How do we get leaders aligned on a new brand direction?

Brand direction becomes easier for leaders to support when it reflects the experience of employees as well as the ambition of the business. A positioning or brand evolution can look convincing in a leadership presentation but still fail to land if the people delivering the customer experience do not recognise themselves in it.

Bring employees from across functions, locations and seniority levels into the discovery process. Their views can reveal customer pain points, practical barriers, sources of pride and the brand associations worth protecting. Leaders then have something more useful than personal preference to respond to: a grounded picture of what the organisation is, what it could become and what customers need from it.

This approach also reduces the risk of customer confusion and loss of goodwill. A new direction needs to feel like a credible next chapter, not a sudden break from the qualities that built trust in the first place.

A clear brand strategy gives leaders a practical way to move from broad discussion to a decision on positioning, value proposition and message consistency. Start by gathering views on the organisation's opportunities, challenges, customer needs and the qualities the brand should be known for. Include leaders, customer-facing teams and employees with different perspectives on the business.

Bring the findings together into a simple set of insights, then test the proposed direction against the organisation's future ambitions and ability to deliver. Confirm the direction before creative work begins, so the visual identity, messaging and campaign ideas express an agreed proposition rather than becoming a proxy battle over taste.

The output should be a creative brief that makes the choice tangible. It should set out the audience, the intended change in customer perception, the value the organisation can credibly offer and the brand associations that must remain intact. That gives leaders a shared reference point when difficult trade-offs appear.

Leadership commitment holds when the new brand direction is carried through the moments where customers and employees meet the organisation. A brand refresh is not complete when a logo, visual identity or launch presentation is approved. The proposition needs to show up consistently in written communications, websites, sales materials, customer conversations and internal activity.

Give leaders visible roles in the rollout, including explaining the change, reinforcing the customer benefit and listening for confusion. Coordinate the launch so employees receive the same clear message, rather than hearing different versions through separate teams or locations. Shared timing and practical launch materials help turn a new position into something people can use.

Keep checking whether the direction is creating clarity. Feedback from employees and customers can show where messages are not landing, where old habits remain and where the brand needs more support. Consistency matters because a brand direction earns belief through repeated experience, not a single reveal.

We believe leaders align around a new brand direction when they can see that it is rooted in the business, not imposed on it. That means listening to employees at every level, bringing their insight back to the leadership team and confirming the strategic direction before creative execution begins. We have used that approach with First Names Group, where interviews with employees and stakeholders shaped a unifying vision and a new brand built around the people behind the business. We also coordinated the launch so employees across locations encountered the new brand at the same time. For organisations choosing a partner, look for a team that can connect leadership decisions, employee engagement and a disciplined rollout, rather than treating the work as an identity redesign alone.