What actually changes a brand?

Many brands announce new new new - new positioning, targets, language.

Meaning comes from repetition. Just not the flashy kind.

Remember the Equinox campaign? The one where they said they don’t speak January. It came from a simple pattern. January signups surged. A few weeks later, attendance dropped. People showed up once. The habit never formed. Equinox named the truth: consistency is what changes things.

Most brands don’t apply that lesson to themselves. They keep refreshing the story instead of changing the behavior. Strong brands do the opposite. They’re built through repeated calls. What gets simplified instead of added. What gets cut first when budgets tighten. Which standards survive a bad week.

The pattern is the brand.

This is where atomic habits actually matter → A single decision reviewed every week to keep things sharp. Miss a week, and you feel it. Decide who you are. Then act accordingly. Instead of saying “I want a successful business”, try “I want to be the kind of person who makes decisions even when they’re uncomfortable”.

Sit with:

What behavior defines your brand right now?

Where does consistency break when timelines tighten?

What single habit would sharpen your brand if repeated weekly?

— Ian Adams, Founder the little red sofa

Before founding the little red sofa, I led strategy and creative for brands like Jeep, HSBC, and Unilever at top global agencies and in-house teams across 8 countries. Now I partner with brands to do the uncomfortable work that builds resilience. That’s how they become unshakable. Impossible to ignore.