Brand-and-Funnel Content Portfolio
Separate attention stunts from content built for specific funnel stages
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 4
- Confidence
- 96%
This portfolio model separates pure brand plays from programs intended for the middle or lower portions of the top of the funnel. Each class receives a different job and measurement standard. A deliberately strange brand stunt may seek broad awareness and conversation, while a specialist show may attract fewer people but concentrate relevant buyers. ProfitWell arrived at this distinction after excessive focus on view count pulled its content into unsuitable territory. The corrective mechanism is explicit classification before production, objective-specific metrics, and portfolio-level evaluation. Reach is therefore useful when reach is the assignment, but it does not override relevance for programs designed to educate, qualify, or repeatedly engage a defined market.
Origin
ProfitWell adopted the distinction after its early fixation on views distorted content choices. Extracted from Marketing Against The Grain.
Core principles
- 01Different content types require different success metrics
- 02Broad attention can serve brand without qualifying buyers
- 03Funnel content should retain a clear commercial audience
- 04View count should not govern every creative decision
How to run it
- 1
Classify the concept
Label the proposed asset as a pure brand play or a funnel-oriented program before approving it.
Pro tip Use one primary classification even when secondary benefits are possible.
Watch out Ambiguous objectives produce contradictory feedback.
- 2
Define the intended reaction
For brand work, specify the attention or memorability sought. For funnel work, specify the persona, problem, or action served.
Pro tip Write the intended reaction in one sentence.
Watch out Do not default to raw views for both categories.
- 3
Assign fitting metrics
Measure brand work through reach, conversation, recall, or sharing and funnel work through qualified engagement, return behavior, and assisted revenue.
Pro tip Review metrics over an appropriate time horizon.
Watch out Direct attribution will understate much brand impact.
- 4
Balance the portfolio
Fund enough specialist programming to sustain audience value while reserving selective room for memorable brand experiments.
Pro tip Use stunts as a minority of the mix.
Watch out An all-stunt strategy attracts attention without building dependable trust.
In the wild
Campbell recorded himself saying “churn” 100,000 times in a nine-hour sitting. ProfitWell treated the one-off video as a pure brand play built around surprise rather than as a qualified educational program.
→ The unusual video accumulated roughly 500,000 total views and generated broad attention.
The same portfolio can include a recurring teardown aimed at buyers facing a precise business problem. Its success is judged by audience relevance and repeated viewing rather than whether it matches the stunt’s reach.
→ The company protects commercially useful programming from inappropriate viral benchmarks.
Common mistakes
Using view count for everything
This pushes niche, valuable programming toward subjects that attract more people but fewer relevant buyers.
Calling every stunt a strategy
Broad attention without recurring value, audience fit, or a supporting portfolio rarely builds durable influence.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for media teams producing both specialist education and high-reach creative work.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal for teams without enough production capacity to support more than one clear content objective.
From the transcript
“I think we fixated too much on view count in the beginning.”
“as soon as we separated out, okay, there's stuff that we do want for views. These are pure brand plays.”
“So we separated out brand plays from, you know, basically middle of the funnel or bottom of the top of the funnel plays.”
From the episode
Growing Your Brand Through Inbound Media with Patrick Campbell
Patrick Campbell