As economic uncertainty puts pressure on marketing budgets, brands need strategic approaches to win new business and maximize every dollar spent. Relative advantage is one such approach that can help advertisers stretch their budgets further and stand out in a competitive market.
Often, the easiest way for brands to fuel growth is by outspending their competition: gaining excess share of voice, reaching the broadest pool of consumers, and investing heavily across a variety of channels. With budgets under closer scrutiny, however, few marketers can afford to deploy those strategies at full scale right now.
Relative advantage offers a strategy for working within these constraints. Put simply, it’s the practice of finding opportunities to gain ground that don’t rely on outspending—whether that’s through untapped audiences, underutilized channels, or moments competitors have overlooked. The payoff is significant: Brands that apply relative advantage see an average ROI of 500%, a 40% lift over their peers. They’re also 60% more likely to generate a major lift in awareness and 22% more likely to achieve stronger loyalty gains.
Opportunities to unlock relative advantage often fall into seven key areas:
The key to applying relative advantage is understanding both competitor and audience behavior, then using those insights to invest where others leave space.
Advertisers don’t need to execute on all seven key areas of relative advantage at once. Rather, they should evaluate each option and focus on the one or two that align best with their brand or client goals and market position.
The chart below illustrates how our team put relative advantage to use for a travel brand. We compared competitor spend, consumer interest, and peak travel seasons across multiple regions. This analysis revealed opportunities to increase spend when consumer interest and travel activity were high but competitor spend was low—for example, between June and August in region two. By increasing investment during those months, the brand connected with audiences in timely, high-interest moments while facing less competition, maximizing the impact of their media spend.
In today’s economic climate, simply outspending competitors isn’t an option for most brands. Relative advantage provides a proven way to stretch budgets further, build stronger connections, and deliver meaningful business outcomes—whatever the market conditions.
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To put relative advantage into practice, advertisers need the right mix of competitive analysis, consumer insights, and marketing expertise to uncover the spaces competitors leave open and fill them strategically. Basis’ media consulting and activation team specializes in uncovering these gaps and turning them into growth. Connect with us to learn more about how our team turns goals into results.
Economic uncertainty is putting renewed pressure on CMOs to prove the value of marketing investment.
With CEO confidence in the economy plummeting amidst tariffs and trade headwinds, and most marketing budgets facing tighter scrutiny than last year as a result, every investment is being evaluated for its contribution to business outcomes. In this context, CMOs aiming to strengthen C-suite buy-in must clearly demonstrate their team’s impact on revenue, craft stories with metrics that resonate with other executives, and prioritize building trust with their peers.
When uncertainty rises, marketing is often among the first functions to face cuts. In fact, only 10% of SMB owners say that marketing spending would be protected during a recession.
“To gain executive buy-in during times like these, leaders must demonstrate marketing’s immediate impact on business needs,” says Katie McAdams, Basis’ CMO. That means drawing clear connections between spend and revenue outcomes—such as new pipeline created, expansion within existing accounts, or improved retention that protects recurring revenue. Framing marketing in financial terms makes it harder for other C-suite execs to treat it as discretionary and easier to position it as a key engine of growth.
To illustrate marketing’s role as a growth engine, CMOs must leverage the numbers that resonate most with their peers. Leaders often manage a wide range of metrics, but that doesn’t mean they all should be shared with other executives. Instead, CMOs should focus on crafting stories around choice metrics that connect directly to the company’s strategic and financial priorities. Clean, unified reporting makes it easier to discover these metrics and clearly link marketing efforts to business outcomes.
“The key is to be ruthless in shaping your story around what’s driving results right now,” says McAdams.
During economic volatility, executives are often laser-focused on ROI and revenue impact. While long-term brand investments remain critical, they won’t always resonate in C-suite discussions. Prioritizing metrics that are closely tied to revenue—like acquisition cost and contract value—helps CMOs tell a sharper story about impact.
Alignment and trust are critical at all times, but even more so during uncertainty. CMOs build credibility when peers see them making tradeoffs for the good of the business, sharing ownership of outcomes, and working side by side with sales, finance, and product. “When peers see you thinking about the whole company, rather than just your own function, it builds credibility fast,” says McAdams.
When leaders are aligned, decisions happen faster and with less friction. That clarity fosters confidence and positions marketing as a trusted partner when the business faces tough choices.
Economic turbulence often amplifies the scrutiny on marketing, but it also creates an opening for CMOs to reset the narrative. By positioning marketing as a growth engine, leading with the metrics that matter most, and building trust across the business, marketing leaders can earn stronger buy-in and support with their C-suite peers.
