How to navigate complexity through purposeful branding
Corporate brand architect and sustainability strategist Dan Dimmock discusses his approach to clarity amidst complexity, the lasting influence of his mentor Tony Spaeth, and why brands must lead with purpose in an era of profound change—without falling into the trap of purpose-washing.
What’s your approach to finding clarity in complexity?
Clarity emerges when you stop chasing simplicity and start embracing nuance. Too often, people equate clarity with reduction—stripping complexity away until only a soundbite remains. But in reality, clarity is about precision, not dilution. It’s about uncovering the deeper truths within an organisation and ensuring they translate into something actionable, credible, and meaningful.
Branding should always begin with rigorous questioning. Together, what problem are we looking to truly solve? Why does this matter to client leaders, the organisation and its stakeholders? Are proposed solutions reflective of reality or manufactured for optics? When you approach brand through this lens, it stops being about surface-level storytelling and becomes about alignment—ensuring that ambition, strategy, and execution all point in the same direction. This is particularly important, as too many organisations chase external validation rather than anchoring themselves in something enduring and authentic.
Who or what has been your greatest professional inspiration, and why?
Without hesitation, Tony Spaeth.
I met Tony in New York in 2003, and from that moment, he became both a mentor and a tutor, shaping my understanding of corporate identity in ways I couldn’t have anticipated. Until his passing, our conversations—whether in person or over lengthy exchanges—were always rich with insight, challenge, and humour.
Identityworks by Tony Spaeth
Tony wasn’t just a branding consultant but a strategist who saw corporate identity as a leadership tool rather than just a visual expression. His work with some of the world’s most respected companies wasn’t about aesthetics or marketing gimmicks but structure, ambition, and business reality. He rejected the idea that branding was a cosmetic exercise, instead positioning it as a fundamental part of how organisations define themselves, govern themselves, and lead.
His influence continues to shape my work. One of his greatest lessons was that a strong identity isn’t just about what a company says—it’s about how it organises itself to deliver on its purpose. I carry this principle with me in every project: a brand is not a marketing or communications construct; it’s an operational and strategic asset.
What’s a recent challenge you tackled that reshaped your thinking?
A recent challenge that profoundly reshaped our approach involved collaborating with a global advertising agency for a Kuwaiti energy company’s repositioning towards a net-zero future. Initially, the brief seemed straightforward: “Develop a compelling positioning that signals our commitment to sustainability.” However, as we delved deeper, it became evident that the true challenge extended beyond messaging to encompass organisational and cultural transformation.
The client had ambitious sustainability goals but lacked a coherent framework to embed these into their operations. The agency’s limited grasp of the brand’s role compounded this, leading to misaligned expectations. Our emphasis on integrating sustainability into the company’s core operations rather than merely crafting external narratives met with resistance. The client grew frustrated with the scale of change required, ultimately leading to our disengagement from the project.
This experience strengthened our view that brand strategy should go beyond just words; it requires embedding values into the organisation’s daily practices. We did our best to help the client understand how vital it is to align the company's stated purpose with its internal actions. A gap between the two can damage credibility, as stakeholders can quickly tell when "purpose" is just a shallow campaign instead of being genuinely lived.
The frustrations and learnings from this project have been pivotal in refining our approach at Firstwater. We now place a heightened emphasis on ensuring prospective clients understand that meaningful brand transformation requires systemic change, not just surface-level messaging adjustments. As a purpose-driven consultancy, we bridge the gap between perception and reality by co-creating meaningful impact for stakeholders and communities. We challenge convention, ask the tough questions, and help leaders take bold steps toward meaningful change. This approach ensures that we collaborate with client organisations, other consultancies, and agencies genuinely committed to embedding declared values into their operational ethos, fostering trust and sustainable growth.
How do you define success in the context of business transformation?
Success is alignment. Transformation has succeeded if an organisation’s stated purpose is not just a slogan but is evident in its operations, leadership decisions, and stakeholder relationships. If purpose only exists as marketing collateral, it has already failed.
One of the most significant flaws in the modern branding discourse is the obsession with “brand purpose”. In reality, there is no such thing—only institutional or corporate purpose, which we refer to as Higher Purpose. This encompasses an organisation’s mission, principles, values, and vision. The brand should align with this, not attempt to create its purpose.
When an organisation separates brand from its Higher Purpose, it invites superficiality. As it is often pursued, “brand purpose” manifests as a strapline—a catchy phrase that might inspire a campaign but does little to shape governance, decision-making, or actual impact. Worse still, when marketing takes control of purpose articulation instead of leadership, the result is often purpose-washing: a disconnect between what a company says and what it does. Success, therefore, isn’t about brand positioning—it’s about purpose execution.
What excites you most about the future of purpose-driven brand building?
The shift from performative purpose to embedded purpose. We are entering an era where businesses are expected to deliver measurable impact, not just articulate ambition. What excites me is the increasing expectation that companies take a stand—not as a marketing exercise but as an authentic reflection of their operational model.
At the same time, there’s an opportunity to move beyond conventional branding. The next era isn’t about broadcasting messages but designing systems. It’s about embedding purpose in a way that drives innovation, shapes policy, and redefines industries. When brands fully integrate with an organisation’s higher purpose rather than trying to manufacture their own, the potential for meaningful impact becomes real.
How do you balance analytical rigour with creative intuition in your process?
I see data and intuition as dance partners—each enhances the other. Analytical rigour provides the structure, ensuring we solve real problems with measurable outcomes. Intuition brings the humanity, emotion, and ingenuity that make a brand resonate deeper.
There’s a misconception that these two forces are at odds, but I’ve found that the best decisions are made when they work harmoniously. Data gives us patterns, insights, and validation; intuition allows us to make creative leaps that data alone wouldn’t suggest. Some of the most effective strategies we’ve developed came from blending evidence with instinct—using research as a foundation but allowing creativity to push the boundaries of possibility.
The best brands don’t just respond to trends; they shape them. That requires understanding the market and the courage to trust a vision that data alone might not validate. When you strike the right balance, you don’t just solve problems—you create new opportunities.
Editor’s reflection
Dan’s perspective challenges a prevailing misconception in brand strategy: that purpose is something a brand creates rather than something it aligns with. His critique of brand purpose as a marketing construct highlights a deeper issue: Organisations risk reducing their mission to a tagline when marketing leads purpose rather than vice versa. His approach is pragmatic and bold: Transformation starts with truth, and the best brands are not just storytellers but stewards of real impact.
To learn more, connect with Dan Dimmock via LinkedIn or visit firstwateradvisory.com.
