For the past decade, marketing has been dominated by tactics. Performance ads. Funnels. Platforms. Dashboards. Optimisation. If something couldn’t be measured instantly, it was often deprioritised. Brand was seen as slow, intangible, or something to worry about later.

But according to McKinsey’s State of Marketing Europe 2026 report, that mindset has officially reached its limit.

Based on insights from over 500 senior marketing leaders across Europe, one message stands out clearly:

Branding is now the number one priority for 2026.

Ahead of performance marketing.
Ahead of martech investment.
Ahead of generative AI.

And this shift isn’t theoretical. It’s happening because the old playbook is no longer delivering sustainable growth.

Why performance marketing is losing effectiveness

Over the last three years, performance-led growth models have become harder to sustain. Companies are ditching their marketing agencies and shopping around because:

Media costs have increased.
Audience attention has fragmented.
Privacy changes have reduced targeting precision.
Platforms have become more volatile and less predictable.

McKinsey’s research reflects what many businesses are already experiencing: performance marketing alone is no longer reliable as a long-term growth engine. You can optimise ads endlessly, but if the brand behind them lacks clarity, trust or differentiation, results eventually plateau. In many cases, they decline while costs continue to rise.

When everything else fluctuates, businesses are realising something important:

Brand is the only stable source of growth left.

Brand strategy is delivering higher long-term ROI

One of the most compelling findings from the report is the growing performance gap between companies that invest in brand strategy and those that don’t. McKinsey shows that businesses with a clear brand strategy achieve 20–30% higher long-term ROI than those focused primarily on short-term tactics.

These businesses also:

  • rely less on fluctuating media spend

  • convert customers more efficiently

  • maintain stronger pricing power

  • recover faster during market disruption

In contrast, brands that chased tactics without meaning have lost momentum. Many are now spending more to achieve less.

This reinforces a critical truth that we have know for a while now:

Tactics drive activity. Brand drives value.

Branding is no longer a logo or campaign

Another major shift highlighted in the report is how branding itself is defined. Branding is no longer treated as a visual layer or a marketing output. It’s now recognised as a system discipline.

That system includes:

  • meaning and purpose

  • clear brand positioning

  • emotional differentiation

  • cultural relevance

  • trust built over time

In other words, branding is how a business shows up consistently across every touchpoint. It shapes how customers feel, how teams behave, and how value is perceived.

At Embark, this aligns with something we’ve always believed:

Brand strategy is your customer-facing business strategy.

It sits underneath marketing, sales, experience and growth. Without it, everything above becomes harder, slower and more expensive

The rise of interactive branding

The report also points to the emergence of what McKinsey refers to as interactive branding.

This isn’t about constant rebrands or chasing trends. It’s about brands becoming more:

  • adaptive

  • conversational

  • responsive to culture and context

The future belongs to brands that treat branding as an ongoing dialogue, not a static asset.

That means:

  • a strong, clear core identity

  • flexible expression across channels

  • consistent leadership and values

  • the ability to evolve without losing trust

Customers don’t expect brands to be perfect. They expect them to be coherent, human and meaningful.

Where does AI fit into brand and marketing strategy?

Technology and AI are not going away. They will continue to play an important role in execution and efficiency. But McKinsey’s report makes a crucial distinction:

AI is a tool. It is not the core.

AI can help scale content, optimise delivery and improve productivity. But it cannot define meaning, build trust or create emotional connection on its own. There is a growing awareness that relying solely on AI or media tactics creates an illusion of control. Growth looks strong… until it isn’t.

Brand, on the other hand, compounds.
It builds over time.
It reduces friction.
It makes marketing more effective.

And unlike platforms or algorithms, it doesn’t disappear overnight.

2026 marks a return to brand fundamentals

What makes this moment interesting is that it doesn’t feel revolutionary.

It feels like a return.

A return to:

  • clarity over complexity

  • strategy over tactics

  • meaning over noise

  • creativity over optimisation

The brands that are winning aren’t doing more. They’re doing less, better, and with intention.

They know who they are.
They know who they’re for.
They know why they matter.

And everything else flows from that foundation.

Brand is now a strategic business asset

Perhaps the most important shift highlighted in the report is how brand is now viewed internally.

Brand is increasingly treated as:

  • a strategic asset

  • a long-term investment

  • a driver of enterprise value

Not just a marketing cost.

When brand is taken seriously at leadership level, it influences far more than marketing:

  • hiring and culture

  • partnerships

  • innovation

  • pricing strategy

  • long-term growth decisions

Strong brands don’t just look better.
They operate better.

Our perspective on branding heading into 2026

This shift strongly reinforces what we’ve believed for a long time.
Brand is not something you add once everything else is working.
It’s the foundation that makes everything else work.

Creativity still matters.
Strategy matters more.
Meaning matters most.

As we move into 2026, the businesses that grow won’t be the ones chasing every new tool or tactic. They’ll be the ones investing in clarity, trust and emotional connection — and using technology to support that, not replace it.

The data is now catching up with what great brands have always known.

Brand isn’t optional.
It’s fundamental.
And it’s back where it belongs.

Leave your mark.