OPERATIONS
Brands are emotional things and I think businesses underestimate the amount of attachment audiences have
Thom Newton Global CEO Conran Design Group
How can companies use brand to understand organisational health? Typically, we can only build or evaluate the health of a brand if we understand the context in which it operates and the way it’ s been delivered. That usually requires a level of stakeholder engagement, looking at market comparators and examining the organisation to see if people are aligned on purpose and vision. That evaluation is something CEOs and organisations use as a way to get everyone around the table and surface any challenges or disconnects they have in the organisation. There’ s no mystery to it. It is about having a strong brand delivered in a consistent way. And by consistent, I don’ t mean it becomes a straight jacket – there are great examples of brands with huge variety in how they’ re deployed, but with a coherence that means you always recognise their DNA.
What are the biggest mistakes brands make in their evolution? Often it is lack of internal alignment around objectives or structure for how the organisation operates and communicates.
A lack of understanding of the equity that companies hold in their brand is another mistake. Cracker Barrel’ s rebranding in 2025 is a prime example of an organisation not understanding the equity they had in their brand. I think they felt like they needed something more modern and progressive but, in the transition to that, they failed to take their audience with them because they didn’ t understand the equity people associated with what they had. Equity is hard to come by, very valuable and hard won. Jaguar is another example of companies that jump to a change before actually thinking about how they’ re going to bring their audience with them. Brands are emotional things and I think businesses underestimate the amount of emotional attachment audiences have after living with them for generations in some cases. Just changing without a clear communication of rationale or purpose is a recipe for problems. There has to be a business reason for any change. However strong the brand, it cannot mask deficiencies in the business strategy. businesschief. com
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