Branding strategy has never been static and, here in 2026, the pressures from the past few years are reaching a boiling point. Attention is harder to earn and audiences are more discerning than ever. “Good enough” content stopped cutting it a while back, and now it barely registers.
I see “the ever evolving landscape” of anything and I immediately click out. It’s not just me. Coca-Cola faced huge backlash for using AI in its 2025 holiday ads. “Soulless” was the word critics used most often to describe it.
Even the dictionaries are picking up on the shift. Merriam-Webster’s word of the year, “slop,” speaks to the flood of low-quality, often AI-generated content filling every feed and inbox. It’s no wonder so many people are craving substance over volume.
And to be clear, the issue isn’t AI. When used thoughtfully, AI can be a powerful assistant, freeing up marketing teams to focus on more meaningful creative decisions. And if just one trend of 2026 had to be highlighted here, it would be the ongoing use of AI marketing tools. The problem starts when speed replaces strategy.
Branding remains an opportunity to rethink how we connect with our audiences and with one another. The work that breaks through isn’t the loudest or the fastest, it’s the most human and intentional. Authenticity isn’t a trend. It should be the standard.
Why Is Brand Strategy So Important?
Great branding has always been about connecting the dots between your mission, your message and the people you serve.
Household names like Apple, Coca-Cola, Starbucks and others often dominate the spotlight with their marketing efforts, but it’s not just the giants shaping the branding landscape anymore. Brand strategy is a cornerstone for companies of all sizes.
- It’s a blueprint for your brand’s identity, helping customers recognize and connect with you.
- It builds trust and credibility, ensuring a consistent experience for customers and serving as a compass in your quest for authenticity.
- It guides all other marketing efforts, from creating content to designing campaigns.
- It helps you retain customers, fostering a sense of loyalty and alignment with your brand.
With that in mind, let’s explore some branding strategy examples that are more than just marketing wins – they’re masterclasses in connection.
Have Some Fun: Character-Driven Branding
Mascots are back, but not in the way we’ve seen before.
With the tidal wave of AI-generated content and polished campaigns flooding our feeds, mascots can help personify a brand in a time of much-needed human (animal?) interaction. They invite people to engage and remember the experience long after the scroll.
Done well, they’re born from community culture and shaped by audience participation. Plus, with analogue becoming more fashionable, it’s a plus that they can be brought to life across both digital and physical experiences.
For example, CeraVe’s “Sarah V.”, a stylish goat (G.O.A.T.) created after fans across social media began calling the brand the “greatest of all time” in skincare. CeraVe leaned into the internet’s inside joke and ran with it.
Sarah V. quickly became a recognizable brand character, appearing in:
- Influencer-led social content
- “Fan Pharmacy” pop-up events
- NBA promotions
- CeraVe’s 20th anniversary tour across major cities
Create Moments People Want To Be Part Of
We saw this same principle play out in a very different context at INBOUND 2025. At Kuno Creative’s co-sponsored booth with StackAdapt, our Biscuit Monster anchored an in-person brand experience designed to spark connection before collecting leads.
Attendees created cookie selfies using a custom app, received printed sticker keepsakes, and interacted with the dancing mascot in a booth that blended physical warmth with digital innovation. It’s about creating moments people wanted to be part of.
Embrace Authenticity and Promote Real Voices
One of the most effective branding strategies heading into 2026 is also one of the most overlooked: Some of your best brand storytellers are already on your org chart.
Microsoft is a strong example of this shift in action. Instead of relying solely on polished brand channels, marketing leaders on the team embraced employee-generated content as a core part of their thought leadership strategy. (Check out Microsoft former Head of Content Heike Young’s viral LinkedIn videos as just one example!)
The result is content that feels credible because it is.
Employee-created posts and videos regularly outperform brand benchmarks, earning higher engagement and deeper conversation than traditional corporate messaging. That’s because audiences are increasingly trusting people with lived experience more than logos. For instance, 73% of B2B decision-makers say that an organization’s thought leadership is a more trustworthy way to assess its capabilities than other marketing, such as product sheets, according to LinkedIn research.
Why We Want To Hear From the People
The use of generative AI has exploded since tools like ChatGPT came on the scene. Seemingly overnight, it changed how people do a lot of things, from creating shopping lists to writing emails. The now virtually endless amount of AI-generated content at marketers’ fingertips didn’t go unnoticed by consumers.
The desire for authenticity – the antithesis to AI – has skyrocketed in response. Authenticity is something 86% of consumers consider before making a purchasing decision. And while the majority of brands think they are delivering authentic content, there’s a bit of disconnect: only 37% of consumers actually agree that content is.
For marketers, this presents both a challenge and an opportunity. The days of throwing lots and lots of content at the wall to see what sticks are behind us. In 2026, the brands that stand out won’t be the ones posting the most. Instead, the year ahead is all about letting the right people speak – the ones with credibility and a point of view worth hearing.
Win Attention With Storytelling
When every brand is shouting during peak moments, the ones that stand out are often the ones that slow things down and tell a better story.
Waitrose did exactly that with its 2025 Christmas campaign: a four-minute mini rom-com starring Keira Knightley and Joe Wilkinson. The spot played like a movie trailer, complete with a meet-cute, awkward charm and a shared love of cheese as the plot-driver.
By centering the story on a single product rather than vague holiday sentiment, Waitrose created something memorable and genuinely entertaining. The ad didn’t feel like an interruption, it was content people chose to watch and share.
Marketers Are Storytellers, After All
There have been a lot of headlines recently about companies scrambling to hire “storytellers” – like The Wall Street Journal’s recent piece Companies Are Desperately Seeking ‘Storytellers,’ noting the spike in job postings (and salaries) for roles that include the term.
Microsoft, Google, Vanta, Notion…across industries, one of the oldest jobs in the world is popular again. It’s a reaction to the growing realization that emotional connection matters, especially in an AI-saturated world.
But this isn’t a newly discovered capacity. Storytelling has always been at the heart of strong marketing. What’s changed is how obvious the difference has become.
As we head into 2026, this is the real opportunity for brands. Not more content, but better stories.
Execute Great Brand Strategy for 2026 and Beyond
At Kuno, we care about your company, your people and your success. With more than 25 years of experience creating and executing winning brand strategies for leading companies across industries, we know what it takes and we deliver, with leading strategies, compelling content, dynamic video and design, demand generation and reporting to underscore performance and inform future efforts.
Schedule a consultation today to see what we can do for your brand in 2026 and beyond.
Clare Hennig
