How to build a brand that moves people

You can have the tightest positioning in the world and still be forgettable. Because people don’t connect to positioning, they connect to a feeling.

This is where loads of brands get stuck. They focus on owning a word or a category, but not a perspective. They land a rational message, but forget to leave a mark. If positioning is the logic, then brand is the emotion. It’s what turns a message into a movement. And it’s how you build memory – the stuff that sticks long after the first impression fades or your latest offer finishes.

So why doesn’t this always strike the right tone with the management? Because brand ROI is harder to measure, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Great brand strategy drives preference, pricing power, loyalty, and demand. It also fuels internal alignment, clarity, and culture. But if you’re only measuring short-term performance, you’ll miss the bigger picture. Leaders expect spreadsheets, not stories. So when brand work leads to faster sales, stronger talent retention, or better engagement, they don’t always trace it back to the strategy.

The most powerful brands aren’t just felt – they perform. And that’s where you need to come in and help everyone else in the team get it.

So how do you build a brand that moves people?

You start by saying something real. We don’t do safe or beige here, and neither should you.

You need a point of view. What do you believe that others don’t? What do you stand for that actually matters? What are you here to change? From there, build a story people can step into.

That doesn’t have to mean a manifesto or a big brand video. It means a clear narrative that makes sense of where you’ve come from, where you’re going, and why now. Especially in moments of change, people need to understand the why.

And then? Inject some feeling. Tone of voice, visual identity, behaviour, product decisions – it’s all part of how your brand shows up. You don’t need to be dramatic, but you do need to be deliberate. Distinctive brands feel like something. The rest just sound the same.

This is where strategy and creativity meet. When people feel something, they remember it. And when they remember it, they come back.

The bottom line

Positioning might get you noticed, but meaning and deliberate action is what builds a brand. If you want to move people – and grow your business – don’t just define what you are. Show why you matter, and measure what brand actually makes possible.

Need a hand doing that? Give us a shout.