Dear The Future of Design attendees,

Unfortunately, I cannot attend the event, but I wanted to at least be part of the conversation from afar! As a Global ECD in one of the largest brand design agencies, I’ve had the privilege of engaging in conversations and working with global design leaders (some of you are at the event) across a wide range of sectors—from CPG and FMCG to financial services, technology, hospitality, real estate, and education. These conversations and experiences have revealed common challenges and opportunities that persist across our industry.

While the theory and principles of branding and brand growth are now widely accepted, their implementation remains inconsistent. Many organizations struggle to translate these theories into practice due to three key challenges:

1. Fragmentation: The rapid proliferation of communication channels has led to numerous touch points, making it increasingly difficult to maintain a cohesive brand experience. Multinational organizations struggle to deliver a unified message across diverse platforms.

2. Scale and Resources: Achieving coherence at scale presents a significant challenge, particularly as investment in internal marketing and brand teams hasn’t kept pace with growing demand. This results in fragmented brand experiences and inconsistencies.

3. Technology Evolution and Adoption: In an attempt to control fragmentation and manage the scale of demand for brand content, there has been significant investment in creative teams over the last 20 years, both internally and through agencies. Recently, there has been a shift toward in-housing creative teams to gain more control and efficiency. Now, the focus is turning toward technology as a comprehensive solution. Generative AI, in particular, holds promise, but organizations often struggle with how to implement these technologies effectively. It will inevitably impact the role of both in-house and agency teams.

The Potential Solution: Brand Design

Brand design, design systems, and design thinkers are the solution to these challenges. We have the opportunity to turn challenges into progress and, ultimately, commercial growth. The terms ‘brand’ and ‘design’ often carry specific connotations that need clarification. ‘Brand’ refers to the identity and perception of an organization, while ‘design’ is the powerful tool that brings this identity to life. Brand design is essential because, despite significant investment in creativity across organizations, this investment is often siloed within departments or markets. This fragmentation prevents the cohesive, scalable implementation needed for a strong return on investment. By leveraging brand design and teams of brand designers and thinkers, we can unify these efforts, ensuring that brand strategy and identity are woven throughout the organization. This holistic approach builds stronger brand equity and drives greater returns on creative investment, ultimately leading to commercial growth for the organization.

Implications for the Brand Design Community

To truly harness the power of brand design, we must focus on several key areas:

1. Collective Effort in Education: We need to educate stakeholders on what brand design truly means. While branding is often seen as the domain of marketing or communication agencies, it’s a collective responsibility. Brand design teams can weave branding across all departments, ensuring coherence and long-term brand equity, which we know contributes to commercial performance.

2. Elevating the Value of Design: We must shift the perception of design from mere execution to problem-solving and strategic thinking. By emphasizing design thinking, we can better integrate brand strategy and identity across the organization. Agencies must stop undercutting each other and driving down the value of what we do, and clients must stop free-pitching or allowing procurement teams to consistently erode the value of our work.

3. Unified Methodology: Adopting a standardized methodology, such as the Double Diamond, can help streamline our approach and foster consistency at an industry level. Architects have the RIBA Plan of Work—what’s ours?

4. C-Suite Advocacy: Building advocacy at the C-suite level is crucial. By demonstrating business acumen and aligning design with commercial goals, we can secure the support needed to drive meaningful change.

5. Embracing Technology: We must all become technology experts. Technology is no longer just a set of tools or a separate department—it’s an integral part of how we design. We need to think about how technology can be embedded into our processes to stay relevant and innovative.

A Call to Action for the Future of Design

The future of brand-led organizations depends on our ability to bridge the gap between brand theory and its real-world application. As design leaders, we have a responsibility to champion brand design as a strategic driver of business growth, ensuring that it is recognized not just as an aesthetic function but as a core part of building long-term brand equity, commercial growth, and sustained progress. I'm sure THE FUTURE OF… Design event will be full of meaningful discussion. How can we, as a community, advocate for design’s role in solving these challenges? How can we better align with leadership teams, break down silos, and ensure that technology is a tool for progress rather than a barrier? I may not be there in person, but I’d love to continue this conversation. Please feel free to reach out, share your thoughts, and let’s keep pushing our industry forward together.