Why Brand-Driven Innovation Determines Economic Success

Insights from the German Brand Monitor 2026 and a Practical Case from FSB

The German Brand Monitor 2026 was recently published. Conducted by gmk Markenberatung in cooperation with the German Design Council, this management study on brand leadership in Germany is based on insights from more than 300 brand decision-makers. It provides strategic answers to the challenges brand leaders are currently facing.

The results are striking—and once again show that strategic innovation management and design still play far too small a role in many companies.

Key Findings from the German Brand Monitor 2026

The study reveals a significant gap between brand strategy and innovation practice:

• In product management, product design, and service development, fewer than 50% of companies apply clear, brand-driven guidelines derived from their brand strategy. → This raises a fundamental question: How can brand-typical offerings emerge without a clear brand compass?

• From a brand perspective, the situation in innovation management is even more concerning. While economic brand success depends on innovative offerings that clearly reinforce the brand, only 23% of companies link their brand positioning to their innovation processes.

• More than 40% of companies do not consider their brand at all when developing products, services, or software→ a missed opportunity, given the importance of offerings for differentiation and long-term business success.

• Only 19% of companies have an innovation strategy derived directly from their brand positioning.

These figures clearly show: Innovation often happens without strategic brand direction.

The Positive Insight: Strong Brands Are More Successful

At the same time, the study confirms a crucial fact:
Strong brand-led companies perform better economically. They:

• grow more sustainably,

• achieve higher margins compared to competitors,

• and create stronger differentiation through brand-specific products and services.

Companies that follow a holistic brand understanding and derive actionable guidelines for all business areas—such as innovation management, product management, and HR—from their brand positioning are ultimately more successful.

How Brand-Driven Innovation Works in Practice: The FSB Case

How this approach can be implemented successfully is demonstrated by our three-year engagement with FSB (Franz Schneider Brakel) in innovation and design management.

A Systematic, User-Centric Innovation Process

From our experience, a systematic, holistic, and user-centric innovation and design process is the most important success factor within a product development process (PDP) when it comes to creating truly innovative products.

Our 7-step process focuses on forward-looking questions that help identify future-oriented innovation fields. When these fields are examined through the lens of clearly defined target groups, product ideas emerge that the market genuinely needs.

The result is sustainable product and market leadership—and ultimately a strong brand identity.

IT’S NOT I-NNOVATION, IT’S WE-NNOVATION

Successful innovation requires agile, interdisciplinary teams. At FSB, the innovation team consisted of all disciplines relevant to product development: Design, Marketing, Product Management, Engineering, Sales and Experts. 

Only this diversity enables ideas to evolve into market-ready solutions.

What FSB Says About the Collaboration

Jochen Bauer, Managing Director of FSB (2016–2022), summarizes the impact as follows:

“The innovation workshops with Michael Schmidt significantly expanded our perspective on innovation, product development, and design. The structured approach enabled FSB not only to identify market- and brand-relevant innovation fields, but also to critically review our existing portfolio.”

He continues:

“The results of the workshops created substantial added value for our company. Innovative ideas were no longer seen as random inspirations, but as the outcome of a clear, learnable process. I am convinced that these workshops will sustainably change FSB’s innovation culture.”

The outcome speaks for itself:
Six innovative product ideas were developed—four of which have already gone into series production.

Conclusion: Brand-Driven Innovation Is an Untapped Strategic Lever

The German Brand Monitor 2026 highlights a major opportunity:
Companies that consistently integrate brand strategy into innovation and design management create:

• • distinctive, brand-specific products,
• • higher innovation quality,
• • sustainable economic success,
• • long-term market leadership,
• • and strong brand identities.

It works—when innovation is approached systematically and strategically.

Would you like to learn more?

We would be happy to present our 7-step innovation methodology, including all relevant process stages, in a personal conversation.

Let’s talk about how brand strategy and innovation can work together to create real impact.