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Want a deeper dive into how CMOs can strengthen alignment and secure support during budget season? Check out How Marketing Leaders Can Earn Executive Buy-In During Economic Turbulence, where Basis’ CMO Katie McAdams breaks down key strategies to help marketing leaders navigate uncertainty with confidence.
Heading into Q4, marketing leaders are bracing for budget conversations that demand clear connections between marketing activity and business performance.
These discussions are always challenging, but this year they’re made even more complex by a turbulent economic environment. On one hand, tariffs haven’t yet slowed ad spending as much as many feared they would. On the other, many of those tariffs took effect only recently, so their full impact is yet to be seen.
Amidst this uncertainty, marketing budgets are under the microscope. One recent survey found that cutting marketing or ad spending would be the first action the majority of small- to medium-sized business owners would take in a recession, while CMOs at large organizations have seen average budget reductions of 8% during past downturns, with some losing more than 20%.
As Basis’ CMO, I’ve seen how the dynamics of budget season change when leaders already understand marketing’s role in driving business results. Taking the time to build trust and establish common ground ahead of time helps shift the conversation from defending spend to planning together. That foundation becomes even more critical when economic pressures are high—but it’s only the starting point. The leaders who successfully navigate budget season during economic turbulence build on that trust with cross-functional alignment, intentionality around metrics, and requests connected to specific business priorities.
In my experience, budget season is a lot easier when trust with C-suite peers is already in place. The relationships that make a difference when budgets are being scrutinized don’t happen overnight: They’re built through steady communication and by showing you can be counted on when decisions get tough.
That trust also comes from a willingness to make difficult choices when the situation calls for it. When peers see you thinking about the whole company, rather than just your own function, it builds credibility fast. For example, offering proactive cuts to marketing spend in the right moments can add to that trust bank, signaling that you’re a partner in solving problems rather than solely focused on advocating for your own team.
The reality is that many organizations struggle with this kind of trust building, especially at the leadership level. Ninety-three percent of business executives agree that building and maintaining trust improves the bottom line, but only 44% say they trust their C-suite peers to a great extent. This gap shows why taking practical steps to build trust matters so much.
If trust isn’t there yet, budget season can still serve as an opportunity to start building it. Look for ways to acknowledge shared challenges, invite feedback on your plans, and connect your requests to outcomes that benefit multiple teams. Even small steps toward alignment now can pave the way for stronger relationships in the future.
Trust is only the starting point, though. Once you’ve built it, the focus shifts to demonstrating a unified approach in how marketing operates alongside other functions.
No leadership team wants to hear that sales is suffering while marketing is delivering strong results. The business doesn’t care which function is “winning”—what matters is whether the company as a whole is hitting its goals.
In the same way, a disjointed story between marketing and sales can undermine credibility fast. It can also hurt business outcomes: 73% of teams who strongly agree their sales and marketing teams cooperate effectively saw revenue increases year over year, compared to just 43% of teams lacking that cooperation.
Nurturing this kind of alignment doesn’t happen exclusively in the boardroom. It’s built when leaders bring peers into planning cycles, invite feedback, and adapt accordingly. This reduces surprises and builds support for your asks. When stakeholders have a hand in shaping plans, it’s a lot easier to earn their buy-in.
For example, it’s helpful to have shared metrics and cross-functional ownership of revenue outcomes, as well as frequent check-ins. That’s where having access to unified, actionable data gives leaders an advantage: It provides a consistent view of what’s working, which they can share with other leaders to align everyone on the same outcomes.
When cross-departmental alignment is strong, it builds trust, drives stronger results in the market, and helps leadership teams weather even the toughest economic climates together.
During economic turbulence, the story you tell with metrics matters almost as much as the results themselves. But if the data behind that story isn’t reliable, it can weaken your case before you even begin. This is another instance where having unified, clean data is key, as it ensures everyone is working from the same foundation.
Beyond having that clarity, it’s also critical that, as a marketing leader, you prioritize the metrics that are most impactful to the business. In volatile times, leaders are often laser-focused on near-term ROI and results that translate into actual revenue. But that doesn’t mean marketing should stop investing in longer-term brand health, especially since brands that maintain both brand and performance investment see stronger returns. Overinvesting in performance can cut revenue growth by as much as 20% to 50%, while a balanced approach can boost revenue returns by 90%. Still, when budgets are tight, marketing leaders will be well-served to read the room and emphasize the metrics that show how marketing is winning new business, driving contract value, and delivering tangible impact on revenue.
