Global Brand Strategy Starts with Leadership Alignment

When scaling a global brand strategy, one of the first priorities is getting your team to buy in. But that can be one of the greatest challenges as a leader—to uphold a vision and inspire a team that spans across multiple markets. During my time at The North Face, I learned this firsthand. With big goals to hit $2 Billion in revenue, we needed our teams across the world to collectively lean in. 

There are 3 key principles I believe in as a leader and encourage my clients to focus on when scaling their brands today:

1. Trust

It goes without saying that building trust with your teams is essential. Whether you’re coming in as a new leader or changing course on your global brand strategy, trust in leadership will result in greater retention and engagement and ultimately build a stronger brand. 

Get to know your leaders, be transparent, and make time for connection either in person or remotely. 

2. Build Together 

Involve your teams in shaping the brand from the ground up and encourage healthy debate to allow all perspectives to be heard. At The North Face, we invited leaders across markets into the conversation when building the Brand DNA. 

This naturally led to buy-in, commitment to a unified vision, and greater trust.

3. Allow Autonomy

Once your Brand DNA is established, empower local teams to execute it in the way that makes sense for their region. At The North Face, regional teams had the freedom to decide on products, localized campaigns, and local creative strategies. This approach fosters ownership, enhances creativity, and ensures your global brand strategy is adapted to meet local needs.

If you’re looking to align your global marketing teams and scale your brand, let’s chat about how Fractional CMO services could support you. Schedule a time to chat with us here.

 


Global Brand Strategy: Getting Team Buy-In at Scale

About Aaron Carpenter

As former VP of Marketing at Levi Strauss and a transformative CMO at The North Face, Aaron has guided some of the world’s most dynamic brands into the digital era while helping to shape their unique brand identities to meet the evolving global marketing environment. Today, Aaron lends his expertise to a wide range of brands through powerful fractional work while maintaining his position as an influential global lifestyle marketing figure.

 

Last Updated: February 27th, 2026.

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