“Performance marketing does only amplify what has already started way earlier in the funnel. Conversion campaigns only amplify what exists already — they don't create anything as such.”

Performance Marketing Only Amplifies Existing Demand — It Creates Nothing

Incrementality testing at Deezer confirmed a counterintuitive truth: turning off upper-funnel campaigns made performance campaigns collapse, not just slow down. The implication is that every conversion ad, retargeting pixel, and search campaign depends on prior brand exposure to do its job. Invest in brand first, then let performance harvest what brand planted.