Have you ever heard this phrase?
“Display doesn’t convert, let’s move all the budget to Search.”
If you work with GMP Platforms, you’ve probably had to defend branding against the dictatorship of last-click attribution. It’s the eternal battle between short-term and long-term thinking.
But here’s the reality: users don’t live in silos. Before searching for your brand, they saw a compelling banner or were engaged by a YouTube video.
In this post, we’ll show you how to use Campaign Manager 360 (CM360) to prove that Upper Funnel activity is not a cost—it’s the engine that fuels your conversions.
1. The myth: “Display doesn’t work”
The most common mistake is measuring branding campaigns with direct performance KPIs. When we analyze GMP Platforms under a last-click model, Display always seems like the loser.
However, its role isn’t to close the sale—it’s to generate intent.
CM360 is the ultimate tool to change this narrative. It allows us to see the full picture, not just the last frame, uncovering the value of impressions that—even without clicks—leave a lasting impact on the consumer’s mind.
2. The magic of Conversion Paths
To defend your budget, you need to talk about multi-touch attribution. Within GMP Platforms, CM360 provides Path to Conversion reports.
What do these insights reveal?
A user might watch a DV360 video on Monday, see a display ad on Wednesday, and finally convert through Search on Friday. Without that initial touchpoint, the final conversion would never have happened.
Understanding these paths is key for businesses to recognize that Display plays a crucial assisting role in every sale.
3. Key metrics: Unique vs. Total Assisted Conversions
If you want to win the conversation with clients or stakeholders, you need to master these two concepts:
- Total Assisted Conversions: How often Display or Video appeared along the conversion path
- Unique Conversions: Conversions where the user interacted with only one channel
When comparing both, we often find that Display assists in more than 70% of total sales.
Highlighting this dependency is critical to explain why turning off branding typically leads to a sharp drop in performance weeks later.
4. How to change the business conversation
Stop talking about “impressions” or “cheap CPMs.”
Start talking about incrementality and reach.
Use CM360 to demonstrate how video and display increase branded search volume.
Pro tip: Show a Time Lag report (time to conversion). You’ll see how GMP campaigns shorten the decision-making cycle, accelerating overall ROI.
Conclusion: Branding is the foundation, CM360 is the blueprint
Defending the Upper Funnel isn’t about belief—it’s about having the right tools to measure the “invisible.”
With GMP Platforms, we move from assumptions to evidence, proving that every euro invested in video is a seed for future conversions.
At Making Science, we know success doesn’t happen in a single click—it’s the result of multiple well-orchestrated touchpoints.
Are you leveraging CM360 to its full potential? Share your experience in the comments.
Remember: last click attribution is like giving all the credit to the dessert after a five-course meal. It’s time to recognize the entire menu.
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