In a few days your team will be heading home for the holidays. In the new year they’ll pick up where they left off; heading in what they believe is the “right direction”. And while you’ll want your brand to do better in 2026 than it did in 2025, so will every other brand manager out there.
What will you do to build brand fidelity – not just brand loyalty?
While I’m not going to attempt a summary of best practices here because the right approach for your business depends on your management style, your business category, competitive environment, brand positioning, and where your brand is on its brand life-line, here are a few things to take to heart:
1. You need a plan. Period. Many businesses I work with don’t have one and wander around lost.
2. You need to plan the work. A plan, however rudimentary, enables you to define your goals and justify them emotionally and intellectually. Both kinds of justification are important as they will combine to create a far more compelling force with which to propel you towards your goal.
3. You need to work the plan. The plan needs to be understood by all employees - notably those who interact with the public - because a great plan also helps your customers clearly understand the terms of the brand relationship - and why they should consider fidelity.
Many people don’t like “working plan”. I have a few thoughts on this:
1. If your resistance is coming from a client or agency manager who is a trusted brand stakeholder with progressive ideas based on logical consumer insights, consider doing a cost-benefit study without affecting the pace and trajectory of the original \ approved plan.
2. If your resistance is coming from an emotional client or agency manager who thinks that they have a short-cut to greater brand success, suggest some A/B testing. The greatest names in every discipline known to man are slaves to repetition - which includes testing.
Because it takes time and perspective to write a good, actionable plan, start now. Consider reviewing your current plan and your progress before the holidays and then look at the changing competitive terrain and decide where you want your brand to be in December 2026. Agree multiple paths to the 2026 goal line with your management team.
Prepare a presentation for early January 2026 that outlines the Goals, Strategies + Tactics for the year.
Break your tactics down to the individual level to ensure each person on your team knows exactly what they need to do to help the brand make its year.