Jackson Ong
Strategy Director, Singapore

Let’s start with a hard truth: consumers don’t trust brands the way they used to. PwC’s 2024 Trust Survey spells it out: while 90% of executives believe their companies are highly trusted, only 30% of consumers feel the same.

And yet, in boardrooms around the world, brands continue to chase the next shiny object — jumping on A.I bandwagon tactics, purpose-washing their way through campaigns, and engaging in yet another round of the eternal Brand vs. Performance Marketing war of words. The result? A sea of sameness, where differentiation is debated at length, rather than decisively acted upon.

How do we break free?

The answer isn’t more frameworks, more buzzwords, or more complexity. It’s intent — the fundamental mindset separating brands that actually matter from those that merely exist.

At Elmwood, we believe that truly intentional brands embrace key mindset shifts. The kind that challenge conventional wisdom:

Brand Fix → Brand Fix & Flex

• Forget rigid consistency. Today’s most intentional brands flex with coherence — shapeshifting across channels, formats, and cultural moments while still feeling unmistakably them. Nike doesn’t rigidly stick to the same look, tone, or execution across all touchpoints. Instead, it adapts with intent — whether it’s an inspirational “Just Do It” campaign, athlete-driven storytelling, or hyper-localised content.

Manufactured Purpose → Enlightened Self-Interest

• Great brands don’t just chase a cause — they align with one that serves both their consumers and their business. Carousell doesn’t preach about the circular economy for the sake of it; they champion a world of ‘win-win’ where second-hand items unlock real value for both buyers and sellers. Their sustainability story isn’t just a moral high ground; it’s a commercial edge.


Product Claims → People Experiences

• The strongest brands don’t just shout ‘faster,’ ‘stronger,’ or ‘better.’ They craft experiences that make people feel something. Red Bull doesn’t sell energy drinks; they sell human limitlessness. Apple doesn’t market tech specs; they iconise the power of seamless creativity. These brands don’t just exist in a category; they exist in culture.

So, how do you ensure your brand is operating with true intent?

The answer lies in the following four fundamental questions. These aren’t just another set of marketing theory to glance at and forget. They are first principles for brand-building in an era where meaningful differentiation is everything.

Q1. What’s the Big, Ambitious Role in People’s Lives?

• Your brand is more than a product or service. It’s more than just a commodity. What role does it play in the everyday reality of your audience? What bigger effect can it have a stake in?

Q2. What’s the Clear Enemy?

• A strong brand stands for something, but more importantly, it stands against something. Who or what is the brand’s philosophical enemy? Defining an enemy isn’t about petty industry rivalries — it’s about making a cultural statement that resonates.

Q3. What’s the Founding Legend?

• Every brand has an origin story — but the best brands own theirs and use it. A well-crafted founding legend isn’t just storytelling. It’s a strategic truth that infuses authenticity into the brand.

Q4. What’s the Tension to Resolve?

• The most powerful brands bridge contradictions by offering two benefits that traditionally don’t go together. Being able to resolve a tension isn’t just interesting — it demonstrates why exactly your brand is indispensable.

Bring in the right people in the business to answer these with intent and conviction, and you won’t just build another brand. You’ll build one that actually matters.

Esther Hastings
Strategy Partner

What do you think of when you think of brand architecture?

I’m betting it’s that chart. 3 different models? Going from Branded house to house of brands? Handy ‘doesn’t quite fit’ hybrid option in the middle? I’d guess that the second thing that comes to mind is a lengthy bit of theoretical deliberation and deep thought. An academic pursuit that results in a categorical system, with everything neatly in a place and ‘finished’. There’s a reason those are the things that come to mind, because they are, unfortunately present in a lot of brand architecture projects out there. But for us they obscure the real intent of architecture. Every Forbes article will tell you that Brand architecture is 4 or 5 models – because outwardly when you look, most brands find themselves—broadly —in one of those configurations.

But these are solutions. Blunt, reductive tools that belie architecture’s real potential.
Great brand architectures intention is to seek to solve problems. External, commercial problems like how to arrange your portfolio to unlock future revenue and profit, or how to compete and win in a crowded or consolidating market.

