Summary

As leadership changes in a growing organisation, the impulse to reset the brand risks eroding buyer recognition. What was clear becomes blurred. Brand strategy maintains continuity while enabling renewal by defining what endures and what evolves. From there, alignment strengthens and commercial focus sharpens.

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Our Perspective

What this means for leaders navigating growth, change or transformation in their organisation.

The Real Risk

The danger in a leadership handover isn’t change; it’s severing the brand’s hard‑won familiarity with buyers. A reflexive overhaul can break recognition while defending the past at all costs can freeze progress. What matters is the sequence and the story: what you choose to keep visible across every touchpoint, and what you choose to renew in plain sight. That balance is a leadership act, not a design task.

BCG reports that the difference between top‑ and bottom‑tier chief executives amounts to roughly a 20‑point annual swing in shareholder returns, reminding us that leadership decisions compound fast and visibly.

Continuity With Renewal

Continuity with renewal treats the brand as an operating system, not a logo. You protect the code that makes buyers choose you—promise, proof, and tone—while you refresh the modules that must keep pace with strategy—priorities, messages, and experience. That way, teams know what not to change, customers recognise the brand they trust, and the market sees a sharper direction without whiplash.

Spencer Stuart notes that since 2023, 71.5% of newly appointed executive team members in consumer products were internal promotions, signalling an intentional lean toward continuity when leadership turns over. In our experience with leadership transitions, this principle turns a change of guard from a signal of taste into a signal of focus.

Decision Lines That Hold

Turn the principle into decisions that endure pressure. Start by naming the non‑negotiables and the freedoms, and link each to customer value, evidence, and the commercial plan. If a choice can’t be traced to those anchors, it’s noise.

• Non‑negotiables: core promise, reasons to choose, and the proof that makes it credible.
• Evolutions: priority messages, segments, and the parts of the design system that serve the next phase.
• Guardrails: what not to change now, plus triggers that justify a revisit.
• Decision rights: who decides what, and how cross‑functional sign‑off works.

Sequencing The Change

Leaders earn trust by the order in which they move. Sequence the work so the narrative lands before the visuals, and evidence lands alongside any new claims. That alignment reduces friction internally and settles customers externally.

• Start with a leadership narrative that connects strategy to customer value, then refit messaging across sales, product, and service.
• Refresh design elements that express the new focus; avoid touching recognisable assets without clear customer upside.
• Roll updates through priority routes to market first, measuring customer sentiment, employee confidence, and awareness to calibrate pace.

Handled this way, a leadership change becomes the moment a brand proves it can carry what endures while accelerating what’s next.

Sources:

• Leadership Matters: When, How Much, and How? — BCG
• Steering Through Change: Leadership Trends in Consumer Products — Spencer Stuart

Further Resources

1. Brand Architecture for Scalability Post-M&A
2. Brand Mergers: When to Rebrand vs Integrate
3. Repositioning Your Brand for Growth Beyond the Familiar

Every organisation hits brand questions it can’t solve alone — if you’d like an outside perspective, we’re here. Let’s talk.

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