11 Insights for Forward-Looking Brand Building

Truly long-term brand building: desired by everyone, achieved by only a few. What we experience in consulting practice is now confirmed in numbers in the research report by Harvard Business Review Analytic Services, supported by Frontify:

84% of respondents consider long-term brand building very important – but only 36% rate their organization as truly effective at it. How can it still succeed?

Here is a summary of the 11 insights I shared in the webinar for strategic brand building with foresight:

1. The brand must be anchored in management.

In my experience, long-term brand building is most successful when the brand is already firmly established as a decision-making compass within the company's management. If branding is confined to the marketing department, the project may start with enthusiasm, but later it will be overtaken by decisions made elsewhere.

This is one of the most important tests of all: Is brand work just a departmental project – or is it linked to vision, corporate strategy and business KPIs?

Branding is not an add-on, but part of overall strategic management.

• The brand must be understood as a business partner.

• Brand strategy should not be pursued in isolation.

• Areas such as HR, Operations, Culture, Investor Relations and other functions must also be considered.

2. Strategy can immediately provide orientation and unleash energy.

Strategy doesn't just have a long-term effect – it can ignite something in people's minds immediately. A clear vision instantly creates orientation, motivation, and a shared direction. Internally, it helps to better understand decisions and set priorities more clearly.

• Long-term brand strategy is not just a distant vision of the future, but an immediately effective compass.

  
  

3. The brand must resonate in people's minds.

As my Sherpa colleague Marie Egerland so aptly put it: "The brand needs to get out of the guidelines and into people's minds."

Because the biggest challenge is not the strategy, but the implementation.

Those initially involved in a brand strategy project often have a very good understanding of the strategic value of a brand, as they come from a branding background and can assess the power of branding. The real challenge arises later in the process: How does the brand truly permeate the company – reaching everyone? Even those who don't understand the value and purpose of brand building?

Because:

• In hectic situations, nobody reads a PDF first.

• The brand must be accessible in everyday life.

• She must be present in meetings, decisions, and actions.

The key point: A brand is only effective if it is memorable and guides action.

4. The brand must be memorable.

A brand lives in people's minds.

• People can't remember an unlimited number of messages.

• That's why a brand needs focus

• A strong brand sticks to a core message for a long time

• This is the only way it truly stays in people's minds.

Strong brands are those that are clearly and lastingly memorable.

(I devoted an entire book to this topic, entitled ‘Brands Are Memories’).

5. Brand building begins with listening.

The first phase of a good strategy is always listening.

So:

• What aspects of the brand are already in people's minds?

• What do people really remember?

• Why do some people feel emotionally connected to a brand?

Brand perception often differs from internal assumptions. Brand strategy shouldn't just broadcast, but first understand what's already there.

6. A brand is also created through conversations, not just models.

A brand doesn't live as a model, but in how and what people talk about it.

Because conversations:

• strengthen memories

• strengthen identity

• make the brand socially effective

The true power of a brand is revealed in whether and how it is talked about.

7. Long-term brand building requires focus and perseverance.

• Brands compete with an enormous number of stimuli.

• Therefore, a clear core identity is needed.

• And a message that is consistently conveyed over a long period of time.

Not one year, not two years – but truly long-term.

Brand building arises from a consistent focus. Consistency sometimes even takes precedence over well-intentioned improvements when it comes to elements of the brand's core.

8. The brand must be made tangible internally – also through play.

Brand activation isn't just about documents or traditional guidelines. Especially during onboarding and internal integration, formats are needed that truly reach people.

This includes:

• digital platforms where the brand is accessible

• asynchronous learning

• playful learning

• Gamification as a mindset

• Formats that help to check whether the brand is actually used and understood internally.

Internally, the brand must be activated in a way that encourages people to actually engage with it – in an accessible, everyday, and even playful manner. The brand must not only be explained, but also brought to life.

9. Good brand management connects origin, present and future.

When I look at brands, I always ask myself three questions:

• Where does the brand come from?

• What does it stand for today?

• Where does the brand want to go?

This model of thinking is strong because it understands brand not only as a present image, but as a bridge from past to future – thus covering a long timeline and taking long-term considerations into account.

Brands need a narrative that connects the past, present, and future.

10. Change is easier to achieve in small steps.

Many people have a real problem with change – this is constantly underestimated in branding projects. Therefore, large goals should be broken down into small steps.

Long-term transformation requires a grand goal – but a gradual, inclusive implementation.

11. Brand strategy must be translated into measurable development

A strong brand strategy has an immediate effect – it creates mental orientation. To ensure this effect doesn't remain abstract, it needs to be clearly translated into measurable progress.

That means:

• Besides brand awareness, what actually sticks is crucial: image, brand knowledge, clear associations.

• Even more important is whether the relationship with the brand changes: emotional bond, trust, belonging

• And both internally and externally, the central question arises: Are we moving in the direction we have strategically set for ourselves?

Because this development clearly demonstrates the real impact:

Stronger bonds lead to loyalty – and loyalty sustains relationships in the long term.

This brings us back to the first point: If brand strategy is integrated with corporate strategy, brand development can also be linked to business KPIs. A brand should be able to measure its own progress – and simultaneously demonstrate its contribution to business success.

I had the opportunity to speak on this exciting topic, "Brand Management with Foresight – How to Achieve Long-Term Brand Building," as a representative of Sherpa Design together in the Frontify Webinar panel with

- Hannah Leimert from the University of St.Gallen (HSG)

- Andrea Bayer from Fressnapf Germany

- Nicolas Hürner from Frontify

Many thanks to Frontify for the invitation to this powerful panel!

Further links:

• the research report from Harvard Business Review Analytic Services, supported by Frontify

• The recording of the webinar is on YouTube .