Today’s brands don’t just compete on price, product, or even visibility — they compete on relevance. However, staying relevant in a fast-moving market means more than launching a bold campaign or tweaking your logo. It means stepping back, reevaluating how your brand shows up, and aligning it with where your customers are headed.

That was the theme of our recent Fwd: Thinking virtual event, where Martha Pease, former CMO of Victoria's Secret and Neutrogena, explored what it really takes to future-proof a brand. Drawing inspiration from companies like IBM, Apple, L’Oréal Paris, and Victoria’s Secret, she dug into the practical strategies, mindset shifts, and marketing innovations that drive long-term success.

Watch the full on-demand replay of  “Dare to be legendary: The secret to relevance” now.

 

Here are some of the top takeaways from Martha’s session:

1. Brand transformation starts with strategy and vision

 

Behind every successful transformation is a clear, forward-looking strategy. Brands like IBM didn’t just change what they sold — they redefined what they stood for. Their shift from mainframes to personal computing wasn’t just a business move; it was a strategic reinvention.

Transformation takes leadership willing to challenge the status quo and commit to a long-term vision. “The brands that will matter tomorrow are already being shaped today by people bold enough to build not just for reach, but for meaning,” says Martha. She recommends that you think beyond short-term wins and ask: What does success look like for my brand 5-10 years from now?

2. Your narrative should translate strategy into action

 

A strong brand narrative is more than marketing — it’s a tool for business alignment. It helps internal teams, partners, and customers understand where you’re headed and why it matters.

Apple’s brand story, for example, turned technical specs into a story of creativity and human potential. It guided their product development, marketing, and customer experience — all the way down to the unboxing moment. Great narratives like this don’t just explain the “what;” they fuel the “how” and “why’ across the business. “Narrative is how we translate strategy into meaning. It's how we take the building blocks of business, equity, revenue growth, profitability, sustainability, innovation and shape them into a story that people care about,” explains Martha. 

3. Cultural relevance is the new competitive advantage

 

Brands can’t afford to sit still. Consumer expectations shift fast and so does culture. If your message or identity feels out of sync with your audience, you risk becoming irrelevant, no matter how iconic your brand may be.

L’Oréal Paris modernized its messaging from “Because I’m Worth It” to “Because We’re Worth It,” aligning with a more inclusive, collective mindset. Victoria’s Secret responded to growing criticism by rethinking its brand identity, shifting from fantasy to authenticity with the VS Collective. These brands didn’t just react — they restructured their messaging, content, and even their brand architecture to stay culturally aligned.

4. Technology should simplify, not complicate

 

Innovation isn’t about adding more tools to your MarTech stack — it’s about using the right ones in smarter ways. The rise of AI and automation has opened the door to faster testing, personalization, and content delivery. But brands still need a clear strategy to make these tools work for them.

The key is ensuring technology supports your brand goals, whether that’s streamlining campaigns, reaching new audiences, or improving consistency across touchpoints. Without a guiding framework, even the most advanced tools can lead you off course. "AI can't build a brand. It can optimize the message, but it can't create the meaning. So that's still our job... if every message doesn't ladder back up to a consistent emotional brand story, you're just doing noise faster,” says Martha.

5. Modernization means balancing legacy with progress

 

For popular brands, one of the toughest challenges is evolving without erasing the very things that made them iconic. It’s not about abandoning the past — it’s about building on it with purpose. As Martha puts it, “Transformation doesn't always look like growth at first. Sometimes it looks like sacrifice, like tension, like letting go of what made you famous so you can build something that will make you meaningful again.”

In practice, this might look like refreshing your visual identity, rethinking your messaging, or launching new campaigns and initiatives that align with today’s cultural values. Brands like L’Oréal and Victoria’s Secret have shown how this kind of evolution can reignite relevance while respecting legacy.

6. Smaller brands can compete by focusing on clarity

 

You don’t need a Fortune 500 budget to build a strong brand. In fact, clarity and consistency can often beat volume and marketing spend, according to Martha. “Legendary brands aren't built by outspending the competition. They're built by standing for something meaningful and showing up with discipline, small budgets actually [lead to] smarter decisions.”

Having a clear purpose, understanding customer behavior, and staying disciplined in your messaging helps maximize limited resources. Especially in a digital environment where performance media and AI make it easier to test and scale, strategic focus is everything.

Brand transformation is a continuous process

 

There’s no “done” when it comes to brand transformation. The market changes, technology evolves, and the culture shifts. Brands that thrive are the ones that stay proactive —constantly reevaluating their positioning, tools, and strategy.

This is exactly where Acoustic Connect comes in. Designed to help marketers unlock real-time insights, simplify campaign execution, and personalize messaging across channels, the platform empowers brands to move with agility and purpose. Whether you're overseeing a legacy brand or scaling a newer one, Acoustic Connect helps you turn forward-thinking ideas into meaningful customer experiences.

As Martha said, “The brands people feel something for, those are the ones that win.”

Ready to build something people will care about for years to come? Watch her full session on-demand or learn more about Acoustic Connect, the customer engagement platform helping marketers shape the next chapter in their brand story.