2026: Finally, the year of brand revival?

Let’s not beat around the bush, ‘brand’ hasn’t gone anywhere. Many companies are working hard to ensure every customer touchpoint tells a compelling part of their brand’s story. It is how it should be. Sure, the same companies are also spending on ads, but the balance is right, and they recognise that brand and response aren’t mutually exclusive. 

However, there is definitely a second subsegment of brands that confuse placement with effective advertising. Just because people see your advertising everywhere, it doesn’t mean they’re doing much for you (if there’s anything that social media should have taught us, it's that interesting things are very popular, i.e. they go ‘viral’, boring stuff does next to nothing!) 

McKinsey’s latest 'State of Marketing Europe' report highlights a clear trend for 2026: a return to core principles. Leading the charge is Strategic Branding, identified by 500 senior European Marketing leaders as their top priority for the coming years. McKinsey describes the resurgence of this 'classic' topic as potentially counterintuitive: 

“It may seem counterintuitive that, in an increasingly digital and personalized landscape, a “classic” topic like branding ranks first.” 

Does it? Really?! I find it odd that this is either ‘counterintuitive’ or seen as something classic and resurgent. Explaining exactly what brand-building activity should look like and why companies should do it can feel like an uphill struggle, but I’m sure there aren’t many in our industry who are completely blind to the concept.  

The simple fact is that marketing is an innate human endeavour. All a company is trying to do is humanise itself to connect with real people in a way that makes them prefer the brand over the plethora of competing brands. Marketing is the bridge that enables a cold, commercial entity to engage in the human cycle of trust, value, and loyalty.

Obviously, as an industry, we overcomplicate this massively, but we should stop confusing the complexity of execution with the simplicity of the idea, and I think McKinsey does hint at this in its report: 

“Look closer, and the logic is clear. In a period of constant disruption and rapid advances in digital and AI, CMOs are rediscovering that brand is not a relic but the bedrock of resilience and long-term growth.”

“As tools get faster, the fundamentals matter more: trust and emotional connection become the anchor that gives customers clarity, consistency, and a sense of security. Four of the top five priorities—branding (ranked #1), data privacy (#3), authenticity (#4), and employer branding (#5)—point to a shift from short-term activation toward long-term brand and trust building. Given its importance and the need for action to catch up to peers, this has become a critical topic  for CMOs. — Branding (#1) is, at its core, long-term brand building. Marketers plan to invest in distinctiveness, clear value perception, and creativity.”

That’s all well and good, and I’m glad it’s getting some attention, but it is somewhat disappointing that this is being presented as a revelation. It really shouldn’t be, especially to CMOs. Recent experience, however, has taught me not to assume the importance of brand, especially when speaking with senior marketing leaders, who sometimes seem to rely on their media agency or Adobe for their ‘brand’ positioning. 

Later in the report, the crux of the problem becomes clearer when McKinsey examines measurement in marketing (i.e., the actual, complex part of the function). It leaves us in no doubt that it’s often very difficult to show real ROI on brand and marketing activity, and that ‘spending’ is very difficult to measure. 

“A significant 72 percent plan to increase their relative marketing spending in 2025 (compared to 49 percent who actually did so the previous year), while 27 percent intend to keep spending constant (versus 49 percent actually doing so in 2024). This indicates a belief in the potential for growth in Europe.”

However, this optimism is accompanied by common caveats. 

“...that means as much as 90 percent of spending is not covered by MROI (marketing return on investment) measurement, despite its importance. And we found just 3 percent of respondents were able to explain more than 50 percent of their marketing spend through MROI measurement.” 

The report goes into much greater depth and is worth reading, but these two opposing ideas are the points that should resonate: brand and budget management as the top two concerns for 2026.

Pure spending can’t be measured effectively, but it continues to be a growth area, often leading to significant waste and poor creativity. Whereas brand-led activity is only now being discussed as a focus for 2026. There’s a dichotomy here. Brand and marketing are essentially the same, but real-world brand activity also serves as effective marketing. Recently, we were speaking to a client about customer service and how it’s very much part of their brand activity. But there seems to be a bit of a barrier for some, brand and creative always lose out to pure placement, and it’s the wrong way around. Fortunately, now McKinsey is saying it, people might listen, but it has been a long time coming. 

If you want to address how you can implement brand-building activity as effective marketing, give us a shout; it’s what we do.