Brand Is Back: Why 2026 Marks the Rebirth of Long-Term Brand Building

A LO:LA Thought Leadership Perspective

Introduction: The Return of the Brand

For nearly a decade, marketers were told that brand building was becoming obsolete. The narrative was familiar: performance marketing was more measurable, more efficient, more accountable. Brand was the soft, slow, “nice-to-have” side of marketing, the part you justify only after the dashboards turn green.

But now, in a dramatic reversal, the world’s most influential marketing report is confirming what creative leaders have always known:

Branding is the #1 priority for CMOs going into 2026. - State of Marketing Europe 2026, McKinsey, p. 5–6 

Suddenly, the industry is remembering a truth LO:LA has championed since day one:

Brand is not the garnish.Brand is the meal.

When markets are volatile, when technology accelerates beyond comprehension, when consumers distrust institutions, when algorithms drown us in noise, brand becomes the only real anchor. The only thing an organization truly owns. The only long-term differentiator.

2026 is not the year brand “comes back.”It’s the year brand becomes essential.

This is the rebirth of long-term brand building, and the data proves it.

Why Brand Is the New Strategic Priority

Let’s start with the headline insight from the report:

1. Branding ranked #1 among marketing priorities.

Above data privacy. Above ROI. Above sales integration.

Brand is once again viewed as a core business driver, not a cost center.

Why the sudden shift?

Because the market is unstable. Consumers are anxious. Trust is eroding. Competition is multiplying while differentiation is shrinking.

In environments like this, people gravitate to brands that feel:

✔ Familiar

✔ Stable

✔ Authentic

✔ Emotionally resonant

The report highlights that during economic and cultural turbulence, customers “seek stability and belonging” and turn to “strong, reliable brands that drive trust and affiliation.”

In other words: Brand is safety. Brand is clarity. Brand is confidence.

And in 2026, that’s priceless.

2. Authenticity Moves from Trend to Imperative

Another critical insight:

Authenticity ranked #4 among top CMO priorities.

— McKinsey, p.5–6 

We are past the era of brand polish. Consumers are exposed to inauthenticity faster than ever. The most successful brands today are not the ones shouting the loudest; they’re the ones showing the most truth.

The report points to:

• Unpolished, low-fi campaigns are gaining traction

• Behind-the-scenes content outperforming polished ads

• Human-centric storytelling as a differentiator

• Purpose-driven communication as an emotional anchor

  
  

Authenticity is no longer a “nice brand value.”It is the emotional currency of modern marketing.

At LO:LA, we call it intentional creativity: Brands that know who they are and express it without fear or façade.

3. The New Creative Benchmark: Interactive Branding

Brand behavior is evolving.

According to the report, a major shift is underway:

Interactive branding is now central to brand building.

McKinsey, p. 16–20 

Brands are moving from one-way messaging to two-way storytelling.

Why?

Because consumers are no longer audiences, they’re participants.

They want:

• Experiences

• Dialogue

• Immersion

• Co-creation

• Cultural relevance

The report reveals that brands are investing heavily in interactive and immersive formats:

• AR/VR experiences

• User-generated content

• Community-driven activations

• Live content

• Gamification

This aligns with what LO:LA has been building with clients for years:

Brands aren’t stories you tell.They’re worlds people step into.

In 2026, the best brands will behave less like marketers and more like experience designers.

4. Creativity Returns to the Top of the Agenda

One of the most energizing insights in the report is this:

Creativity & uniqueness are the #1 investment areas for brand differentiation in 2025–26.

McKinsey, Exhibit 3, p.15 

Not tech. Not martech. Not data.

Creativity.

Because creativity is:

• The only differentiator that competitors can’t copy

• The only way to break emotional inertia

• The only way to rise above saturation

• The only way to build lasting memory structures

• The only way to create meaning at scale

  
  

The report also highlights that brands like Dove, Heinz, Coca-Cola, and Louis Vuitton grew market share not through tactics, but through sustained creative excellence.

Creativity drives brand salience.

Brand salience drives growth.

At LO:LA, we’ve always believed:

Creativity isn’t an expense. It’s an accelerator.

Finally, the industry agrees.

5. Full-Funnel Integration Makes Brand Indispensable

Another fascinating shift:

71% of CMOs now use full-funnel multipurpose campaigns.

McKinsey, p.19–20 

What does that mean?

It means the false separation between “brand marketing” and “performance marketing” is collapsing.

Storytelling and activation are merging. Emotion and conversion are merging. Upper-funnel and lower-funnel are merging.

Brand is no longer “the top of the funnel.”Brand is the whole ecosystem.

Performance without brand has no compounding effect. A brand without performance has no velocity. Together, they create enduring growth.

6. The Human Advantage in the Age of AI

One of the most profound findings is about AI:

62% of marketing leaders agree that human creative teams remain irreplaceable—even as AI becomes essential.

McKinsey, Exhibit 8, p.21 

This is the future:

• AI accelerates the process

• Humans elevate the idea

• 
  

AI can generate content. AI can produce variations. AI can analyze.

But AI cannot:

• Build emotional connection

• Shape brand meaning

• Understand cultural nuance

• Craft the soul of a story

• Make people feel

The report makes it clear:

Gen AI raises the floor. Humans raise the ceiling.

McKinsey, p.21 

At LO:LA, we embrace AI as a creative partner, not a creative replacement.

The value of great brand thinking just went up, not down.

7. What This Means for CMOs in 2026

If the report tells us anything, it’s this:

The world is hungry for brands with clarity, courage, and character.

Brands that know who they are.Brands that act with intention.Brands that build emotional relevance.Brands that create meaning, not noise.Brands that show—not tell—what they stand for.

The opportunity for CMOs is enormous:

• Build brands that behave like humans

• Prioritize emotional connection over constant optimization

• Design experiences, not just campaigns

• Invest in creativity as a growth engine

• Use AI to unlock speed, not identity

• Create value across the entire brand ecosystem

  
  

The brands that win the next decade will be the ones that make people feel something real. And that’s the work LO:LA exists to do.

Conclusion: The Rebirth of Brand Is a Rebirth of Meaning

We are entering a golden age for brand thinkers, brand designers, and brand storytellers.

But more importantly:

We are entering a golden age for intentional brands.

The report validates what we have believed from the start:

When everything accelerates, Brand slows things down in all the right ways. When the world becomes automated, the brand becomes human. When markets become crowded, a brand becomes unmistakable.

2026 is not about more campaigns. It’s about more connection. More clarity.More creativity.More courage.

Brand isn’t back. Brand never left. But now the world realizes how badly it needs it.

Sources

All data and insights cited from: McKinsey & Company, “State of Marketing Europe 2026: Past Forward — The Modern Rethinking of Marketing’s Core.”