Your audience stopped seeing you. Pulse makes them remember you.

Your audience stopped seeing you. Pulse makes them remember you.

A systematic approach to building brand memory through behaviour-triggered paid media cycles. Grounded in the science of how brands actually grow.

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The demand creation problem

Performance marketing can only capture demand that already exists. It targets people actively searching, clicking, or comparing. But who created that demand in the first place? Brand marketing did. Without it, you’re fishing in a shrinking pond.

Binet & Field — The Long and the Short of It (IPA, 2013)

The 60/40 finding

Analysis of over 1,000 advertising effectiveness case studies found that the optimal budget split is roughly 60% brand building to 40% activation. Yet most digital-first brands spend less than 20% on brand. The result? Short-term gains that plateau and eventually decline.

Binet & Field — IPA Databank, 1,000+ case studies

The compounding effect

Binet & Field, IPA Databank analysis

Recommended (long-term growth)

Brand Building 60%

Activation 40%

Typical (most digital-first brands)

~17%

~83% Performance / Activation

The compounding effect

Brand-building campaigns produce effects that compound over time — each impression adds to existing memory structures, making future impressions more effective. Activation campaigns produce short spikes but no lasting growth. Over a 3-year horizon, brand-led strategies consistently outperform activation-led strategies on all business metrics including revenue, profit, market share, and pricing power.

3x

3x

Brand campaigns produce roughly 3x the long-term business effects of activation campaigns

IPA Effectiveness Databank

Trusted by 11,000+ businesses

Organic reach is dead.
Did you replace what it did?

Organic reach is dead. Did you replace what it did?

Between 2012 and 2024, average organic reach on major social platforms fell from 16% to under 1.5%. For a decade, brands got free brand-building through organic content — regular touchpoints that kept them visible, familiar, and top-of-mind. That era is over.

Most brands replaced organic reach with conversion campaigns. But conversion campaigns harvest existing demand — they don’t create it. Without a system for building brand memory, the demand pool slowly shrinks and performance degrades across every channel.

Digital Global Overview Reports 2012–2024

The 95/5 Rule

Only 5% of buyers are
in-market right now

Only 5% of buyers are in-market right now

Research from the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute found that in most B2B categories, only about 5% of potential buyers are actively in-market at any given time. In B2C, the window is similarly narrow. The remaining 95% will buy eventually — but not today.

This has a profound implication: the primary job of marketing isn’t to convert the 5% — it’s to build memory structures in the 95% so your brand is the one they reach for when their buying window opens.

Research from the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute found that in most B2B categories, only about 5% of potential buyers are actively in-market at any given time. In B2C, the window is similarly narrow. The remaining 95% will buy eventually — but not today.

This has a profound implication: the primary job of marketing isn’t to convert the 5% — it’s to build memory structures in the 95% so your brand is the one they reach for when their buying window opens.

Hootsuite / We Are Social — Digital Global Overview Reports 2012–2024

95%

95%

95%

Not buying today

Future customers who haven’t entered a buying window yet. They will buy eventually — the question is whether they’ll remember your brand when they do. Brand marketing makes sure they do.

5%

5%

5%

In-market now

Pulse Brand Marketing Method

Builds memory in the 95%

  • Reaches future buyers before they enter market

  • Builds familiarity so your brand wins when they’re ready

  • Conversion campaigns get more effective over time

  • Creates a compounding advantage competitors can’t easily replicate

Performance Marketing Alone

Fights over the 5%

  • Competes for the same expensive buyers as everyone else

  • Ignores 95% of future customers entirely

  • Performance declines as the in-market pool gets exhausted

  • CPAs rise as competition for the same buyers intensifies

The method

Qualify. Pulse. Loop. Convert.

Qualify

Attention Filter

Proprietary signal identifies real interest at the lowest possible cost. We separate genuine attention from passive scrolling.

Uses behaviour-based triggers rather than demographic targeting to find people actually paying attention to your category.

Pulse

Memory Burst

Loop

Re-entry Accelerator

Convert

Purchase

Each cycle compounds memory until conversion becomes inevitable

The system doesn’t rely on a single campaign. It creates a continuous loop of brand reinforcement that builds with every cycle.

Qualify

Attention Filter

Proprietary signal identifies real interest at the lowest possible cost. We separate genuine attention from passive scrolling.

Uses behaviour-based triggers rather than demographic targeting to find people actually paying attention to your category.