And internal, cultural challenges like how to give people clarity and pride in where they belong in the organisation, or how to find unity of purpose in a fragmented portfolio group that has grown by acquisition.

Great architecture is designed with intent to drive action. It’s not something done for its own sake. It’s a tool that helps us actively, consciously change how people think, feel or behave. It’s a tool that helps us design better behaviours.

And as such it should be judged in its effectiveness to drive changes not models.

It’s practical. It is often simpler than tearing the existing structure down and starting from scratch (though that is often useful). In today’s lightning speed world, great brand architecture needs to be about prioritising the ‘fixes’ that will get you into action as fast as possible. So you can start to reap the rewards of those changes. It’s projective. An exercise that’s as much about strategic inspiration as logical rationalisation, that asks how it can open future opportunity as much as how it can order and organise the now. It’s our opportunity to rehearse the future; a solution for tomorrow that we get to put into play today.

It’s creative. More than a rational ‘filing’ exercise of products and services, it’s an exercise in communication of what you stand for. Where your brand idea is baked in, not bolted on. And crucially it’s always on. Those static models can make you believe there is an answer. To life the universe and everything. (it’s 42 by the way). But the truth is that really there is no finish line; for as long as you have an innovation pipeline, competitors, customers, you have a need to have an eye on your architecture. Your architecture, like your brand needs to be plugged into category and culture, reflective of and responsive to the world around it. It’s agile. Essentially architecture should be considered to be always in beta. And for us that’s the joy – it’s the rational satisfaction of creating a system that works for the now, but it’s the creative exhilaration of imagining an opportunity that will shape a future in flux. It’s the ability to design better futures for our brands.

Ambrish Chaudhry

Head of Strategy, Asia

It’s a confusing time to be a marketer these days.

A spontaneously built vibe on social media can be just as effective as years of carefully curated distinctive brand assets. Advertising is fast trending towards surrealism with Seal playing well… a seal and moustaches flying across windows, as evidenced in this year’s Superbowl. DE&I-related, purpose-led branding is becoming a distant speck in the rearview mirror. The cult of personality fast overtaking years of hard-earned brand personas.

To paraphrase a great literary work, these are the best of times and the worst of times. And while it’s not quite yet time to tear up the rule book, it’s worth updating it for sure. So, here’s some food for thought for continued brand growth in a post-branding world.

1. Unified > Uniform


Consistency has long been seen as the epitome of brand building. Doing the same thing over and over again builds precious brand assets and ensures the best return on presence. And while much of that is true, as many past doyens struggling for relevance will attest, there is a lot to be said for flexibility.

It is empirically proven that an omni-channel approach is the biggest multiplier of return on investment and maximises ad spends. However, implementing the same assets in a similar way across different touchpoints is a sure shot route to being ignored. Brands now need the inherent flex to have different conversations with differing audiences across differing media. And brand assets need to be set up for that.

2. Think kit-of-parts


The best brand guidelines do not constrain creativity and the altar of consistency. In fact, they become sandboxes that allow different permutations which, while staying true to the brand, create varied and delightful manifestations that keep audiences engaged. Think of the best brands and the way they communicate. You don’t have to see their logos to identify their messages. Multiple aspects such as emotional principles, tonality, sonic experience, use of photography etc. are hard at work to bring their messages to life. And here’s the kicker, it’s usually not done in exactly the same way. For example, while Airbnb’s brand identity is centered around “belong anywhere,” the way it communicates this varies significantly for different cultures, user experiences, and market trends and yet it is unmistakably Airbnb.

3. Know when to appear and when to disappear


Much like brands, businesses that own them are also in dire need of flexibility. From moving across price points, to collaborations with other brands and artists, to limited-time offers, businesses have multiple needs to extract value from one of the most precious assets – the brands they own. However, applying said brand in a singular fashion can often stretch credulity beyond repair. Often, the best role that the brand can take is offstage left.


4. It’s not heritage, it’s legacy

Many long-standing brands are facing death by a thousand cuts. An artisanal product here, an influencer-backed launch there, a competitive innovation and suddenly one is skirting with irrelevance. It is not that trust has become less important but there are many new signifiers of trust beyond heritage. From laser focus on the customer experience to innovative packaging, category-disrupting new formats etc., the route to trust now has many shortcuts. So, if you are a leading brand defending against the rising tide of competition, think legacy and not heritage. Legacy is a reminder of a promise you’ve made and lived up to over the years and while the manifestations of what that looks like may change, the essence does not.

