Why brand building matters more than ever

From campaign visual to brand feeling.

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As you prepare next year’s marketing plans, the focus shifts from visibility to feel. In a market full of AI-generated content and digital noise, an authentic brand feeling isn’t a luxury; it’s your most important competitive advantage.  

Why brand feeling matters more than ever 

For years, marketing was about visibility. Rank higher, more impressions, more often in the feed. But that strategy is hitting a ceiling. The reality is that visibility becomes habitual. AI can produce content at a scale we never imagined, making the digital space even more crowded. Distinctiveness no longer lies in what you say, but in how you say it—and who you are as a brand. 

Trust and recognition are the new currency. Customers—especially in B2B—seek anchors in brands that feel consistent, reliable and authentic. They don’t want an anonymous supplier but a partner whose values and personality resonate with theirs. This ‘brand feeling’ underpins every email, every ad and every sales interaction. It’s the thread that turns a one-off campaign into a durable customer relationship. 

The Express phase: the creative core of your brand 

How do you build such a strong brand feeling? Start at the core: the Express phase. This is the first, crucial step in a continuous brand process. In this phase, it’s not about what you do but who you are. You define and document your brand’s unique identity. 

Think of this phase as your organisation’s DNA—the blueprint for every expression and interaction. A clearly defined Express phase ensures everyone—from marketing and sales to HR and customer service—speaks the same language and embodies the same values. 

The building blocks of an authentic brand feeling 

Brand feeling isn’t intangible—you can build and strengthen it systematically. These are the four essential steps to make your brand identity tangible. 

1. Strategic brand purpose: This is your organisation’s reason for being—beyond making profit. It answers: “What essential contribution do we make to our customers’ world?”  
 
Don’t ask your team what you do; dig deeper into the why using techniques like the “Five Whys.” Translate the outcome into a powerful purpose statement, e.g.: “We believe in [worldview]. Therefore we [action], so that [impact on the customer/world].”  

A perfect example is Tony’s Chocolonely. Their “why” isn’t “sell chocolate”; their purpose is “together make 100% slave-free the norm in chocolate.” The pitfall is drafting a generic goal like “be the best.” A strong purpose is unique, specific and inspiring. 

2. Core values: These are the 3–5 principles that steer behaviour and decision-making. To uncover them, analyse your organisation’s “peak moments.” Look at projects where the team excelled and ask which specific behaviours enabled that success. Those behaviours reveal your true, lived values.  

Then translate values into concrete behaviours. Tie three rules of behaviour to each value. The value “Down-to-earth” becomes: “We avoid hype language,” “We back claims with data,” and “We are direct yet respectful.” A common mistake is choosing abstract catch-alls like “Innovation” without translating them into daily actions. 

3. Brand personality: This defines your brand’s character in human terms, creating a recognisable and consistent tone of voice. You can discover your archetype with the well-known 12 Archetypes model. Ask where your brand sits on the axes of stability vs. change and individual vs. group. Are you a wise “Sage,” a heroic “Hero,” or a caring “Caregiver”?  

To make this practical, draft a “We are/are not” list. For example: “We are the expert guide, not the know-it-all professor.” Coolblue is a strong example; they embody a mix of the “Caregiver” and the “Jester.” Their slogan “Alles voor een glimlach” and their humorous, service-oriented communication express this perfectly. Beware of choosing an archetype that’s inauthentic to your culture. A formal, data-driven company posing as a “Rebel” will feel forced and unbelievable. 

4. Market positioning: Positioning defines your unique place in your audience’s perception versus competitors. A powerful way to do this is to craft a sharp positioning statement.  

Use the classic structure: “For [audience] who [need], [our brand] is the [category] that [unique benefit], because [reason to believe].” You can also create a competitor matrix to visualise your unique, defensible place by plotting competitors on axes relevant to your market (e.g. price vs. quality).  

HubSpot, for instance, positions itself as the all-in-one CRM platform for scale-ups and mid-market companies seeking to reduce complexity. Their unique benefit isn’t being the best tool for every sub-task, but integration in one platform. The biggest pitfall is wanting to be everything to everyone. Sharp positioning requires making choices—and daring to say whom you don’t serve. 

A strong Express phase is the prerequisite for the rest of the loop: 

• It gives the Tailor phase the right ingredients to personalise authentically. 
• It gives the Amplify phase a unique story to distribute across channels. 
• It gives the Evolve phase a clear benchmark: we measure not only results but whether we stay true to our brand. 

Making your brand tangible 

Turn this output into concrete action with the following steps: 

• Define your voice (Tone of Voice): Translate your archetype and values into a concrete tone of voice document—the practical guide for all content creation. 
• Translate identity into visuals (Visual Identity): Ensure consistent use of logo, colours and imagery that reflect your brand personality. 
• Activate your brand internally: Employees are the primary carriers of the Express phase. Make sure they understand, feel and apply the brand every day. 
• Secure consistency with technology: Use templates in CRM and CMS systems and DAM tools to scale your brand identity efficiently and consistently. 

Common mistakes (and how to avoid them)  

Building a strong brand feeling is a continuous process. Here are three common mistakes you absolutely want to avoid. 

Mistake 1: Brand identity is a “marketing thing” 

• Signal: The brand book sits in a digital drawer and is used only to design a brochure. Sales and service use their own, divergent decks and email templates. 
• Risk: Inconsistency and dilution of your brand. Customers receive mixed signals, undermining trust. 
• Solution: Make the brand part of new-hire onboarding. Run cross-functional sessions on brand identity. Make guidelines accessible and practical for everyone.  

Mistake 2: Inconsistency across channels 

• Signal: Your LinkedIn posts are formal and corporate, while your website is breezy and informal. Ad visuals don’t match the landing page. 
• Risk: A fragmented, unbelievable brand experience. Customers don’t recognise you as the same company across touchpoints. 
• Solution: Appoint a “brand guardian” to safeguard consistency. Work from a central content and campaign plan. Use a component library for design and content to encourage reuse and consistency.  

Mistake 3: Your brand style is too rigid 

• Signal: Guidelines are so strict there’s no room for creativity or adapting to a channel or audience context. 
• Risk: Communication feels robotic and impersonal, losing the human connection. 
• Solution: Define brand identity as a framework, not a straightjacket. Provide guidance for different contexts (e.g. formal for a whitepaper, informal for social). Encourage creativity within brand boundaries.  

Your brand is the compass for your marketing strategy

Brand feeling is a strategic necessity. It’s the compass guiding every effort—from AI-driven personalisation to your website content. Brands that invest now in defining and expressing their unique identity build tomorrow’s durable competitive advantage. Stop just broadcasting and start being felt. 

Need help building your company’s brand feeling? Schedule a no-obligation meeting with one of our experts!  

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