How Top Executives Use Brand to Drive Growth

Next Creative Co.

JUNE 04, 2025

RICH EVENHOUSE
CO-FOUNDER

If you're a CEO, you’ve probably been pitched on “branding” more times than you can count. A new logo. A messaging refresh. A pretty campaign. Most of it doesn’t stick—and you’re right to be skeptical.

But the best CEOs I know don’t treat brand like a sidecar to sales or a creative exercise. They treat it like what it is: a growth engine. A business lever. A long-term asset that drives pricing power, customer loyalty, talent attraction, and overall value.

They treat brand like infrastructure instead of marketing.

WHY SO MANY CEOs UNDERVALUE BRAND

Honestly? They’ve been burned.

They’ve invested in branding projects that went nowhere. Work that looked nice, but didn’t connect. Messaging that never left the deck. No alignment, no adoption, no results. We have all been there. That’s not on you. That’s on how brand is often sold—surface-level, vague, and disconnected from what actually moves a business forward.

When used like this, yeah, brand can feel like fluff. But we know when it’s done right, it’s anything but.

WHAT BRAND-DRIVEN CEOs DO DIFFERENTLY

They see beyond the surface level. They use brand to create alignment, fuel growth, and shape how the market sees them. And they do it with intention.

They:

  • Own a belief. Their brand is bigger than the product—it’s a mindset people want to be part of. YETI isn’t just about keeping drinks cold, it’s about living the outdoor lifestyle. Patagonia isn’t just selling jackets, it’s leading an environmental movement.
  • Narrow their focus. They’re not trying to win everyone. Just the right people.
  • Design experiences that build trust. Every touchpoint reinforces their story—from websites to sales pitches to onboarding and beyond.
  • Align inside and out. Brand can point culture, strategy, marketing, and sales in the same direction.
  • Invest for the long haul. Because brand equity compounds. And competitive advantage doesn’t happen by accident.

IS YOUR BRAND PULLING ITS WEIGHT?

Ask yourself:

  • Does your brand support your business goals? Or just exist beside them?
  • Do your team and your customers both talk about your brand the same way?
  • Are you leading the narrative in your space? Or reacting to it?
  • Is your brand helping you recruit talent, get buy-in, and build trust? Or are you relying on natural inertia?

At Next, we work directly with leadership teams who are ready to use brand as an actual business tool. (And yeah, we’ll make you look good too.)

We help you:

  • Clarify what actually sets you apart, and why it matters
  • Build messaging that connects across departments
  • Create systems that bring your brand to life without slowing teams down
  • Apply brand thinking to hiring, growth, reputation, and more

We’re not here to hand you a deck and walk away. We’re here to help your brand become a lever you can pull—one that grows with you and pays off in the long run.

Because while brand is a little bit about how you look. It’s mostly about how you lead.