5. And finally, for some hard-earned fun


To break the rules, you have to first master them. A rising trend amongst brands is to be selectively sacrilegious with their brand assets. Think KFC’s famous FCK ad or Pepsi’s fast-food combinations; the years of strongly adhering to brand assets can sometimes create gold if you’re willing to scruff up the rules, once in a while.

And there you have it. While as marketers we are trained to hear the siren song call of consistency, coherence is the lesser traveled path to lasting brand relevance. The true North Star, that focuses on the first-principles of brand building to engage and delight audiences. The perfect antidote to AI-induced blandness we are careening towards at break-neck speed.

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In China, there are two ways of interpreting the term “internet celebrity (pronounced as wang hong in Chinese)”. As a noun, it refers to social media influencers; as an adjective, it describes popular trends (e.g., a hotel or cake that becomes trendy on the internet can be called a wang hong hotel or a wang hong cake).

In the past few years, a phrase frequently heard from clients was: “We want to make our brand a celebrity brand.” At the time, 10,000 Red recommendation posts could create a blockbuster product, 100 videos could build a successful brand, and a single livestream by a top influencer could propel a brand to frame overnight. Becoming a celebrity brand drove phenomenal visits, purchases, and user shares. They were “top performers” and “sales champions.”

In the present day, however, clients are shifting their stance, saying: “Our brand can’t just be a celebrity brand.” Many brands that gained widespread attention because they relied too heavily on traffic, neglecting to improve their brand strength and product quality. These brands were eventually labeled by consumers as “low-quality” with short-lived success when the customer acquisition costs rise continuously in the fierce competition.

This is an era where “attention is king.” Consumers are easily drawn to the traffic but forget the brand itself. For a brand that becomes a celebrity brand, instead of being complacent about the fleeting halo, it should be thinking about how it can remain a constant winner.

The fragrance industry provides an interesting example. Although China’s fragrance culture can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn dynasties, fragrance has historically been a symbol of taste and status among the nobility. However, over the past two decades, as more and more overseas brands have entered the Chinese market, fragrance has gradually transitioned from a luxury item to a daily consumer product.

As a result, the Chinese fragrance market has dominated by international brands for a long time. Until 2018, the Chinese fragrance brand To Summer, inspired by oriental culture, carved out a unique niche in the market by using Chinese botanical scents that deeply resonate with the local audience, quickly establishing itself as a celebrity brand winning recognition. Six years later, while countless followers have entered or disappeared in the oriental fragrance industry, only To Summer remains a lasting favorite. Today, people no longer refer To Summer only as a celebrity brand, also as a representative brand of oriental aesthetics.

Rooted in oriental aesthetics, To Summer has built a cohesive product and content system. Each product series tells stories of oriental culture, art and history. For example, the classic series “Kunlun Boiling Snow” takes inspiration from China’s sacred Kunlun Mountains, encapsulating the grandeur of nature and the cozy warmth of a cabin in a small bottle. Its narrative paints a vivid scene: “On a snowy and windy night, a traveler returns to his wooden home in the forest, hearing the snow carried by the wind as firewood crackles inside.” 03 It feels as though the snow at the peak of Kunlun melts into trickling streams, carrying the resinous scent of subarctic conifer forests into the glasses shared by friends and family around the fire.

With a profound understanding of the subtle elegance of oriental aesthetics, To Summer draws from the depth of traditional culture, capturing and distilling minimalist yet iconic textual and visual symbols to construct its brand universe. From product naming, packaging design, and visual storytelling to the multisensory experience in its offline stores, To Summer delivers a consistent embodiment of “oriental aesthetics” across all brand touchpoints.

To Summer’s transition from “a short-lived celebrity brand” to “a lasting representative brand” lies in its unwavering commitment to its original intent: the revival of oriental culture. Through abstract scents, the brand evokes and reawakens long-dormant memories for its audience, allowing the enduring treasures of cultural heritage to be rediscovered and embraced by the world in the form of fragrance.