Pulse

Memory Burst

Loop

Re-entry Accelerator

Convert

Purchase

The funnel

How Pulse moves people
through stages

Each layer of Pulse pushes people to the next stage. The system doesn’t wait for buyers to self-select — it actively moves them from unaware to familiar through controlled frequency cycles. Unlike a traditional funnel that leaks at every stage, the loop mechanism feeds people back into pulse cycles until they’re deeply encoded.

We are value driven. This is why we make sure that in the transformation phase we make you as independent as possible.

UNAWARE

Broad audience pool

Broad qualification campaign

AWARE

Passed attention filter

Qualified by proprietary signal

ENGAGED

In active pulse window

Concentrated memory burst

FAMILIAR

Completed multiple cycles

Re-entry accelerator

READY TO BUY

Enters buying window

Brand wins consideration set

The Science

Why memory beats persuasion

Each layer of Pulse pushes people to the next stage. The system doesn’t wait for buyers to self-select — it actively moves them from unaware to familiar through controlled frequency cycles. Unlike a traditional funnel that leaks at every stage, the loop mechanism feeds people back into pulse cycles until they’re deeply encoded.

We are value driven. This is why we make sure that in the transformation phase we make you as independent as possible.

Mental Availability

Ecommerce

Brands win when they come to mind easily at the moment of purchase. Mental availability — the probability a brand is noticed or thought of in a buying situation — is the primary driver of brand growth. It’s built through consistent, broad reach and linking the brand to category entry points.

Brands win when they come to mind easily at the moment of purchase. Mental availability — the probability a brand is noticed or thought of in a buying situation — is the primary driver of brand growth. It’s built through consistent, broad reach and linking the brand to category entry points.

Byron Sharp — How Brands Grow (2010)

Byron Sharp — How Brands Grow (2010)

Clustered Exposure & The Forgetting Curve

Memory encoding is strongest when exposures are concentrated close to a moment of attention. The Ebbinghaus forgetting curve shows that without reinforcement, 75% of a memory is lost within 48 hours. Pulse uses behaviour triggers to deliver frequency during peak receptivity — fighting the curve with precisely timed repetition.

Memory encoding is strongest when exposures are concentrated close to a moment of attention. The Ebbinghaus forgetting curve shows that without reinforcement, 75% of a memory is lost within 48 hours. Pulse uses behaviour triggers to deliver frequency during peak receptivity — fighting the curve with precisely timed repetition.

Ebbinghaus (1885) — Replicated by Murre & Dros, 2015

Ebbinghaus (1885) — Replicated by Murre & Dros, 2015

Compounding Cycles

Each pulse cycle reinforces memory structures from previous cycles. After multiple cycles, your brand moves from vaguely familiar to deeply encoded. This mirrors the IPA finding that brand effects compound over time while activation effects decay rapidly. The longer you run, the stronger the effect.

Each pulse cycle reinforces memory structures from previous cycles. After multiple cycles, your brand moves from vaguely familiar to deeply encoded. This mirrors the IPA finding that brand effects compound over time while activation effects decay rapidly. The longer you run, the stronger the effect.

Binet & Field — The Long and the Short of It (IPA, 2013)

Binet & Field — The Long and the Short of It (IPA, 2013)

Distinctive Brand Assets

Brands don’t win by being differentiated — they win by being distinctive. Distinctive brand assets (colours, shapes, slogans, characters) act as mental shortcuts, making the brand instantly recognisable. Pulse creative strategy ensures that every exposure reinforces these assets, building a stronger mental footprint with each cycle.

Brands don’t win by being differentiated — they win by being distinctive. Distinctive brand assets (colours, shapes, slogans, characters) act as mental shortcuts, making the brand instantly recognisable. Pulse creative strategy ensures that every exposure reinforces these assets, building a stronger mental footprint with each cycle.

Jenni Romaniuk — Building Distinctive Brand Assets (Ehrenberg-Bass, 2018)

Jenni Romaniuk — Building Distinctive Brand Assets (Ehrenberg-Bass, 2018)

Emotional Priming Over Rational Persuasion

Emotionally-primed advertising produces stronger long-term brand effects than rationally-persuasive messaging. Emotional campaigns don’t need the audience to remember the message — they create positive associations that are activated at the point of purchase. Pulse creative leans into emotion and distinctiveness, not features and benefits.

Emotionally-primed advertising produces stronger long-term brand effects than rationally-persuasive messaging. Emotional campaigns don’t need the audience to remember the message — they create positive associations that are activated at the point of purchase. Pulse creative leans into emotion and distinctiveness, not features and benefits.

