The 60/40 Splitter

A starting point for splitting a budget between long-term brand building and short-term activation, based on the Binet & Field long-and-short rule.

Brand: long-term Activation: short-term
Why is the budget slider on a log scale?

$10k and $100M are a factor of 10,000 apart. On a straight slider, the low end would be squeezed into a sliver. A log scale gives each power of ten the same amount of room, so $10k to $100k is as easy to move through as $10M to $100M. The number box lets you type any exact amount.

In plain English

Brand dollars
Activation dollars
Effective ratio
Brand / activation, as percentages of the budget.

What each side buys

Brand

Mental availability

  • Works over roughly 6 to 36 months.
  • Effects are broad: penetration (how many people buy at all) and pricing power.
  • Builds the reason people think of your brand when the category comes up.
Activation

Harvesting existing demand

  • Works over roughly 0 to 6 months.
  • Effects are narrow: immediate sales, mostly from people who would have bought anyway.
  • Captures demand that already exists rather than creating new demand.

Learn how it works

The rule, in words

Start at 60% for brand and 40% for activation. Then nudge the split for three things about your situation. Each nudge moves the brand share by 10 points.

Brand share = 60 + cycle shift + size shift + price shift Brand share is kept between 30% and 85% Activation share = 100 − brand share

A longer purchase cycle, a smaller brand, or a premium price all mean people take longer to decide and need more reminding, so brand building pays off more. A short cycle, an established leader, or a value price push the money toward activation.

The math, with your current inputs
Glossary
Brand building
Spend that builds long-term mental availability, so your brand comes to mind when people are ready to buy.
Activation
Spend that prompts a purchase now, such as promotions or direct response. It mostly reaches people already in the market.
Mental availability
How easily your brand comes to mind in buying situations.
Penetration
The share of category buyers who buy your brand at least once in a period.
Pricing power
The ability to charge a higher price without losing buyers.
Purchase cycle
How often people buy in the category. Days, weeks, months, or years between purchases.
Clamp
Limiting a value to a fixed range. Here, the brand share stays between 30% and 85%.

Read this before you use the split

60/40 is a cross-category average. It comes from the IPA Databank, which covers many categories and brands. Any single category can need a very different split.

The right split moves with the inputs. The purchase cycle, brand size, and price tier all change the answer, and this tool only adjusts for those three. It doesn't know about your competitors, your channels, or your current share.

This is a starting heuristic, not a media plan. Use it to set a first conversation, then test and adjust against your own results.