The evidence is clear: companies that invest in brand building alongside short-term commercial efforts are better equipped for both immediate performance and sustained competitive advantage.
But understanding the importance of brand health is just the starting point. The real challenge is putting it into practice—especially when short-term targets are always in focus.
Drawing on our research and experience with B2B Food & Nutrition companies, we’ve identified four practical approaches that help achieve the right balance between short-term results and long-term brand value.
- Develop a distinctive brand voice
In a sea of similar-sounding competitors, a distinctive communication style creates immediate recognition. The most effective brands establish a unique position through deliberate choices in tone, visual language and messaging frameworks—then apply these consistently across all touchpoints.
Our research underscores the challenge: 59% of marketers struggle to develop a clear brand message. Yet this foundational work pays tremendous dividends through increased recognition and recall, even in crowded market segments.
In practice: A good starting point is to assess how competitors in your space are communicating. Look for recurring phrases, tone of voice, and messaging patterns that shape the broader industry narrative. From there, consider how your brand can take a different, more distinctive approach—one that clearly reflects your unique value proposition. Develop flexible brand voice guidelines that help maintain consistency, while allowing room to adapt across different channels and audiences.
- Strike the right balance between consistency and evolution
Strong brands succeed by staying grounded in a clear identity while evolving to stay relevant. A flexible brand framework—one that allows for modular messaging—can help you respond to shifting market dynamics without losing sight of what makes your brand recognizable.
Regularly auditing your communications can highlight which elements should stay consistent and which might benefit from a refresh. This kind of balance helps your brand stay familiar to existing customers while staying responsive to changing needs—avoiding both drift and stagnation.
In practice: Define which parts of your brand should remain constant—like your core value proposition, differentiators, and personality—and which can flex, such as messaging focus or tactical execution. Revisit these regularly, perhaps quarterly, to ensure your brand is evolving with intention, not just reacting to change.
- Invest in message clarity
Even the most advanced technical offering won’t gain traction if its value isn’t clear. Leading B2B marketers excel at translating complexity into simple, compelling messages that connect with a range of stakeholders. This is especially important in the Food & Nutrition sector, where 72% of marketers say their audiences span multiple, distinct groups—each requiring a tailored communication approach.
Testing messages with different segments helps ensure they resonate across the buyer journey. Storytelling techniques can also bridge the gap between technical features and real-world business outcomes, making your value proposition more accessible and relevant to decision-makers.
In practice: Build a messaging hierarchy that begins with straightforward, jargon-free value statements. Layer in technical depth for audiences that need more detail. Modular content—tailored to different stakeholder needs but anchored in a consistent core message—can increase both clarity and impact.
4. Measure brand health systematically
What gets measured gets managed. Implement structured approaches to track brand awareness, perception and preference over time, just as rigorously as you monitor lead generation metrics. These insights help demonstrate how brand-building activities contribute to commercial outcomes, making the case for longer-term investments to stakeholders focused on immediate returns.
In practice: Take a specialty ingredients manufacturer as an example. They might run quarterly brand health surveys with key customer segments, tracking indicators like unaided awareness, brand associations, and preference relative to competitors. By linking improvements in these metrics to commercial outcomes—such as faster sales cycles or higher win rates—they can build a strong case for brand investment as a driver of business performance.
Approaching measurement this way helps shift brand building from a perceived soft metric to a strategic priority. Companies that adopt this mindset are better equipped to balance long-term brand equity with short-term results—moving beyond reactive tactics toward more sustainable growth.
Finding the right balance for your business
The most effective marketing teams are taking a more strategic approach to resource allocation. Instead of separating ‘brand’ and ‘demand’ into distinct efforts, they’re focusing on activities that drive both short-term engagement and long-term brand equity. This integrated approach delivers stronger results and maximises the impact of limited resources.
Connecting brand investments to commercial outcomes also helps secure internal support. When leadership understands how brand building contributes to growth, they’re more likely to back initiatives that don’t deliver immediate revenue. To support this, leading companies are developing measurement frameworks that track both performance and brand health. This balanced view helps demonstrate marketing’s full contribution to business success—linking today’s actions with long-term goals.
Moving forward with confidence
As competition intensifies in B2B Food & Nutrition, technical expertise alone is no longer enough. What increasingly sets businesses apart is how their brand communicates, connects, and delivers value.
Our data shows a shift in how top marketers operate. They’re moving beyond purely sales-driven activities toward more balanced strategies that combine near-term results with long-term brand strength.
The marketers who will lead tomorrow are those who strike this balance—meeting today’s targets while building the brand foundations for future growth. The best way to start is with a single step: whether it’s sharpening your brand voice, simplifying your messaging, or introducing systematic brand health measurement. Choose what matters most to your current challenge.
By investing strategically in both commercial performance and brand health, you can create a more resilient business capable of standing out — not just for the next quarter, but for years to come.
Want to learn more about practical approaches to balancing brand health with commercial targets? Download our 2025 F&N Marketing Benchmark for a comprehensive analysis of the challenges and opportunities facing B2B Food & Nutrition marketers today.