Building Brand Equity Requires Alignment,Not Just Advertising

Every brand invests heavily in marketing, but not all spending strengthens brand equity. Brand equity describes the value customers perceive based on their experience with a brand—the associations, emotions, and trust that influence loyalty. As branding expert John Gumas explained in Forbes: “The objective of any brand is to build brand equity. Brand equity describes customers’ perceived value based on their experience with your brand. The more positive brand equity you generate, the more you can theoretically charge for your product or service. And brand equity is transferrable to other products that are part of the brand.”

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With that in mind, marketing spending should always align with a brand’s elements (name, logo, slogans, associations) and its positioning. When the spending disconnects from these, it risks becoming noise. From my own experience as a consumer, I’ve seen this misalignment in two very different brands: H&M in fashion and Emirates Airlines in travel.

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H&M: Discounts That Clash with Its Positioning

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H&M’s brand elements—its minimalist logo, trendy store layouts, and high profile designer collaborations—suggest a positioning of affordable yet stylish fashion. But much of the brand’s marketing spending is focused on endless discount campaigns and clearance ads.

As a consumer, these constant markdowns dilute H&M’s brand message. Instead of reinforcing its identity as a trend-conscious brand, the heavy reliance on price promotions makes it feel like just another bargain retailer. This undermines the perceived value that is central to building equity.

To strengthen its brand equity, H&M could better align its spending with its elements and positioning: highlighting sustainability initiatives, cultural collaborations, and fashion innovation. These investments would reinforce the brand’s story, rather than reduce it to a price tag.

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Emirates Airlines: Sponsorships Without Connection

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Emirates positions itself as a premium global airline, with elegant visuals, luxury service messaging, and the bold tagline “Fly Better.” Yet a large share of its spending is devoted to sports sponsorships—from Real Madrid jerseys to Formula One.

While these campaigns achieve global visibility, they feel distant from the consumer experience. Seeing the Emirates logo on a soccer jersey doesn’t make me associate the brand with comfort, reliability, or personalized service —the qualities that truly create loyalty in aviation.

To better align with its premium positioning, Emirates would be more effective investing in enhanced loyalty programs, digital personalization, or elevated in-flight experiences. These touchpoints directly reinforce the brand promise of luxury and reliability, creating positive associations that extend equity.

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The Bigger Lesson: Alignment Creates Value

Both H&M and Emirates reveal that marketing spending builds equity only when it aligns with brand elements and positioning.

• For H&M, discount ads weaken the brand’s stylish identity.

•  For Emirates, sports sponsorships fail to connect with its premium promise.

  
  

As marketing strategist Samuel Thimothy wrote in Forbes: “All in all, creating brand equity is more than a way to generate short-term sales. It is also a means to support long-term value creation. Your branding strategy must include the equity element because it has a profound impact on a brand's ability to create and sustain a competitive advantage.”

In other words, equity is not about spending more—it’s about spending smarter. When brands align their investments with their core strategy, they don’t just sell products; they build lasting value and competitive strength. Marketing spending that fails to reinforce brand positioning is wasted potential. True equity is created when every dollar invested strengthens the associations, trust, and experiences that make a brand stand out.