The key is to be ruthless in shaping your story around what’s driving results right now. Keep your talking points strategic, high-level, and obsessively connected to business value. Some of the metrics your team works with daily may help guide internal decisions, but they don’t always resonate with key decision makers.
However, even the most compelling metrics need the right business context to turn data into budget approval.
Metrics tell part of the story, but bigger investment decisions require a broader frame. In a tight environment, leaders need to see that major asks are tied to concrete business drivers—like competitive shifts, revenue opportunities, or product priorities that demand action. With that context, sales, finance, and marketing are far more likely to align around greater investment. Without it, performance results alone rarely justify additional spend.
In my experience, these conversations are easier when you’ve already made decisions to cut or shift budget in one area so you can reinvest in another. That signals you’re making tradeoffs for the good of the business, not just advocating for marketing. Over time, this approach builds trust, which makes it easier for peers to support you when the moment for a bigger budget request comes. When marketing leaders master this combination of context and credibility, budget conversations shift from justification to joint planning.
Economic volatility puts pressure on every leader. To gain executive buy-in during times like these, leaders must demonstrate marketing’s immediate impact on business needs. That comes from consistent alignment, honest communication, and a clear link between marketing activity and business outcomes.
Ultimately, this approach doesn’t just win budget conversations—it establishes marketing as a strategic force in navigating uncertainty and driving what’s next.
Few advertising platforms have weathered as much turbulence—or captured as many headlines—as TikTok.
Since its swift rise in popularity, the app has been the target of multiple US ban attempts, faced government hearings over national security concerns, and become ground zero for debates over youth safety and mis- and disinformation.
At the same time, TikTok has in many ways reshaped digital advertising, driving the rise of short-form video, ushering in the era of “messy realness”, and giving brands an unmatched gateway to younger audiences.
Today, TikTok finds itself at perhaps its most dramatic turning point yet: With a thrice-delayed ban set to take effect on September 17, TikTok parent company ByteDance is reportedly creating a new version of the app specifically for US users, in anticipation of a potential sale. For advertisers, this development raises significant questions about how their campaigns and media strategies will be impacted. Here’s what marketers need to know as the platform enters this pivotal moment.
Reporting on the new US-specific TikTok app, reportedly codenamed “M2”, first surfaced in July via The Information. The outlet noted that the app could launch as soon as September 5, with current users required to migrate over from the old app—likely during a grace period where both versions remain accessible. According to the report, it’s still unclear how much the US app will differ from the current version, and whether users would be restricted to viewing content from US creators.
This limited reporting leaves advertisers with a variety of weighty questions. During the grace period when both versions are live, will TikTok ads appear in one app or both? Will brand profiles migrate automatically, and will existing followings be preserved? How much will user volume decrease if audiences are required to download a new app, and how much will those users actually enjoy the updated experience?
From an advertising perspective, a new app would likely mean retraining algorithms from scratch, resetting user behavior data, and disrupting campaigns—all of which would likely have an impact on performance.
Another key point is that the Chinese government has been adamant that it will not allow TikTok’s algorithm to be sold to the US. That algorithm is the “secret sauce” behind the app’s highly personalized For You Page, and what makes TikTok so uniquely engaging. If the algorithm is off the table, the sale amounts to little more than the TikTok brand.
While a sale of TikTok’s US operations seems inevitable, the ban has already been delayed multiple times and could easily be pushed back again. With so much uncertainty in play, advertisers must approach their TikTok investments with strategies that help safeguard against potential disruptions from the transition to the new app.
For now, TikTok continues to deliver results, with engagement numbers that make it hard to ignore—especially heading into the holiday season. While advertisers should continue investing in the platform and maximize performance while they can, long-term planning is far less certain. Beyond mid-2026, it’s risky to build campaigns around TikTok until the future of the US app becomes clearer. The same caution applies to influencer marketing: creators who exist almost exclusively on TikTok may not be the safest long-term bet. Instead, advertisers should prioritize partnerships with influencers who have an established presence across multiple platforms, ensuring reach and relevance even if TikTok’s trajectory changes.
From a paid perspective, advertisers should put equal—if not greater—energy into Instagram, where Reels closely mirrors TikTok’s format, as well as towards other platforms with strong short-form video offerings like Facebook and YouTube. This diversification will help guard against disruption and keep campaigns performing no matter what happens with TikTok. At the same time, from an organic perspective, it’s hard to justify heavy investment in content specialized for TikTok given the platform’s uncertain future.