Scents can be replicated, trends will evolve, and more popular brands will emerge with the times. However, only with an unwavering intent can a brand always draw consumers’ attention amidst constant change and remain steadfast in its direction. A brand should aim not just to be a celebrity brand that captures attention one time, but to achieve success all the time. Rather than following trends, stay true to your intent and create future trends together with us. We build brands with intent.

Sources:
1. PINYIN HUI Celebrity Brands No Longer Look Cheap
2. Baidu Baike
3. Zhihu Sense Economy: Sniffing Out a New Blue Ocean  

Marti Rosenberger

Senior Strategist, New York

Brands across industries are vying for cultural relevance, activating this through brand partnerships, influencer collaborations, creative campaigns, social media, product innovation, and more. At the core of all these efforts is a reliance on trends to resonate in ways that are timely, relatable, and authentic. Achieving viral success can manifest in multiple forms—whether through impressions, widespread recognition, or the establishment of a new convention. As consumer expectations evolve and elevate, brands must adopt a more intentional approach to truly connect. Success is no longer defined by being the first to capitalize on a trend, but by being the brand that executes it most effectively. Understanding three key consumer behaviors can help brands act with intent.

1. If your brand behaves inconsistently, consumers pick up on it immediately.

As consumers are bombarded with countless messages, they’ve become increasingly discerning and critical – immediately picking up on any disconnects. Coming across as exploiting trends or opportunities purely for self-gain or as having an unstable brand identity undermines consumer trust and fails to nurture the relationships between brands and consumers. Van Leeuwen Ice Cream captures consumer attention in consistently surprising ways. From the outset, its focus has been on crafting high-quality, innovative flavors for a broad audience. Without a paid advertising budget, the brand has relied on product excellence and organic, word-of-mouth marketing to build its reputation. Its consumers have learned to expect unconventional partnerships that act as marketing stunts themselves. These partnerships and new flavor releases spark polarized reactions that fuel conversation and reinforce the brand’s distinct approach to ice cream. While not every flavor appeals to the masses, consumers have embraced this bold, distinctive approach.

2. If it doesn’t feel like your brand, consumers will forget it was your brand.

Trends are inherently transient, so capitalizing on them requires a timely and deliberate approach that delivers immediate impact without sacrificing a brand’s values. When executed well, these initiatives can serve as valuable extensions of a brand. But if these efforts don’t align with a its core identity, it can do more harm than good – undermining credibility and blending into the rest of the category. Glossier has meticulously crafted a cohesive aesthetic. By prioritizing skincare in an approachable, inclusive manner, Glossier has created not only a resonant makeup aesthetic but also a recognizable brand identity that complements it. The brand’s origins as a blog are evident in the way it fosters genuine conversation and engagement with its audience. Its ethos is reflected across every touchpoint – campaigns featuring real customers, product releases, packaging, and in-store experiences all feel like natural extensions of the brand’s core. This makes it easy for consumers to connect with and return to the brand.

3. If your brand feels like it’s trying too hard, consumers will reject it.

Consumers are quick to notice when a brand is trying too hard; they want brands to appear effortless. To achieve this, a brand’s engagement must feel natural and instinctive—never forced or contrived. When a brand’s actions appear overthought, they risk feeling cheesy or desperate. Luxury fashion brand Jacquemus creates notable, out-of-the-box marketing that stands out for all the right reasons. Whether through CGI, out-of-home advertising, or daring fashion week stunts, Jacquemus seamlessly integrates contemporary trends into its cultural presence and its products. Every aspect of the brand reflects its broader vision to create innovative, elegant, and original pieces of art that never compromise on quality or attention to detail. While leaning into trends and inserting oneself into culture is not one-size-fits-all, one thing is for sure: the most enduring and impactful brands are those that engage with the here and now both purposefully and authentically.

So, getting very clear with your brands intent helps you act consistently, stay true to your values and deliver a truly authentic brand experience to your customers.

Riyad Mammadyarov

Strategy Director, New York

Whether it’s the proliferation of AI technologies in Hollywood or the democratization of moviemaking and distribution of those movies, the entertainment and media industry has gone through seismic upheavals over the last decade. Upheavals that are set to continue to impact the category, pushing it to contract and evolve, particularly within the streaming business.

