The majority of UK HR & business leaders aren’t actively maintaining their brand

Almost two-thirds of business leaders (60%) don’t regularly re-evaluate or refine their branding and designs, a decision that risks weakening brand relevance in a fast-changing consumer landscape with rapid shifts in digital behaviour and visual trends. New research from Adobe Acrobat surveyed 350 UK leaders to uncover how much attention they are paying to their branding and design, the approach they take when designing brand assets, and how confident they feel in their existing branding.

Despite the lack of attention they are giving to their branding, only 12% believe their designs are strong enough to remain unchanged. The biggest blockers are capability and time. One in six (15%) don’t know how to re-evaluate their branding, and a further 10% say they are too busy or don’t see it as a priority.

Most business leaders know their branding needs improvement but lack the practical tools and confidence to act on it, and two pain points stand out. Almost one in five (18%) admit their biggest branding weakness is social media visuals, and another 18% say consistency across platforms is where their branding weaknesses lie, when inconsistent or outdated visuals can dilute digital performance.

Branding strengths are the same for many businesses, with as few as 5% thinking tone of voice is their biggest weakness, suggesting businesses feel more confident in their verbal identity but struggle to translate that into compelling, consistent visuals. When business leaders s are actively taking a lead in their branding processes, they’re choosing design styles for different strategic reasons: simplicity (33%), differentiation (25%), enigmatic branding (21%), or industry-linked imagery (20%).

Young leaders are the most self-critical, as two in five Gen Z (40%) think their branding needs significant improvement. That’s compared to just 12% of Gen X and 6% of Baby Boomers. But they’re also the least proactive. Only one-fifth of Gen Z (20%) regularly refine their branding, compared to half of Baby Boomers (50%). In fact, two in five (40%) have never reevaluated their branding because they don’t know how. This generational divide suggests younger leaders recognise the importance of strong design but lack the experience and tools to manage it effectively.

Digital-first thinking is also more common amongst Gen Z leaders, with two in five (40%) saying their social media visuals are their biggest design weakness. Millennials take a more holistic approach, as one-fifth (20%) consider consistency across platforms to be their weakness. As social platforms evolve rapidly, young business owners feel greater pressure to maintain fresh and dynamic visuals.

Attitudes to branding vary across the UK, with over half of business owners in Northern Ireland (50%) and almost a third in Scotland (32%) having never reevaluated their branding because they don’t know how. In contrast, confidence in the Northeast is booming, with 17% having never reevaluated their branding because they think it’s already perfect.

Businesses in the Southeast are the most proactive about maintaining their brand identity and regularly refining their branding (54%), while in Yorkshire, almost two-fifths (38%) recognise that their visual branding needs significant improvements.

Creative preferences shift by region too, with cultural trends shaping branding decisions. Two in five business owners in Scotland (41%) prefer simple and product-led branding, compared to over two-fifths in the Northeast (44%) who want branding tied to key industry imagery and a third in the East Midlands (33%) who look for unique, industry-defying branding.

Many businesses recognise their weaknesses but lack the time or resources to address them, and Adobe Acrobat has shared their top tips for mastering and maintaining branding and design:

How to strengthen your visuals: Adobe’s top tips

While an eye-catching visual can draw customers in, a bland graphic can leave them feeling uninspired. So, if your business visuals are feeling a little tired, here are some practical ways to refresh your branding and better connect with audiences.

1. Regularly review your visuals: From ensuring consistency across channels to refreshing your marketing materials, even small tweaks can impact how customers engage, interact, and shop. So, take a moment every now and then to review your logo, colour palette, and imagery, asking yourself whether these are aligned with your brand or whether it might be time for an update.
2. Listen to your audience: An outside perspective can make all the difference when it comes to avoiding common design mistakes and creating visuals that resonate. You could ask customers, colleagues, or peers for their feedback to get a clearer picture of the designs that blend in and those that capture interest.
3. Streamline productivity & workflow automation: Generative AI tools allow you to polish projects with ease, whether that’s creating customised images in seconds or designing ready-to-share content.
4. Improve collaboration:Standout branding often stems from strong collaboration between marketing, leadership, and creative teams. Utilise shared documents with people in different areas of the business for multiple perspectives. A streamlined approach can create tunnel vision when signing off branding elements – it’s important to test trial and error, and conduct market research on any assets to see which drives the best responses and engagement.