TikTok remains a powerful channel today, but its long-term stability is anything but certain. By leaning into short-term opportunities while building a broader, more resilient social strategy, advertisers can protect themselves from disruption and position their campaigns for success no matter what comes next.
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Want to learn more about TikTok’s meteoric rise in popularity, how it’s changed the marketing and advertising landscape, and its unique connection to Gen Z? Check out TikTok by the Numbers: Stats and Facts for Digital Advertisers for all of the above, plus more.
In this episode, adtech consultant Peter Crofut (formerly with Wurl) joins host Noor Naseer to unpack audience discovery and other evolutions in the world of connected TV.
From avoiding mismatched ad moments to creating emotionally resonant connections, Peter highlights the benefits of going beyond premium audiences by focusing on premium moments, too. He also shares how FAST channels are reshaping perceptions of premium content and how AI is unlocking new levels of contextual targeting. He and host Noor Naseer discuss challenges around measurement, attribution, and privacy, as well as the roles of innovation and interactivity in shaping the future of CTV advertising.
The era of intrigue and exploration is now over, and the outcome is clear: AI in marketing is here to stay. But as the technology approaches near-universal adoption across the industry, how can marketers and advertisers move beyond baseline efficiencies and tap into the technology’s full potential?
In our third-annual AI and the Future of Marketing report—based on a proprietary survey of marketing and advertising professionals from leading agencies and brands—shows that AI adoption rates have soared, productivity gains are widespread, and expectations for what comes next are higher than ever. But despite this progress, risks still abound, and for many organizations, true AI-powered differentiation remains a work in progress.
Early experiments with agentic AI and custom or semi-custom models suggest that the next wave of disruption could be even more dramatic: collapsing campaign cycles, elevating the role of first-party data, and redefining how teams are structured. Marketers across the industry are increasingly recognizing that this shift is imminent, and a sizable majority believe that AI will radically transform digital advertising in the next three to five years.
For marketing and advertising leaders, the question is no longer whether to adopt AI, but how to do so responsibly, strategically, and with urgency. Those who invest now in clean, unified first-party data, experiment with custom solutions, and prepare their teams to embrace new ways of working will be best positioned to capture the gains—and guard against the risks—that AI can generate.
This report is designed to help industry leaders navigate that journey. It contains data-driven insights on adoption patterns, efficiency gains, risks and concerns, and workforce implications of an AI-powered future. Together, the findings highlight how AI is shaping marketing today, while illustrating how it is poised to redefine the industry in the very near future.
You’ll learn:
Download your copy today.
Curation isn’t just a buzzword—it’s become a foundational piece of programmatic strategy.
In this episode, Filippo Gramigna, co-CEO of OneTag, joins host Noor Naseer to break down what curation really means and the critical role it plays for buyers, sellers, and the entire programmatic ecosystem. He shares his perspective on how curation addresses issues like signal loss, DSP inefficiencies, and inventory waste while also driving better outcomes and price dynamics for both sides of the marketplace.
Despite a US law threatening a ban—now delayed multiple times by the Trump Administration—and ongoing privacy and cybersecurity scrutiny around the globe, the TikTok era of social advertising marches on.
Far beyond its origins as a lip-syncing app for teens, TikTok has transformed expectations of social networks and become an essential platform for many advertisers.
Powered by a dynamic algorithm that quickly gauges individual user preferences and then curates a highly personalized “For You” page (FYP), TikTok doesn’t have its users tell the platform what they want to see: Rather, it tells them. Those users seemingly can’t get enough—and neither can advertisers, who have been drawn to the app for its unmatched ability to capture attention and spark engagement, especially with younger audiences. In blending entertainment, community, and commerce, the platform has become a powerful space for both brand storytelling and direct sales.
Of course, TikTok is not without its troubles and controversies. In 2024, former President Biden signed a bill into law requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok to a US company or face a nationwide ban. Since then, enforcement has been repeatedly delayed under President Trump, leaving the platform in a holding pattern. With the latest extension set to expire on September 17, TikTok is reportedly developing a US-specific version of the app in preparation for a potential sale—a shift that could leave advertisers operating on a platform different from the one they know today.
While TikTok’s future remains uncertain, advertisers haven’t pulled back on their investments in the platform. Here, we explore the evolution of this paradigm-shifting app through a collection of stats and facts. We’ll cover all the good stuff and all the ban-related stuff as we paint a picture of why TikTok continues to be the talk of the digital advertising town.