IPA Databank — Emotional vs rational campaign effectiveness analysis

IPA Databank — Emotional vs rational campaign effectiveness analysis

Single Exposure vs. Pulsed Re-exposure

How Pulse fights the forgetting curve through concentrated frequency bursts

The Science

Why memory beats persuasion

Each layer of Pulse pushes people to the next stage. The system doesn’t wait for buyers to self-select — it actively moves them from unaware to familiar through controlled frequency cycles. Unlike a traditional funnel that leaks at every stage, the loop mechanism feeds people back into pulse cycles until they’re deeply encoded.

We are value driven. This is why we make sure that in the transformation phase we make you as independent as possible.

01

Ecommerce

01

Business Model Analysis

Ecommerce

Buying cycle length, AOV, repeat purchase rate, category dynamics, customer lifetime value

We are value driven. This is why we make sure that in the transformation phase we make you as independent as possible.

02

Ecommerce

02

Current Channel Audit

Ecommerce

Existing paid setup, attribution model, organic presence, branded search baseline

We are value driven. This is why we make sure that in the transformation phase we make you as independent as possible.

03

Ecommerce

03

Pulse Modelling

Ecommerce

Projected audience flow rates, burst cycle frequency, re-entry estimates, budget requirements

We are value driven. This is why we make sure that in the transformation phase we make you as independent as possible.

04

Ecommerce

04

Fit Recommendation

Ecommerce

Honest assessment of whether Pulse is right for your business, with expected timeline and approach

We are value driven. This is why we make sure that in the transformation phase we make you as independent as possible.

The Diagnostic is our commitment to honest fit assessment — we’ll tell you if Pulse isn’t right for your business.

Client Fit

Who Pulse works for,
and who it doesn’t

Ideal clients

  • Considered purchases (€50+ AOV)

  • Products with repeat purchase dynamics

  • Brands with high customer LTV

  • Long buying cycles

  • Multi-category retailers

  • Subscription or consumable businesses

Performance Marketing Alone

  • Low AOV one-time impulse purchases

  • Need positive ROAS in month one

  • No budget for brand + conversion simultaneously

  • Unwilling to commit to the process

Research Foundation

The evidence base behind the
Pulse method

Every element of the Pulse Brand Marketing Method is grounded in published, peer-reviewed, or industry-validated research. We don’t rely on case studies from a single brand or anecdotal success stories. Here are the key works that inform our approach.

We are value driven. This is why we make sure that in the transformation phase we make you as independent as possible.

How Brands Grow

Ecommerce

Byron Sharp — How Brands Grow (2010)

Byron Sharp — How Brands Grow (2010)

The foundational text on evidence-based marketing. Demonstrates that brand growth comes from increasing mental and physical availability, not from loyalty or differentiation.

The foundational text on evidence-based marketing. Demonstrates that brand growth comes from increasing mental and physical availability, not from loyalty or differentiation.

The Long and the Short of It

Les Binet & Peter Field (2013)

Les Binet & Peter Field (2013)

Analysis of 1,000+ IPA effectiveness case studies proving the optimal balance between long-term brand building and short-term activation.

Analysis of 1,000+ IPA effectiveness case studies proving the optimal balance between long-term brand building and short-term activation.

Building Distinctive Brand Assets

Jenni Romaniuk (2018)

Jenni Romaniuk (2018)

How to build and measure distinctive assets that make brands mentally available at the point of purchase.

How to build and measure distinctive assets that make brands mentally available at the point of purchase.

The 95/5 Rule

Professor John Dawes (2021)

Professor John Dawes (2021)

Ehrenberg-Bass Institute research showing only ~5% of B2B buyers are in-market at any given time, with implications for brand vs. performance spend allocation.

Ehrenberg-Bass Institute research showing only ~5% of B2B buyers are in-market at any given time, with implications for brand vs. performance spend allocation.

Effectiveness in Context

Les Binet & Peter Field (2018)

Les Binet & Peter Field (2018)

Updated findings on how the 60/40 rule shifts by category, showing brand building is even more important in categories with long purchase cycles.

Updated findings on how the 60/40 rule shifts by category, showing brand building is even more important in categories with long purchase cycles.

Memory: A Contribution to Experimental Psychology

Hermann Ebbinghaus (1885)

Hermann Ebbinghaus (1885)

The original forgetting curve research showing exponential memory decay without reinforcement. Replicated and validated by Murre & Dros (2015).

The original forgetting curve research showing exponential memory decay without reinforcement. Replicated and validated by Murre & Dros (2015).