The Nexus of Brands: Winning in an Age of Connectedness

October 1, 2025 at Barcelona, Spain

In a world of relentless change, consumer brands can no longer think of themselves as isolated businesses with a product to sell and a market to capture. Instead, they must be understood as part of a living system — interconnected with people, technologies, societies, and environments. The future of successful consumer brands lies in how they navigate these interdependencies, creating a nexus of value, meaning, and innovation.

At its core, nexus means connection — and for consumer brands, connections are the most valuable form of capital. Connections link a brand to its consumers, employees, communities, and collaborators. They also connect intangible assets: trust, reputation, culture, and data.

In the past, consumer brands sought control, building barriers to entry and protecting intellectual property. Today, the most dynamic brands embrace interdependence. They recognise that growth comes not from owning everything but from connecting intelligently.

A nexus is more than a partnership. It is the connective tissue that binds systems together. Consumer brands are no longer isolated entities; they are orchestrators of, or nodes within, dynamic ecosystems. This shift is profound. It changes how brands build meaning, how they develop products, how they engage consumers, and even how they generate financial performance.

Think of Nike. Beyond selling footwear, Nike has built connections across sports, fashion, technology, and community. Its collaborations with designers like Virgil Abloh, its integration with Apple in fitness tracking, and its grassroots initiatives with local sports clubs form a nexus that extends far beyond shoes. Nike thrives because of the breadth and depth of its connections — each reinforcing the brand’s cultural relevance.

1. From Linear Chains to Dynamic Ecosystems

For most of the 20th century, consumer brands were built on linear models: sourcing raw materials, manufacturing products, distributing through retail, and promoting to target audiences. This model worked in relatively stable environments where markets were easier to define and control.

Today, however, business is more like a network than a chain. Digital platforms, cultural movements, and sustainability pressures have created highly interactive, cross-sector systems. Brands must navigate webs of interdependence rather than command simple pipelines.

  • Amazon evolved from online bookseller to orchestrator of a vast ecosystem connecting retail, logistics, cloud services, entertainment, and smart devices.

  • Tencent built WeChat not just as a messaging service but as a multi-layered ecosystem for payments, shopping, gaming, and community.

  • DBS Bank in Singapore transformed itself from a conventional bank into a technology-driven orchestrator, embedding financial services into platforms for transport, e-commerce, and health.

These companies thrive because they operate at strategic nexus points where industries intersect and where multiple systems converge around consumer needs.

2. Brands as Participants and Orchestrators

Being part of a nexus means a brand must play one of two roles:

  • Participant: A participant that connects into a larger ecosystem — eg Spotify in music, linking listeners, artists, podcasters, and advertisers.

  • Orchestrator: A hub that convenes and integrates flows across an ecosystem — eg Apple with its App Store, or Amazon with Prime.

The critical task for leaders is to determine when to orchestrate, when to participate, and where to connect. Few brands can dominate every ecosystem. Most succeed by intelligently choosing the right nexus points where they can add distinctive value.

3. Brand Building: from Identity to Connectivity

In the old world, brand building focused on identity: logos, taglines, campaigns, and positioning. The goal was to stand out from competitors. But in today’s ecosystem world, differentiation is less about stand-alone identity and more about connectivity — how a brand fits, resonates, and amplifies within networks of culture, technology, and society.

  • Nike reinforces its brand through collaborations that extend far beyond footwear: high-fashion designers, grassroots sports clubs, digital fitness platforms.

  • Spotify is not just a logo or app icon; its brand lives in the playlists, connections, and discovery journeys it creates for users.

  • DBS Bank doesn’t position itself with banking slogans but with lived digital experiences across ecosystems. Its brand is built through seamless connectivity in everyday consumer journeys.

Connectivity gives brands relevance, resilience, and reach that identity alone cannot.

4. Selling More: from Products to Platforms

In a linear model, product development meant designing goods that could be manufactured, distributed, and sold at scale. In a nexus world, products are increasingly platforms — open systems designed for interaction, adaptation, and co-creation.

  • Amazon’s Alexa is not just a device but a platform connecting thousands of services.

