December 2025
Written by
Abbie Mason
E-commerce
Marketing strategy
Product launch
Tech
A Strong Brand Is Not Enough. Execution Decides Who Wins
Marketers love the idea of a strong brand. It signals recognition, trust, and competitive advantage.
The reality in 2025 is clearer than ever.
Having a strong brand is not enough. What you do with it – how you activate it, measure it, and translate it into tangible experiences – is what separates the brands that grow from the brands that stay still.
This article brings together the latest UK data, 2025 trends, and performance indicators to show why execution now matters as much as identity, and how brands can turn static brand value into commercial outcomes.
Brand strength is only the starting point
UK advertisers are spending more each year. Total UK ad spend is forecast to reach £46bn in 2025, with Q4 alone expected to grow 7.3% year on year, according to the latest AA/WARC Expenditure Report.
That creates a noisy and competitive environment. Distinctiveness gets you noticed, but it does not automatically convert.
Recent UK e-commerce bench-marking places average conversion at around 3.4%, depending on sector, product and customer journey quality. This is reflected in new analysis from blubolt.
Meanwhile, another UK review shows the global average conversion rate at 1.7%, but the UK sits above this due to improved user experience and targeting, not because of stronger branding alone. This is highlighted in data from Develo Design.
Great branding gives you recognition, but the numbers prove that execution is what turns awareness into revenue.
Marketers are under pressure to prove brand impact
This year’s “Language of Effectiveness” report from Marketing Week, surveying over 1,000 UK marketers, shows a clear shift. Marketers know brand matters, but there is a renewed expectation for brand activity to directly support measurable commercial goals.
Marketing Week – The Language of Effectiveness 2025
At the same time, the 2025 Gartner CMO Spend Survey reports that 54% of UK CMOs prioritise performance, with only 22% prioritising brand activity despite recognising its long-term value.
This does not undermine brand building. It reinforces the point:
Brand equity must become brand activity.
Otherwise it becomes an expensive asset without movement.
Loyalty still matters – but it must be earned through execution
Loyalty is still one of the strongest drivers of long-term brand value, and the UK remains one of the most loyalty-saturated markets in the world. Approximately 97% of UK shoppers belong to at least one loyalty scheme, according to analysis reported by Marketing Week.
Retail Week’s 2025 analysis reinforces that post-purchase communication is one of the most influential levers for customer retention and increased lifetime value.
Retail Week – Maximising Brand Loyalty in 2025
Loyalty remains essential. But loyalty only works when the brand is consistently expressed through experience, communication and service — not just identity.
Consumers continue to spend, but expect more
UK consumers remain value-led. YouGov data shared via Marketing Week shows improved financial confidence compared to 2023–24, but the behaviour shift is consistent: people are spending selectively and expect proof of value.
The UK also has one of the highest online spending rates in the world. Britons now spend 8.8% of their annual income online, averaging £64 per week, according to The Times.
Shoppers compare more, expect more, and abandon quickly. A strong brand alone does not convince them.
A strong journey does.
What doing something with your brand actually looks like
1. Turning positioning into testable propositions
A brand purpose or tagline only works when transformed into messaging that can be tested, measured and iterated. High-growth brands treat brand language as a performance asset, not a static slogan.
2. Letting brand values shape experience
With UK conversion rates sitting at 3.4%, even small improvements to UX, checkout flow and post-purchase communication materially impact revenue.
3. Treating loyalty as an outcome, not a mechanic
With near-universal loyalty scheme participation, differentiation comes from execution — meaningful communication, personalised experiences and consistent value.
4. Aligning brand and performance teams
The latest IPA Bellwether report shows an environment where efficiency matters as much as creativity. Successful brands eliminate the separation between brand and performance and work towards shared commercial goals.
5. Building systems, not isolated campaigns
The brands growing fastest are those with repeatable systems — always-on activity, multi-format content, CRM journeys and measurement models that turn brand equity into commercial output.
The Lala Comms perspective
A strong brand gives you potential, but potential alone does not drive growth. Real value comes from the consistent actions that follow — the decisions, systems and touchpoints where customers actually experience the brand. In 2025, loyalty is still one of the most powerful tools you can build, but it cannot be manufactured through identity alone. It is earned through execution: through journeys that match the promise, content that reflects the brand’s values, communication that feels recognisable, and service that reinforces trust. A brand used to be seen as the destination. Today, it is the starting point — the foundation on which performance, loyalty and long-term commercial impact are built. When a brand is activated properly, it becomes the engine that powers every channel, every message and every repeat purchase. If you want to turn brand strength into measurable performance, Lala Comms operates exactly in that space. We take what your brand stands for and use it to drive acquisition, loyalty and long-term revenue — not just recognition.