Why the world’s most successful brands keep increasing their marketing investment—and what happens to the ones that don’t.

I’ve been doing this advertising and marketing thing for a long time—working with some of the biggest brands in the world. And despite the obvious success that comes from continuing to invest in brand communications—whether it’s advertising, PR, content, or experience—we often revisit the same nagging question: Do we really need to keep marketing at this level?

Can’t we take some time off? Maybe reallocate that spend? Or just ride the wave for a bit?

Now, sure, there are smart ways to stretch a budget. Even the biggest brands can’t afford to be constantly communicating. We often take a campaign-based approach: we don’t spend the same amount every day of the year. Instead, we execute three or four major campaign bursts annually which creates the perception of constant activity, even if we’re not “always on.” But make no mistake: we’re still investing. Just more strategically.

The argument still holds: yes, you have to keep investing in marketing to drive growth. Always.

Sure, there are exceptions. A few rare brands embed the marketing process so deeply into their product or identity that it doesn’t look like they’re promoting anything. But they’re still connecting. Still building narrative. Still staying visible. And even those brands? They usually end up advertising eventually. Loudly. Publicly. Expensively.

So why do the best brands never take their foot off the gas? Because they know what happens when you try to glide.

And that brings us to… airplanes. Yes, airplanes. Yes, I know it may be a time-worn analogy. But it works, so stay with me.

Gliding Isn’t Flying

A plane at cruising altitude can glide—for a while. A brand with momentum can coast too, living off past campaigns, built-up goodwill, and earned media. But gliding means you’re losing altitude. Slowly, subtly, but inevitably.

Some brands try to mask that descent by dipping the nose to pick up speed—offering big discounts, pushing flash promotions, or leaning on attention-grabbing stunts. It feels like acceleration. It feels like momentum. But it isn’t. It’s controlled descent. And worse, these tactics often train customers to expect less, eroding brand value and pricing power in the process.

The real danger is what happens when you try to restart your engines at low altitude. Once you’ve lost your strategic height—brand love, cultural relevance, customer trust—climbing back up is expensive and uncertain. It’s far harder than simply keeping the engines running in the first place.

The Best Brands Know This—That’s Why They Spend More, Not Less

Just look at the brands you think wouldn’t need to advertise anymore—because they’re already part of the cultural wallpaper. In 2023, Coca-Cola spent approximately $4 billion on advertising worldwide, maintaining a consistent—and growing—investment in global brand visibility (Statista). The company has shifted more than 60% of its media spend to digital channels to deepen storytelling and experiential activation strategies.

Apple spent $775 million in the U.S. alone on display ads in 2023, two-thirds of that on YouTube (Adbeat). This doesn’t even include the value of its product launches, PR coverage, or the media halo that comes from its highly produced events and packaging design.

McDonald’s, under its “Accelerating the Arches” platform, spent approximately $445 million globally on advertising in 2024, not just pushing burgers, but also driving messaging around values, employer branding, and tech innovation (Statista).

Samsung, among the top five global spenders, invested heavily in tech expos, influencer-driven product launches, and localized earned media strategies across Asia and the Middle East. In the U.S., Samsung Electronics spent $128.7 million on television advertising alone in 2023 (Statista).

And L’Oréal? It spent €13.36 billion globally on advertising and promotions in 2023, a massive increase from the previous year, with much of that growth going to PESO-driven (Paid, Earned, Shared, Owned) content across TikTok, YouTube, and influencer networks in Latin America and Southeast Asia (Statista).

These companies understand the fundamental truth: stopping the engine doesn’t save you money in the long run—it just puts your altitude at risk.

What Happens When You Stop Flying

For every brand that stayed airborne, there’s one that tried to coast. BlackBerry didn’t just lose to the iPhone; it failed to maintain cultural relevance and stopped communicating with consumers in a meaningful way. Yahoo is another case study in brand drift, losing momentum through fragmented messaging, weak PR, and no real identity anchor. And then there’s Gap, which saw online sales fall 11% and in-store sales drop 7% in Q2 2023 after pulling back marketing support and losing the cultural conversation to competitors with bolder campaigns and better storytelling.

Wilkinson Sword, once a respected challenger to Gillette, has largely faded in many markets due to lack of voice and presence. Gillette, meanwhile, continues to dominate not just in product placement but through purpose-led campaigns and media consistency.

The stats are frightening. Kantar’s global tracking data shows that brands that go dark for just six months can see up to a 39% drop in mental availability—the kind of top-of-mind presence that fuels choice and loyalty (Kantar).

Brands that go dark for just six months can see up

to a 39% drop in mental availability.

Marketing Is Altitude Control

Marketing isn’t noise—it’s navigation. It’s what keeps you on course, lets you make adjustments, and ensures you stay in the conversation.

Nike knows this. Its strategy isn’t limited to glossy commercials—it includes strong Public Relations tied to major moments in sport and culture, grassroots content, and community-building through apps like the Nike Run Club. Dove continues to grow through campaigns that span all PESO elements: paid media, earned headlines, purpose-led content, and user-driven social advocacy. Airbnb, too, shifted from performance-heavy advertising to brand-building, investing in emotionally resonant storytelling and community-based content.

A 2023 McKinsey study found that companies investing in integrated PESO marketing strategies outperformed their peers by 3.6x in brand equity and 2.2x in overall ROI (McKinsey).

Smart Flight Planning

Now, none of this means every brand needs to blast full-throttle 365 days a year. As I wrote earlier, some of the smartest brands use campaign flighting—allocating budget to three or four bursts of high-intensity outreach per year rather than a flat spend. To the outside world, it feels like the brand is always present. But in reality, it’s a smart illusion, not a retreat.

Smart marketers today build systems, not just campaigns. They orchestrate PESO ecosystems—where paid, earned, shared, and owned media all work in concert. They balance performance and brand, use storytelling that compounds in value, and invest in owned assets, communities, and thought leadership that yield dividends long after the campaign ends.

According to Deloitte’s 2024 CMO survey, companies that commit 60% or more of their marketing budgets to long-term brand building see double the revenue growth of those who chase short-term performance metrics (Deloitte).

Don’t Mistake Altitude for Control

If you stop marketing, your brand might still be flying—but if your engines are off, you’re gliding. And gliding, as every pilot knows, is just falling in slow motion.

The brands that survive and thrive aren’t necessarily the loudest. They’re the ones who know how to stay visible, stay relevant, and stay in motion. They keep investing in advertising, yes—but also in PR, in content, in earned media, in community. They don’t confuse fame with momentum. And they certainly don’t confuse coasting with strategy.

If famous brands like Coca-Cola, Apple, McDonald’s, L’Oréal, and Nike are all still marketing at full throttle, can your brand afford to stop?