The people behind the pivot: Engagement within brand transformation

Businesses can’t run without people. And when a business is transforming, it’s the people who make the difference. They’re the ones who create the change, adopt it, and ensure it sticks. Without them, even the boldest vision is just a powerpoint slide.

But people aren’t just one group; it’s everyone involved: the c-suite leaders who set the direction. The frontline teams who bring the change to life every day. And, of course, the customers, whose experiences decide whether the transformation truly makes a difference. It’s all connected – a virtuous circle where each stakeholder depends on the other to make the change real.

At Wolff Olins, this is baked into how we work. We call our Client Service team “Engagement” practitioners, because the engagement of people is at the heart of brand transformation.

Engagement is about harnessing the energy, insight, and expertise of the people who make transformation possible. Engagement isn’t an afterthought – it’s the fundamental backbone of creating real change.

And even if it sounds cliché – transformation isn’t something you do to people – it’s something you do with them. The greatest brand transformation programmes I’ve been part of all have engagement as the key tenant to change.

Whether it be co-creating a purpose with 20,000 employees across 7 markets, or trying to agree on a global architecture with stakeholders across 50 markets in a decentralised organisation – engaging people has been crucial in affecting tangible, lasting change.

Recently, we’ve been lucky enough to partner with the ambitious team at ABB, a global leader in engineering. To help drive business growth, we were brought in to develop a distinctive brand positioning and bring it to life internally through an employer value proposition.

Paco Liebrand, Head of Brand at ABB, shares the view on the need for engagement for change. Through our work, we designed an engagement programme that involved a cross disciplinary team of stakeholders to co-create and build the work together, ensuring it met the needs of their 105,000 employees across 100+ markets worldwide.

“The success of our transformation has relied on our ability to engage with our stakeholders and customers throughout the programme. And this was new for us – having the organisation so closely involved meant that even skeptical stakeholders could buy into the work organically as it developed. The project gained a lot of support and credibility through the process, meaning the end result was adopted just as successfully.” - Paco Liebrand, Head of Brand, ABB.

So, what have I learnt from some of these transformation experiences? In classic consultancy style, I’ve whittled it down to 3 C’s:

Communication
Transformation lives and dies on communication. It’s not just about broadcasting updates – it’s about creating a two-way dialogue. Leaders need to listen as much as they speak, ensuring feedback loops are in place at every stage. When people understand not just ‘what’ is transforming, but ‘why’ and ‘how’ – they’re much more likely to offer their support and adoption. To quote a wise colleague, “A team that writes their plan, delivers their plan”.

Collaboration
No one team owns transformation. The most successful engagement programmes are those that break silos and bring together diverse perspectives – from HR to product, innovation, finance teams and beyond. Collaboration drives shared ownership, sparks creativity, and builds solutions that are robust and relevant. Involving a diverse group of people early and often makes the journey more inclusive – and the outcomes more resilient. At Wolff Olins, we tailor our engagement model to suit our clients’ org structure, size, geography, and its unique decision making culture – to ensure we engage and collaborate in a way that feels authentic and true.

Continuity
Change isn’t a one-off event. It’s a journey that demands sustained focus and regular reinforcement. Continuity in messaging, actions, and behaviours helps build trust and credibility. When people see their leaders committed to embedding transformation at every level, they’re more likely to maintain momentum and turn change into lasting culture. The most impactful brand transformations I’ve been part of have leadership repeating a ‘mantra’ of change consistently throughout the process.

Ultimately, brand transformation is more than a project or a programme – it takes people to make it real. Because in the end, it’s not just about changing a brand, but building belief and momentum across the organisation.

Melissa Priestman, Senior Engagement Director