TV’s Gym Bro: Why ROI is the Wrong Metric for Profit Growth
Stewart Gurney, Powered by Nine’s Director of Strategy and Effectiveness, delivered a stark warning to advertisers at the 2026 Future of TV Advertising conference in Sydney: stop obsessing over efficiency metrics like ROI and start chasing profit growth.
“An overemphasis on ROI leads to underinvestment, potentially missing $4 billion in profit.”
Gurney argued that a narrow focus on return on investment causes brands to pull back spending at the exact moment they should be doubling down. To illustrate the path forward, he introduced “The Growth Project,” an initiative designed to demonstrate Total TV’s crucial role in driving bottom-line business results.
The Data
New analysis from Mutinex revealed a clear hierarchy of media effectiveness:
- Total TV contributes 22% of all media-attributed sales.
- That figure is double the contribution of YouTube.
The Analogy
Gurney framed the debate with a simple, memorable comparison. He likened digital channels to “fast” friends who move small boxes quickly, while calling TV the “gym bro” who handles the heavy furniture. The implication is clear: digital may be fast and efficient, but TV delivers the heavy lifting required for real profit impact.
The Underinvestment Problem
Despite TV having the highest saturation point of any advertising channel in Australia, Gurney noted that 83% of advertisers still underinvest in it. This mismatch between channel potential and budget allocation, he argued, is the primary reason billions in profit are being left on the table.