Brand (over-)management is over

Five ideas to shift from brand management to experience building.

The realization has set in: Brand management needs a rethink. Why? Because in an era of fragmented touchpoints, gripping tighter to brand control is counter-productive to everything we know about staying relevant, building thriving communities and achieving ambitious growth goals.

But while the conversation about brand experience is louder than ever, many marketing teams are still stuck, wanting change but struggling to make it happen.

The real problem runs deeper because it’s not a tool or approach problem — it’s a culture problem.

I see it again and again in my work: Marketing understands the need for change but gets blocked by rigid corporate structures and proven practices.

An example: A leading global retailer poured €80k into a digital brand handbook — modern, interactive, “future-proof”. Meanwhile, the sales team kept using their old PowerPoint templates from 2018 because, well, “they still work.” And the digital experience team didn’t see how this impacted the customer journey.

So how do we break through this?

Five ideas to promote an experience culture

1. Experience Owners, not Brand Managers. Appoint leaders who can break silos and connect the dots across teams.
2. Brand Labs, not Brand Guidelines. Create experimental spaces where teams can prototype and test brand experiences together.
3. Measure through KPIs + customer reality. Success isn’t what the dashboard says; it’s what real customers feel, think, and want.
4. Ditch the “big relaunch” mentality. Instead of a massive rebrand every five years, evolve continuously, bit by bit.
5. From storytelling to storysharing. Don’t just tell stories to customers — make them the protagonists.

Shifting to an experience-driven organization takes bold leadership. It needs champions who carve out and protect spaces for experimentation.

The real question isn’t how to introduce new tools. It’s how to build a culture where every employee becomes a brand ambassador — not because they have to, but because they believe in it.