Performance improves. Features grow. Trends evolve. We are seeing it everywhere at the moment.
But origin, intent and accumulated meaning are much, much harder to replicate.
That, for me, is why storytelling is vital in brand-building. Not as nostalgia. Not as pastiche. Not as a sentimental reflection. But as evidence. Evidence of why a brand behaves the way it does. Why certain things make sense. Why a product, a symbol, a tone of voice or a customer experience feels the way it does.
I’ve been thinking about this after seeing the reaction to McLaren Group’s evolved identity this week. Some of the commentary seems to have focused on the new mark in isolation. Does it feel too polished? Too refined? Too much like something from another luxury category?
But viewed in isolation, any mark is vulnerable to that kind of judgement.
The question is never simply, “Do I like it?” It is, “What is it trying to prove?”
Because when you understand the McLaren Automotive story, Bruce McLaren, the family workshop, the maverick spirit, the engineering curiosity, the move into a more elevated luxury space, the identity starts to make more sense.
It is not about dragging the brand backwards. It is about qualifying why it has permission to move forwards in a particular way.
I had a similar experience recently in France, visiting Christian Dior’s childhood home in Granville. I knew the Christian Dior name. I’d seen the CD icon. I knew the luxury brand was incredibly well regarded. Hey, I even wear Sauvage regularly.
Beyond that, though, I wasn’t really sure what all the fuss was about.
But seeing the house, the garden, the Dior family story and the influences that shaped him, the brand suddenly made more sense to me. The star. The monogram. The motifs. The rituals. The lid of the fragrances.
I realised these things are not just decoration. They are memory made visible. Grounding, substance and credibility.
And suddenly, I appreciated the brand more. I understood it more deeply. I felt more connected to it. I had a moment of realisation about what the fuss was all about.
That is where heritage creates value.
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Heritage gives a brand depth. It explains its choices. It helps people understand why it looks, sounds and behaves differently from everything else in the category.
And in a world where performance figures, product features and design trends can all be copied, that feels more valuable than ever.
The best heritage work does not ask, “How do we make people remember us?” It asks, “What was the original idea, and how is that idea still useful now?”
That feels like the bit many brands miss.
Heritage is not a museum or a moodboard. It is not a fond look back.
Used well, it is a strategic asset. A source of meaning. A reason to believe.
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