A few months ago, Daniel Morel, CEO of Wunderman, and John Gerzema, chief insights officer at Young & Rubicam Group, published an article with the findings from a 10-year study of brand and financial data, the Brand Asset Valuator (BAV). This study showed that 85% of brands were stagnant or had declined in brand differentiation. Among the top 100 most valuable brands, 45% were declining in consumer perceptions. Morel and Gerzema concluded that in today’s marketplace, direct response is not an element at the bottom of a purchase funnel. Brand and response are “now intertwined.”