The Craft We Have to Relearn

In November 2026, Interbrand published the finding that most of the marketing industry had stopped expecting. After a decade of measured decline, the influence of brand on purchase decisions is climbing back. Organizations raising their Role of Brand by 7% or more are growing revenue 40% faster than those that are not. And the algorithms that were expected to flatten brands into commodities are doing the opposite: they systematically favor brands with the strongest equity.

The reversal is not news. It is the reappearance of something the industry spent ten years forgetting how to practice — and the recovery is not going to be an act of adoption, but an act of recall.