We have seen ongoing consolidation of streaming services over the last few years due to continued cord cutting, the shrinking margins of media content creation, and the souring of VC-subsidized capital injections that propped up tech and entertainment companies for years.

What we are left with at this point in time are mainstream streaming services that increasingly cater to the masses in a shotgun-spread kind of approach to satisfy users and reduce the ever-frightening churn.

Indeed, the biggest pain point for most streaming services is churn, which is the metric that measures the percentage of streaming services who cancel their subscription or allow it to lapse. A high churn rate is in many ways the death rattle that so many subscription-based streaming services fear and what prompted Netflix and others of its size to begin exploring and implementing new practices like price hikes and ad-supported tiering. It ultimately stymied the economic wound for the big brands but at what cost to consumer sentiment? Implementing brand moves that are abhorred by your customer base is one way to alienate them and erode the long-term value of your brand. It’s understandably a move that is necessitated by larger macroeconomic needs of the company and category at large, but one that is a risky proposition as long-term brand equity is critical to continued growth and consistent user relevancy. As a result, there appears to be a significant opportunity that other niche media brands have discovered. That they don’t need an army of talent, the latest technology, and eye-watering budgets to succeed. Instead, they’re recognizing that their smaller more nuanced content can live standalone on their own streaming services, appealing and attracting a dedicated user base that eventually can grow to become super fans and evangelize the brand to others who are looking for similar content.

It only takes looking at the increasingly potent business success of the smaller streaming services like Criterion Channel, Shudder, AMC+, BritBox and others to see that these brands have recognized something that the behemoths have not—that audiences’ tastes and behaviors are more sophisticated than many have expected. These genre-specific or traditional cable network players have seen sizeable subscriber growth over the last few years, with 24.5 million in 2022 subscribing to at least one niche streamer to more than double to 51.4 million by 2024, according to Antenna, a subscription research firm. As Antenna’s CEO puts it, “it’s an explosion.”

To put that growth into more context with the bigger players, active subscriptions for niche streamers grew 27% last year and 20% this year. These growth rates were nearly 2 times less for traditional streamers which stood at 17% in 2023 and 7% this year. These niche players are therefore a testament to the fact that intent—intent to meet audience’ true entertainment needs—is a driving force behind their success and an approach that bigger streaming brands could learn from. Brands that set out to achieve their ambitions with intent are poised to be attract smaller but more dedicated users by virtue of reflecting a stronger sense of authenticity and relevance to consumers. Putting bigger picture economic and inflationary concerns aside, these brands’ exposure to churn is reduced, as users celebrate the content that these services provide. Beyond that, many of them provide a bespoke curated approach that signals the intent of their business to meet consumer expectations and provide a sense of personalization to their content. That intent is a foundational catalyst that bigger players would be wise to heed as the landscape continues to grow ever complex.

Renee Zhang
Title

“Brands” are one of the most important factors influencing purchase decisions, as indicated by consumer testing results across nearly all categories. Over the past two years, declining consumer confidence in China has posed significant growth challenges for major brands.  In contrast, “white labels” — small manufacturers that produce unbranded goods — has defied the trend and reaped substantial profits.

Are consumers lying? We: “Why brands?” Consumers: “Because no other option offers same level of functionality, experience, or philosophy.” We: “Why white labels? ” Consumers: “Because the unbranded products are almost as good as the branded ones, yet only for a third of the price.” When there is little difference in product quality and functionality, 57.2% of the Chinese consumers prefer affordable alternatives. White label’s intensely focus on achieving swift profits through traffic on livestreaming platforms by competing in product quantities, livestream duration, and offering the “lowest price across the internet”. In contrast, brands strive to build recognition and connection at every consumer touchpoint: identifying consumers’ true needs, offering differentiated value at reasonable prices, and building trust through long-term commitment.

Consumers aren’t lying. Brands still matter in their purchase decisions, but the way they perceive brands has evolved. They no longer blindly trust brand labels or pay extra for products when affordable alternatives are available. Instead, they are willing to spend more on differentiated value — whether it’s cutting-edge driving technology, visible skincare efficacy, a uniquely crispy texture, or an irreplaceable sense of happiness. This is how today’s Chinese consumers define a Brand.

