u1492637478_Nordic_sports_nutrition_category._Wellness._Lifes_f646c929-5cc3-4102-8973-1faf0f46c870_3 Food & Beverages Functional Is No Longer Enough In Brief Functional FMCG is drifting into commodity science. What once differentiated brands now barely gets them noticed. SIGNAL — What’s happening? Protein is everywhere. Gut health is everywhere. “No sugar”, “added vitamins”, “immune support”, “energy”, “focus”, “hydration” — everywhere. Walk down any grocery aisle and you’ll see the same By Tobias Dahlberg • 2 min read
Marketing The 2026 Growth Delusion - Why Most Strategies Aren't Plans - They Are Wishes A Founder POV for modern CEOs, CMOs, and Commercial Leaders Around this time of the year, companies around the world perform the same ritual: They gather in meeting rooms, open a fresh slide deck, and announce, “Let’s build our 2026 plan.” "What is our GTM plan? Commercial Growth By Tobias Dahlberg • 3 min read
Brand Levi's - Relevant or Redundant? Levi’s is one of the most recognizable apparel brands on the planet — a century-old symbol of American culture, youth identity, and “authenticity.” It practically invented denim as we know it. But the category it once defined has fragmented into micro-cultures, fast fashion cycles, secondhand ecosystems, and aesthetic tribes that By Tobias Dahlberg • 3 min read
u1492637478_wellness_culture_editorial_shot_urban_minimal_ton_be6203d7-1cd8-497f-8cdd-b55ee7cbf26c_1 Global Aspiration Has Changed: The New Status Symbols of 2026 Are you ready to look at how culture and values are changing for 2026 and beyond? I thought so. Here's the pattern: From wealth → wellbeing → wisdom → autonomy. What brands must signal to feel modern and desirable. In Brief Aspiration has quietly rewritten itself. Money no longer signals status By Tobias Dahlberg • 2 min read
Marketing Aspiration Has Changed: The New Status Symbols of 2026 Are you ready to look at how culture and values are changing for 2026 and beyond? I thought so. Here's the pattern: From wealth → wellbeing → wisdom → autonomy. What brands must signal to feel modern and desirable. In Brief Aspiration has quietly rewritten itself. Money no longer signals status By Tobias Dahlberg • 2 min read
Brand Relevant Or Redundant? – BOSS I came back from London late last night, and after strolling the streets for a few days, (mostly waiting while my wife and daughters shopped like there is no tomorrow), I did what I suppose most brand-builders do...analyse brands and concepts. What follows is a new content series I By Tobias Dahlberg • 3 min read
Marketing The Relevance Gap Starts In The Corner Office The Relevance Gap™ is a term I coined to illustrate the disconnect that happens between brands and customer choice. And while Relevance is a function of many external forces (from cultural shifts, macro trends, category dynamics, and most of all, changes in consumer tastes, values, etc. the problems rarely starts By Tobias Dahlberg • 2 min read
Brand I Analysed Dozens Of FMCG Brands - Here Is How Many Are Drifting I’ve run a good amount of Brand Relevance Scores for FMCG brands this last month. Here’s the uncomfortable pattern: the categories aren’t stale — the brands are. Most FMCG brands aren’t losing relevance because of competition. They’re losing relevance because culture moved and they didn’t By Tobias Dahlberg • 1 min read
Brand AI will change everything about brand-building. Except what matters most. Why the Future of Brand Still Belongs to Humans — Even in an AI-Driven World. After 20+ years at the intersection of of brand strategy, innovation, design, and marketing for companies across industries, countries, and stages, I’ve learned one thing with absolute certainty: AI will change how brands are built. By Tobias Dahlberg • 5 min read
Brand The One Metric Every CMO and Brand Leader Should Track - The Brand Relevance Score™ Most brands measure what’s easy: awareness, impressions, clicks, sentiment, funnel conversion, reach. NPS. [For a selected few CMO's and brand leaders, I provide a free audit to map your Brand Relevance Score™ and Relevance Gap™. More below.] But very few measure the thing that actually determines whether By Tobias Dahlberg • 3 min read
Brand The Best Strategy Question You Never Heard Before. There is a great strategic question I like to ask my brand and business clients, a provoking, revealing question that you probably did not hear before. In fact, it's my second go-to question after "Why Should They Choose You" - my favorite brand strategy question. It’ By Tobias Dahlberg • 5 min read
Brand Branding Is Still Misunderstood - And It Is Hurting Businesses. Branding is one of the most misunderstood disciplines in business. When I started in this industry (about two decades ago), I set out to take on this misconception, which I am about to describe. Armed with this big insight, I was going to change the industry. Or so I thought. By Tobias Dahlberg • 4 min read