  • Jio in India began by offering cheap mobile access, but quickly evolved into a platform for streaming, payments, and e-health.

  • Blue Buffalo, the natural pet food brand, is no longer just selling kibble. Its acquisition by General Mills has enabled it to plug into broader food innovation ecosystems while also integrating with retail partners like Petco and digital platforms like Chewy. The product becomes part of a health and wellness system for pets.

For consumer brands, product innovation must now anticipate where and how it connects into ecosystems, rather than existing as a closed, static object.

5. Consumer Engagement: from Transactions to Participation

Traditional consumer engagement meant advertising messages, point-of-sale promotions, and loyalty programs. It was transactional: persuade, sell, repeat. Nexus thinking reframes engagement as participation. Consumers are not just buyers but active participants in ecosystems.

  • Starbucks creates a community through its app, rewards, and personalized experiences. The app connects payments, loyalty, customization, and ethical sourcing stories into one participatory ecosystem.

  • Patagonia transforms consumers into activists, inviting them to repair, recycle, and campaign on behalf of environmental causes.

  • Petco redefined itself as “the health + wellness company for pets.” Its engagement strategy connects services like grooming, veterinary care, and insurance with retail and e-commerce. Buying food or toys becomes part of a broader participation in a pet care ecosystem.

  • Chewy takes this further online, combining subscription food delivery with tele-vet services, personalized recommendations, and a highly empathetic customer service model. Consumers feel part of a supportive ecosystem of care, not just a transaction.

Participation deepens emotional connection and creates data feedback loops that strengthen the ecosystem.

6. Financial Performance: from Revenues to System Value

Financial success in a linear model meant maximizing product sales and margins. In an ecosystem, value comes from system performance — monetizing networks, unlocking data, and sustaining lifetime engagement.

  • Amazon earns retail revenue but its greatest profitability comes from ecosystem synergies: AWS cloud services, Prime subscriptions, logistics, and marketplace fees.

  • Spotify builds value from both subscribers and advertisers but its strategic asset is data, which fuels personalization and future partnerships beyond music.

  • Chewy demonstrates how ecosystem thinking shifts financial models: recurring revenues from subscriptions, high retention through pet health services, and upselling via connected care. Its financial strength derives from consumer lifetime value in an ecosystem of services, not just one-off sales.

This requires brands to expand how they measure performance. Metrics like ecosystem health, customer lifetime value, and network effects matter as much as sales and margins.

7. DEEP DIVE: The Pet Care Nexus

The transformation of the pet care industry highlights how nexus thinking reshapes entire sectors.

  • Blue Buffalo tapped into the humanization of pets, offering natural, premium food that connected into wellness trends. Its integration into General Mills’ portfolio gave it resources to innovate while remaining part of broader food and health systems.

  • Petco evolved from being a retail chain to positioning itself as a holistic health and wellness brand for pets. It connects food, services, insurance, and digital engagement into a single system.

  • Chewy redefined e-commerce for pets, adding emotional engagement (sending handwritten notes, flowers for bereaved pet parents) alongside digital convenience. By layering on services like telehealth, Chewy turned itself into a nexus of ongoing relationships.

The result: an industry once defined by bags of kibble on store shelves is now an ecosystem of food, healthcare, services, and digital platforms. The nexus is what delivers growth and loyalty.

The idea of nexus is really about identifying the new connections that create disproportionate value. In this example, the biggest nexus opportunities are likely to be where brands connect

  • Products + Services → Experiences

  • Data + Commerce → Personalisation

  • Brands + Lifestyles → Meaning

  • Business Models + Ecosystems → New value

  • Purpose + Systems → Trust & transformation

Each of these new connections opens up new ways to differentiate, grow, and transform:

Products + Services → Experiences

  • Shift: From selling standalone products to bundling with services that create an end-to-end experience.

  • Why it matters: Consumers don’t just want objects, they want outcomes and solutions.

  • Pet care example: Chewy offering not just pet food but also tele-vet services, auto-shipping, and personalized health plans — creating a seamless experience of care, not just a purchase.

  • Other example: Nike’s shoes + Nike Run Club app, where product, coaching, and community merge into one holistic experience.

