Brand building has become faster and more agile, but also more complex. We have moved from static, crystallized brands, built around rules and myths, to an ever-changing landscape of fluid brands that behave like living organisms, adapting and evolving in real time.
Today, brands need to be present across a wide range of media and platforms, reflecting the integrated and multisensory nature of the consumer experience. Brands – and the people who build them – must be able to adapt to different audiences, formats, devices, and narratives.
Brand management therefore involves much more than simply creating a compelling tagline or a visually appealing logo. It is about building a relationship that is intended to last, based on trust and capable of inspiring the people who choose and buy the brand.
What are the major challenges facing the brand manager of the future?
- Knowing how to develop relevant insights to support the creation of new strategic solutions, products, or services;
- Knowing how to place the customer at the center of the business and all brand activities;
- Knowing how to position a brand through its value proposition, creating strong and lasting relationships with customers;
- Knowing how to create an impactful communication strategy by highlighting the brand’s benefits and the value it delivers;
- Knowing how to measure brand performance and impact across every consumer touchpoint, gathering useful information that can support business growth;
- Knowing how to manage every dimension of the brand, ensuring that it remains the preferred choice for customers.
How to grow a relevant brand
Brand management therefore requires vision and ambition, with the ability to explore new territories, analyze evolving consumer profiles, and understand how new business models will respond to, keep pace with, and lead the next global changes.
Brand managers are expected – necessarily – to be proactive, creative, and agile in all their initiatives.
Gustavo Mendes is Director of Porto Business School’s Brand Management Open Executive Program.
The next edition starts on November 11, 2026.
Translated from the original article in Portuguese.