This post is a commentary on this and this.

This is a fascinating take on brand building, but I think there’s a deeper insight hiding beneath the surface that few are discussing.

Yes, great brands are built by entire organizations, not just marketing teams. But here’s the counterintuitive part – the very concept of “building a brand” might be misleading. You don’t really build a brand. You build positioning that shapes perception, and the brand emerges from that.

Let me explain.

WeTransfer’s success isn’t just about cross-functional execution (though that’s crucial). It’s about owning a powerful concept in people’s minds. They don’t just transfer files – they own creative enablement. Their positioning as an artist-like entity that enables other artists is what drives their coherent actions across the organization.

The genius here is that their positioning informs both their “inside-out” business strategy (how they operate) and their “outside-in” brand perception (how they’re seen). When Fitzsimmons talks about “values over rules” and “actions over words,” he’s really describing what happens when positioning is so clear it naturally guides behavior across the company.

Consider his point about measuring brand value. Yes, traditional metrics are incomplete. But what if we’re measuring the wrong thing entirely? Instead of measuring “brand,” perhaps we should measure how deeply we own our chosen concept in people’s minds. WeTransfer doesn’t just measure file transfers – they measure their relevance to the creative community.

Here’s where it gets interesting: The debate about marketing teams versus whole-organization brand building might be missing the point. The real question is: Does everyone in your organization understand what fundamental concept you own in your customers’ minds? Because when they do, the right actions tend to follow naturally.

Think about it: When your positioning is clear (like Volvo owning “safety” or BMW owning “performance”), it becomes obvious how customer service should behave, what products should feel like, how HR should hire, and yes, what marketing should say.

Great brands aren’t built – they’re the natural byproduct of owning a powerful concept in people’s minds and having that concept guide every decision. Marketing teams don’t build brands, and neither do whole organizations. They build and reinforce positioning, and the brand follows.

This might seem like semantics, but it’s a crucial distinction. It suggests that instead of trying to “build a brand people love,” we should focus on:

1. Finding an unoccupied concept we can authentically own
2. Ensuring everyone understands what concept we’re claiming
3. Letting that understanding guide decisions across the organization
4. Measuring how deeply we own that concept in people’s minds

In this light, WeTransfer’s success isn’t just about cross-functional excellence – it’s about having positioning so clear and powerful that it naturally drives aligned behavior across the organization. They’re not just building a brand; they’re owning a concept so completely that a beloved brand naturally emerges.

Perhaps that’s the real secret to brands people love: Stop trying to build them directly, and instead focus on owning a concept so fundamental that love becomes the natural response.

Just my two cents. What do you think?