Take Coca-Cola as an example. Its differentiated value is no longer solely tied to its secret recipe but to a promise: “No matter how the world changes, your happiness is always my priority.” Coca-Cola brings “happiness” to life by transforming it into a tangible experience through its name, iconic red color, ribbon logo, music, stories, and new flavors — allowing consumers to see, hear, taste, and continually feel it. The value of brand differentiation stems from the brand’s intent, which incorporates a vision that goes beyond mere profits, embodies an innovative spirit to redefine categories, and demonstrates the resilience to navigate economic cycles with confidence.

Amid fierce competition, brands must continually innovate to align with their intent—for better, be better, and achieve better. White labels rise and fade, but their first step toward transitioning from short-term victory to long-term success is to define their brand intent and prepare for a protracted game. In the business world, there’s never a lack of opportunistic winners — but enduring legends remain rare. We believe white labels won’t replace brands, but they can evolve into brands. And real brands? They have no affordable substitutes.

Sources：
1. 2024McKinSey&Company China Brief: The Truth About Chinese Consumption
2. CBNDATA 2024 New Health Consumption Lifestyle Trends Report


Deborah Stafford-Watson

Head of Strategy, London

A women’s health product? For periods? Better make it pink then…. Thankfully, long gone are the days of stereotypical design choices in women’s health. Women have voted with their wallets and embraced brands that speak more to their real experiences and seek to solve real issues, but there’s still so much more to be done. In almost every global market, there’s increasing recognition of the gender health gap. Women can feel dismissed; their health concerns not taken seriously with products and services feeling irrelevant and inaccessible. There’s not only a need for more investment and understanding, but a shift in the way brands approach the design of products and services for women’s health. Design can play a powerful role in signaling this intent as we found with our groundbreaking design for Opill – the US’s first over the counter contraceptive pill.

Freedom from stigma and shame.

Brand and design should engage women to the point that they no longer feel the need to hide their experiences. We’ve seen a huge shift in this space from brand platforms like Hers, campaigns from established brands like BodyForm and digital trackers such as Flo Health but while normalisation is an essential ambition for brands in this space, not every brand needs to be an activist. Simple and uncomplicated storytelling – through universal symbolism like that of Opill’s ‘O’ – combined with warmth and approachability in language can deliver a sense of familiarity and freedom. Complexity is the enemy of comfort and by developing visual and verbal assets that are simple, clear and relatable, we were able to reject “discreet” femcare signals that may inadvertently contribute to contraception’s long-held legacy of shame

Designing with, not for, women.

Traditional female codes of design have only served to shroud women’s experiences of various health conditions – handing designers a huge responsibility to reverse the status quo. It’s a goal that begins with listening to, and elevating, women’s voices. And avoiding one-size fits all solutions. For example, with menopause set to affect over a billion people globally by the year 2030 – each experiencing different and completely personal symptoms, it can be a dizzyingly complex space to design for. When developing the Opill visual identity system, the use of abstract shapes and diverse illustration allowed women and people of all backgrounds (age, ethnicity, orientation) to find a place to self-identify with the brand. We listened and learnt from women throughout the process to find the right balance of standout appeal and scientific efficacy to inspire confidence and trust. Listening and co-creating are powerful tools in getting this right.

Consider the whole person, not just the issue.

While a cold or a stomach bug is an on-off incident demanding action in the moment, gender-specific issues – for example, period-induced migraines, or the misery of UTIs – are typically ongoing or cyclical in nature. This means designers need to think beyond the assumed dichotomy of a problem-solution set up, and instead design brands built for lasting partnership. People will tell you that ‘Gen Z broke the marketing funnel’ but in the world of women’s health, the path to purchase is rarely linear. Family and friends are often the biggest source of health information but social media’s influence can’t be ignored. Building a digital first brand, that shows up where our customers are in a way that’s relevant and culturally resonant was essential for Opill’s success.

At a point where many women still feel disempowered by healthcare systems that systematically overlook their needs, design can help by crafting a new type of meaningful brand language. As the journey for Opill® shows, it’s possible to build a brand that is approachable, aspirational and courageous in design; all while maintaining a baseline of clinical competence. And there’s so much more we can do in women’s health.