Insights from the Brand Strategy Committee

During the April 29, 2026 ANA Brand Strategy Committee meeting, members explored how culture fuels growth and how brands can activate in culture without losing their core identity. The session included takeaways from ANA's Brand Practice on defining culture, GUT New York's "Timely Timeless" framework for long-term brand building, and a case study on how Girl Scouts of the USA and Linqia amplify girl-led community impact through creators and content.

At the February 25, 2026 Brand Strategy Committee Meeting, attendees explored two distinct but connected approaches to building modern brands: Emplify Health’s empathy focused system wide brand launch and ALDI’s fast moving, fan powered social media strategy.

Brent Rivard, CEO of Geezer Creative, led a candid discussion about building meaningful brand purpose, showing why specificity, emotional resonance, and real action matter more than slogans.

During a session at a September 2025 meeting of ANA’s Brand Management Committee, Unilever described how it undertook to make Hellmann’s Mayonnaise an integral part of football fans’ gameday experience.

During a session at a September 2025 Brand Management Committee meeting, Seattle Reign FC discussed how it rebuilt its brand legacy back to what it once was.

The National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) explored how emotionally resonant storytelling can be transformed into data-driven strategy to boost donor conversion, optimize targeting, and drive measurable outcomes in lifesaving campaigns.

During a session at a June 2025 joint Brand Purpose and Relationship Marketing Committee meeting, YARD NYC identified four qualities that make brands “beacons,” which shine a light forward in culture and illuminate a new path for consumers.

During a session at a June 2025 joint Brand Purpose and Relationship Marketing Committee meeting, United Way discussed its brand strategy refresh.

During a session at a June 2025 ANA Content Marketing Committee meeting, Ryan Younger, vice president of marketing at Virtua Health, discussed how the brand connects its mission to its media strategy.

During a session at an April 2025 meeting of the ANA’s Brand Management Committee, Kotex discussed its brand mission of combatting the stigma around menstruation and shared examples of how the brand lives out this mission.

Michael Clinton, CEO and founder at ROAR Forward, discussed how to authentically market to people aged 50 and older.

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Representatives from Caterpillar (Cat) and agency partner, Outerkind, discussed the brand’s updated approach to marketing, highlighting its focus on leveraging experiential to win over both long-time customers and new ones.

Visit Seattle showcased its updated approach to marketing, touching upon how it has leveraged deep, authentic storytelling through unique and immersive media experiences to drive interest.

Marc Simons, co-founder of Giant Spoon, and Emma Rathe, head of event marketing at Reddit, Inc., discussed how to build format-agnostic brand universes that transform your business.

Ryan Sheffer, founder of and CEO at Mile 80, outlined the four styles of agency collaboration he believes are most effective and shared the four criteria upon which all potential external partners should be evaluated.

Piedmont Healthcare’s Jamie Farmer-Echols provided insight into the organization’s new approach for optimizing sponsorship activations. She outlined the strategic assessment process her team developed and provided examples of how the new model has been executed in practice.

Land O’Lakes shared how it was able to create a permission structure that empowered consumers to engage with the brand while connecting more deeply with its purpose.

Eric Villain, managing director of marketing effectiveness and automobility at GfK North America, discussed the results of the GfK Purpose Impact Monitor Survey.

Deloitte shared the results of a survey of over 1,000 C-suite executives from across the globe that sheds light on four of the critical trends shaping the business environment in 2023.