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In an era where marketers are using AI for everything, organizations are losing the authenticity and creativity that built some of the most recognizable brands today. At a recent fireside chat with Udi Ledergor, the founding CMO and current Chief Evangelist at Gong, we shared insights on brand-building in the age of AI and explored how he created one of the most successful B2B brands today.

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Defining Your Brand: It’s What Others Say When You’re Not in the Room

As Jeff Bezos famously said, “Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.” A brand goes far beyond a logo or slogan; it’s the collective impression created by what customers, partners, and employees experience and share.

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In the B2B world, where 70% of the customer journey is self-directed (Forrester), your brand narrative is often formed long before you directly interact with a customer. The customer stories you share, the events you attend, and the content you create are essential touchpoints that shape public perception.

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Brand Ownership: It’s Not Just a Marketing Project

Brand building isn’t just a marketing project—it requires full company buy-in. At Gong, Udi led the charge where “creating raving fans” was (and still is) the first operating principle for every department. When the entire company embodies the brand, marketing’s job is amplified because every employee becomes a brand advocate. And when every team lives and breathes the brand’s mission, creating brand loyalty becomes a natural outcome.

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Brand building isn’t just a marketing initiative—it requires full company alignment and commitment. At Gong, Udi championed their first operating principle of  “creating raving fans” across all departments, a value that still exists over a decade later. The key is that every team member embodies the brand’s values, amplifying marketing’s impact as each employee becomes a passionate brand advocate, ultimately creating a lasting and powerful brand.

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Consistency and Differentiation: Different is Better Than Better

In a crowded marketplace, building an instantly recognizable brand requires bold, memorable choices. When Gong launched its brand, they deliberately chose vibrant, unexpected colors like purple and fuchsia, breaking away from the typical B2B palette. These distinctive colors quickly became synonymous with Gong’s identity. However, as these visual choices become more common, brands need to look beyond just visual identity to stand out.

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The less tangible aspects of a brand—such as tone of voice and the promises consistently upheld throughout the customer journey—have become the new frontier for differentiation. As a result, consistency in these elements is now one of the most powerful drivers of a brand’s narrative, making it essential to deliver a cohesive experience at every touchpoint.

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Scaling Your Brand Globally: AI’s Role in Brand-Building

As companies grow, maintaining brand consistency across regions and languages can be challenging. Gong addressed this by creating a comprehensive 100+ page playbook with detailed guidelines on everything from visual identity and brand vocabulary to tone of voice and even acceptable humor. While these guides provide a strong foundation, they aren’t foolproof.

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AI offers a unique opportunity for marketers to enhance brand consistency across global teams. Although not a complete solution for brand creation, purpose-built tools like Anyword help align teams with the nuanced elements essential for nurturing and scaling a cohesive brand identity.

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As Udi notes, “AI can do the grunt work, but creative direction is still uniquely human.”