Data + Commerce → Anticipation and Personalisation

  • Shift: From reactive selling to proactive anticipation of needs.

  • Why it matters: Data allows brands to move closer to the consumer, predicting behavior, reducing friction, and creating loyalty.

  • Pet care example: Petco using data from grooming visits, purchases, and vet checkups to recommend next products or appointments.

  • Other example: Spotify’s personalized playlists and recommendations — an ongoing, intimate relationship with consumers based on data.

Brands + Lifestyles → Bigger Context and Meaning

  • Shift: From functional value to identity and community.

  • Why it matters: Brands that embed themselves in lifestyles and movements gain deeper loyalty and cultural relevance.

  • Pet care example: Blue Buffalo positioning itself around the lifestyle of “pets as family,” tapping into values of health, love, and companionship.

  • Other example: Starbucks as a “third place” beyond coffee, embedding itself in lifestyle, work, and social rituals.

Business Models + Ecosystems → Redefining Value Creation

  • Shift: From vertical, siloed business models to platforms and ecosystems that create new flows of value.

  • Why it matters: Ecosystems amplify reach, reduce dependency on single revenue streams, and make the brand indispensable.

  • Pet care example: Chewy, Petco, and Blue Buffalo participating in broader pet ecosystems that integrate food, health, insurance, accessories, and services.

  • Other example: Amazon connecting e-commerce with AWS, Prime, and Alexa — redefining where and how value is created.

Purpose + Systems → Transformation and Trust

  • Shift: From CSR “bolt-ons” to embedding purpose into the system of value creation.

  • Why it matters: Consumers demand trust, responsibility, and systemic solutions (climate, health, inequality).

  • Pet care example: Petco eliminating artificial ingredients, positioning itself around health and wellness for pets and families.

  • Other example: Unilever embedding sustainability at scale, linking purpose with product and portfolio transformation.

8. The Leadership Challenge: Orchestration and Purpose

Ecosystem leadership is fundamentally different from traditional brand management. Leaders can no longer rely solely on ownership and control. They must think like orchestrators, convening networks of partners and aligning incentives across complex systems.

But orchestration without coherence risks chaos. This is where purpose becomes vital. Purpose aligns diverse connections and provides the moral and strategic compass of the nexus.

  • Unilever organizes its diverse brand portfolio around the purpose of sustainable living.

  • DBS Bank aligns its transformation with the purpose of “making banking joyful” — humanizing digital ecosystems.

  • Petco aligns its nexus strategy around purpose: better health for pets, people, and the planet.

Purpose allows ecosystems to thrive with clarity and trust.

9. The Future of Nexus for Consumer Brands

The role of nexus will only expand:

  • AI will personalize ecosystems in real time, predicting needs and connecting consumers seamlessly across platforms.

  • Sustainability imperatives will force brands into circular systems of production and consumption.

  • Social and cultural shifts will require deeper commitments to inclusivity, equity, and community engagement.

The winners will be those who choose the right nexus points: where consumer desires intersect with societal needs, where technology enhances human experience, and where ecosystems deliver both growth and resilience.

Tesla’s ecosystem approach to energy and mobility, Tencent’s role in daily life in China, Spotify’s reshaping of cultural consumption, and the pet care nexus of Blue Buffalo, Petco, and Chewy all point to a future where brands thrive not as isolated players but as nodes of connection and meaning.

Nexus as the New Strategy

The age of isolated brands is over. Consumer brands today are orchestrators and participants in dynamic ecosystems. This reality reshapes every dimension of strategy:

  • Brand Building shifts from identity to connectivity.

  • Product Development shifts from stand-alone products to platforms.

  • Consumer Engagement shifts from transactions to participation.

  • Financial Performance shifts from sales to system value.

Examples from Amazon, Nike, Spotify, DBS Bank, Unilever, Patagonia, Tencent, Jio, Starbucks, Blue Buffalo, Petco, and Chewy illustrate how nexus thinking transforms possibilities.

The challenge for leaders is clear: embrace systems thinking, orchestrate connections with purpose, and find your place in the nexus of the future.