Your creative is everywhere. Your strategy is what makes it a brand.
The CMA's Brand Council and Creativity Council represent two of the most influential communities of practice in the Canadian marketing industry. Both Councils comprise senior leaders, strategists and practitioners who are actively shaping how brands are built, expressed and sustained in one of the most complex marketing environments in history.
What follows is a summary of a facilitated exchange between members of these two Councils: a rare alignment of brand thinking and creative thinking in the same room, at the same moment.
The conversation opened with a simple but loaded question: what is the real power of getting brand and creative strategy right today?
The answer, as it unfolded, wasn’t about bigger ideas or better campaigns. It was about the discipline to protect a cohesive idea in a system designed to fragment it.
In a landscape defined by fragmentation—more channels, more content, more personalization—the role of strategy has shifted. Today, a strategy still sets the direction for the brand, but it plays an equally important role of holding everything together. And when it works, it becomes rocket fuel: amplifying not just reach, but relevance, consistency and ultimately, impact.
The shift: how strategy is changing in 2026
When asked how their approach to brand and creative strategy is evolving, the group kept coming back to four pressures: relevance, speed, scale and measurement.
There was a sense that most organizations can manage one or two of these well—but rarely all four at once.
Speed, for example, is no longer a differentiator. It’s expected. The real challenge is delivering work that is both fast and meaningful. At the same time, relevance is becoming more dynamic—less about broad cultural moments and more about showing up in the right micro-moment.
Measurement is also reshaping behaviour. The shift toward real-time performance is pushing teams to think less in terms of campaigns and more in terms of continuous systems—ideas that are designed to evolve as they perform.
And underlying all of this is scale. Not just more content, but more variations, more versions, more complexity.
Channel strategy: how we develop and evaluate creative today
The discussion then moved into how creative is being developed and evaluated across channels.
Historically, the model was linear: a central idea, extended outward. Today, it’s far more fluid. Ideas are expected to live across TV, social, programmatic, experiential and beyond—often simultaneously.
This has driven a shift from audience-first to moment-first thinking, where data – used responsibly and in compliance with applicable privacy requirements – helps identify when and where to show up. It’s also introduced new ways of working: modular content, faster test-and-learn cycles, and real-time optimization.
But there was also a note of caution.
While these approaches enable scale, they can also fragment the idea. Creative risks becoming a collection of assets rather than a cohesive story. And while data is powerful in guiding decisions, it doesn’t inherently create emotional connection.
Which raises a critical question: in a world of distributed execution, what keeps the idea intact?
Governance and personalization: enabling or slowing down?
From there, the conversation turned to personalization—and the governance structures surrounding it.
The expectation for personalized experiences is clear—and rising. But delivering on that expectation consistently remains a challenge for many organizations.
Part of the friction lies in governance.
Where does governance help, and where does it slow things down? It protects brand integrity, ensures consistency and reduces risk. In moments where speed and responsiveness are critical, it can become a bottleneck.
The group gravitated toward the idea of “guardrails, not gates.” With this model, governance enables action rather than restricts it.
That framework carries added weight in today's regulatory environment. In Canada, privacy legislation – including existing obligations under PIPEDA and the anticipated requirements of proposed federal privacy reform – shapes what responsible personalization looks like in practice. Governance structures designed with these constraints in mind don't impede personalization; they make it sustainable.
Because as personalization increases, so does the need for a strong, stable brand foundation. Without it, experiences may be tailored—but they won’t feel connected.
Storytelling vs. action: where does one stop and the other start?
Another key theme centered on the tension between storytelling and activation.
Where does storytelling stop? Where does action begin? And perhaps more importantly— who owns the transition?
There was broad agreement that this is often where things break down. Storytelling builds emotional connection. Activation drives behaviour. But too often, they’re treated as separate efforts, managed by different teams with different goals.
And yet, the most effective strategies are those where the two are intentionally linked.
Multichannel marketing drives action. Storytelling makes people care. Together, they drive sustained impact.
The shift, then, is not about choosing between them—but about designing systems in which they work in tandem, with shared accountability.
Speed, scale and the creative supply chain: what does 2026 demand?
The conversation moved into perhaps the most tangible pressure point: the creative supply chain.
Council members reported that content demand is rising dramatically. Many organizations have already seen needs double, with expectations that it will continue to grow exponentially.
But the real challenge isn’t just volume—it’s complexity.
More formats. More platforms. More personalized variations. All moving faster than traditional operating models were designed to handle.
This raises critical questions: Is the current model built for this level of demand? If not, what breaks first—people, process, platforms or governance? The consensus leaned toward process. Too many handoffs, too much friction, not enough integration.
There was also recognition that while technology and automation are improving, they’re not a complete solution. They can reduce pressure, but they don’t replace the need for clear strategy and strong creative thinking.
And perhaps most importantly, there was a shared concern about quality. As scale increases, how do you maintain distinctiveness? How do you avoid becoming interchangeable?
The role of strategy: turning complexity into cohesion
This brings the conversation back to the original question.
The power of brand and creative strategy isn’t just in defining an idea—it’s in designing a system that can sustain that idea across complexity.
In 2026, strategy becomes infrastructure. Not to control the work but to connect it. The brands that win won’t be louder. They’ll be more connected. Because in an increasingly fragmented world, coherence is what makes strategy stick.
Authors/contributors:
Anne Dean, Marketing Transformation Practice Lead, Accenture Song Canada, Accenture
Bruce Symbalisty, Chief Solutions Specialist, Reality Engine
Jeff Topol, Creative Strategy Director, TikTok Canada's Creative Lab, TikTok