It is, quite literally, a multi-billion-dollar question: Just how did TikTok go from being a niche player to one of the most popular apps on the planet?
The reality is there is no single answer, but instead a combination of factors: simple and easy-to-use video creation tools that blur the metaphorical line between creator and consumer, a vast library of licensed music that allows users to easily enrich their clips with audio without fear of copyright infringement, and a community and collaborative feel within the platform (think hashtag challenges and Stitch). The model is so successful, in fact, that it has frightened Meta and YouTube (among others) into disrupting their own businesses—Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts, anyone?
“Don’t make ads, make TikToks.”
That was the invitation TikTok laid out for advertisers when it opened its brand-facing wing way back in 2020. And with the company’s revenues skyrocketing, it appears that challenge has been gleefully accepted.
TikTok’s ad business made its first foray into performance marketing with lead-generation ads that empower brands to collect information from prospective consumers through forms and contests. Since then, TikTok has been busy expanding upon those offerings, rolling out formats like interactive add-ons, search ads, and collection ads that together play a fundamental part in the app’s monetization strategy.
TikTok has disrupted how an entire generation connects, shops, entertains and educates itself, and ultimately perceives the world. To understand why TikTok is so popular with Gen Z is to understand that generation’s most broadly-shared characteristics. For example, authenticity is one of this generation’s top values—which explains why the “messy realness” of TikTok resonates so well. Gen Z is also the first generation of digital natives, which means they are well-acquainted with digital advertising tactics and therefore naturally drawn to fresh ideas and creative storytelling (for example, unfiltered videos!). In other words, TikTok and Gen Z were made for one another.
TikTok’s expansion into search and commerce media indicate that the app is not content to simply sit in the realm of short-form video. The diversification of its portfolio could pit TikTok against the likes of Apple, Amazon, and Google as it transforms into a public square for news and commerce, in addition to entertainment.
After the US federal government and numerous states outlawed use of TikTok on government-issued devices (something many other countries have done as well), former President Joe Biden signed a law in 2024 forcing ByteDance to sell the wildly popular app or face an outright ban across the US. That law was upheld by the Supreme Court in January 2025, and TikTok briefly halted service in the US just before the divestiture deadline of January 19.
Then, on the first day of his second term, President Trump signed an executive order delaying enforcement for 75 days. He has since issued two more 75-day extensions, keeping TikTok operating for the time being while divestment talks continue. A wide array of potential buyers have been named in recent months, from Oracle to AI company Perplexity to social media influencer MrBeast.
To prepare for a potential sale, TikTok has reportedly been working on a new version of the app specifically for US users, with a rumored launch planned for September 5. For advertisers, the potential transition to a different version of TikTok presents a variety of weighty questions: With ByteDance repeatedly claiming that it won’t sell the algorithm that fuels TikTok (otherwise known as its “secret sauce”), how different will the new app’s algorithm be from the original’s? Will advertising profiles automatically be ported over to the new app, or will advertisers need to rebuild them? How will US user numbers be impacted?
As long as these questions remain unanswered, marketers may want to avoid overleveraging their TikTok spend and, instead, employ a diversified paid social strategies.
TikTok grew into a digital advertising powerhouse seemingly overnight. Its consumer appeal and high engagement rates across numerous verticals make it a worthy option for ad spending for a wide variety of marketing teams. But with the threat of a ban looming, marketers would be wise to start scenario planning and maintain flexibility with social ad buys so they can quickly pivot to an alternative video platform quickly if needed.
One thing is for sure: For now, at least, TikTok remains social media’s golden child—and there are great rewards available to those that get it right.
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Interested in learning about how to make the most of TikTok? Check out our webinar, Seizing the TikTok Advertising Opportunity, for guidance from TikTok advertising experts.
Artificial intelligence is reshaping the marketing and advertising landscape at a rapid pace. In under three years since ChatGPT’s public debut, the industry has shifted from curiosity to near-universal adoption—and advertiser perspectives are evolving quickly. To understand exactly how this transformation is playing out, we surveyed leading agencies and brands for a new report detailing how marketers are using and feeling about AI in 2025.
In this webinar, Basis’ VP of Media Innovations & Technology, Noor Naseer, and Amy Rumpler, EVP of Integrated Client Solutions, will unpack findings from this research. Together, they’ll share insights on what the data reveals and highlight what advertisers need to know to stay ahead as AI continues to evolve.
