Brand Impact Index 2026
Turning turbulence into advantage
Report
Learn how leading brands shape better growth.
In turbulent times, consumers want dependable yet innovative solutions. With 87 percent of consumers impacted by rising costs, people are reassessing what’s valuable to them. They’re looking for meaningful, dependable interactions with brands that tangibly improve their lives.
Based on insights from 7,000 US consumers and 370 brand leaders, our Brand Impact Index spotlights the brands delivering on these expectations and achieving better growth as a result. It also highlights a growing gap between what consumers want, and how brands are meeting those needs – or not.
Shape, move, or stall?
Not all brands approach growth in the same way. While some turn disruption into opportunity, others are caught between ambition and complexity.
Our research uncovers three brand cohorts: stallers, movers, and shapers.
- Stallers: Defensive, reactive, and constrained by uncertainty
- Movers: Balance ambition and pragmatism when navigating complexity
- Shapers: Proactive, transformation-led organizations that take real action to drive growth.
By assessing the priorities and challenges of these cohorts across five components identified by consumers as key to brand engagement, our Index helps stallers and movers sharpen their strategies and shape better growth.
How we can help
Working alongside your teams, our strategists, designers, scientists, technologists, and engineers combine human insight, commercial thinking, and technical expertise to turn powerful insights into action. Together, we help organisations make confident decisions, move at pace, and create the conditions for better growth.
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