. A brand gives meaning.

But conversion matters too. At the end of the day, your carefully crafted message still needs to land. Your product still needs to sell. Your campaign still needs to deliver.

What I’ve learned since, is that it’s not an either/or. It’s a balance. A dialogue. You need someone in the room fighting for experience ... and someone in the room asking, “But does it work?”

Because too much brand obsession, and you lose sight of value. You start polishing things no one will notice. You invest time and effort in marginal gains that don’t justify the cost.

Too much conversion obsession, and you lose coherence.You become a Frankenstein of whatever worked last quarter. You forget who you are.

The real challenge?

Holding both truths at once. Knowing when to push for identity, and when to pivot for impact. Not defaulting to either side, but staying curious, staying intentional, and remembering:

The best brands don’t just look good. They work.

And the best-performing teams? They never forget what they stand for.