Agility as a strategic principle in branding

"Agility isn't about moving fast—it's about knowing who you are when everything changes." With this premise, we launch our conversation with Ismael Barros, CEO and cofounder of Soluble, a branding consultancy born in the startup ecosystem and deeply shaped by its vision of brands in the digital and technology world.

In this interview, Ismael shares his thoughts on building solid brands in changing environments, the role of authenticity as a backbone, and why agility has become one of the keys to sustaining and making brands effective and relevant—in other words, turning them into a business asset.

Ismael also speaks frankly about difficult decisions, such as Laurent's departure as cofounder, and one of the hottest topics right now: how to integrate artificial intelligence without losing strategic direction.

An honest and direct look at how to manage a brand when context demands movement, but without losing your center.

Question. What role does agility play for brands in the current context?

I think agility has always been fundamental, but in the current context it's becoming even more relevant. We live in a time where it's hard to keep up; the rules of the game change practically overnight. In that sense, we need an agility that doesn't come at any cost, but rather one that's coherent and consistent with what's already been built. That coherence is critical if we want to build sustainable brands over the long term.

For that to happen, it's necessary to work from authenticity: understand well who you are, what you do, how you do it, what sets you apart, why you do it, what for, and for whom. From that self-knowledge we move to accepting what we are, without trying by all means to turn into something we're not. And finally, act accordingly.

From that authenticity we can aspire to three key tools for managing brands today:

Autonomy to ensure that the people behind the brand—and here I'm talking about owners, teams, collaborators—are aware of the impact they have on the brand and know how to manage it.

Consistency to something that has always been key, but that today is even more important because brands' touchpoints are infinite, less concrete, and less predictable. Maintaining coherence in message and experience is fundamental.

And, of course, agility. We can't give up the ability to react on time, without losing solidity or coherence. It's not about being unpredictable, but acting fast from a clear and well-grounded brand approach.

Q. Where does this way of understanding agility come from?

In our case it comes from the beginning, from how Soluble was born. We were born within the startup ecosystem, an environment where the long term is three months. It's hard to talk about branding there, because by definition it's a long-term discipline. But learning by doing within that ecosystem marked us. Agility got burned into us.

Many times, in the middle of a brand process, the business changed. Or the value proposition transformed. But what didn't change was the team, their motivations, what drove them to create what they were creating. That was always our anchor point. From that authenticity we built everything: narrative, discourse, brand.

That structure gives us a solid starting point from which to pivot. Everything else can change quickly.

P. How do you guarantee that agility from the brand side?

It's about being very aware of who you are. It's not about thinking how you should react to something external, but about being so clear on who you are, how you speak, how you relate, that the reaction happens naturally.

That saves you a lot of deliberation, because it's already been done and holds up across many scenarios. And if you involve multiple people or teams, it's key that many of the important conversations have already happened before you face a concrete situation.

That's where brand comes in as the axis. When you're clear on your purpose, your values, your personality, and your audiences, everything flows. Even when it comes to deciding whether or not to weigh in on a current event, you already know what's in and what's out. And that lets you react quickly and coherently.

P. Can you give some examples?

We see many examples in well-crafted brands that understand their brand is a business asset. Reactions like Balenciaga's in collaborations or Netflix with its online positioning are good cases. They're brands that build from intangibles and have that response capacity integrated into their teams.

Every time a brand responds to competitive provocation or takes a stance on a social or political issue, it's not improvising. It's done a lot of work beforehand to get there. It's already defined what it is and isn't, and that shows.

Q. And at Soluble?

Agility is part of our everyday. For example, we just announced Laurent's departure, one of our founding partners. An event like that, if you're not clear on what you do and why, can create an earthquake. But we had it clear: our purpose is to liberate branding.

Managing brands shouldn't be just for a few—really, any company has a brand asset and should be able to leverage it to ensure that, or at least contribute to meeting the company's objectives

This part about making good companies look as good as they are goes in that direction. When you have that clear, whether as a founder or as a team—which I think is much more relevant—you weather events like this better.

The most extreme example of agility in decision-making when something puts a company's future at risk is a founding partner split. It's another example of how we have to adapt.

Laurent leaves, but we know what Soluble has to be. The team understands what needs to happen the next day, and that's what keeps the brand standing. That clarity is what allows us to redirect immediately.

We see it too in small things, like our billing model. We use modules, which are our minimum unit of work. Each module has a value and ensures a clear contribution. This allows us to build projects like loops, adapt to changes, pause or restructure at any moment. And all of this happens without putting the relationship or the value delivered at risk.

We don't lock clients in with rigid contracts. Each module has an exit door, which guarantees that if we keep working together it's because both parties want to. This reinforces trust and enables an agile relationship.

Q. And regarding artificial intelligence?

We're in a very impactful moment. I don't think we're fully aware—not even those of us who are pretty immersed and pretty up to date on everything we're seeing—of the impact this is going to have in the short term. What we thought we'd do in 2027 we're doing now. That's forced us to work from the present and integrate AI into our processes. We already use it naturally for productivity matters, but we're going further.

I'm a steadfast believer that AI is nothing more than a tool, nothing less than a tool, but also nothing more than a tool. That said, it's the most powerful tool we've ever known, but it's still a tool. It needs a human who is expert at handling that tool and has the judgment to assess it, train it, correct it, evaluate what it produces. That's why consultants, experts, are still necessary.

Q. How is Soluble applying this relationship with AI as a tool?

Having agility in our DNA has allowed us to be offering services in this direction within just a few months. It takes us very little time to shape a new service, a tool that's completely new, that makes real sense. And we do it because we don't fear change: we know our greatest strength is our ability to adapt. It's a way of understanding our work and almost of living.

An example is the podcast THE BIG BRAND ✺ CLUB. Deciding to do it could have taken us months, but it was clear. It aligned with our purpose: share knowledge, free branding. It was born from the reality of what we are and what we want to do.

And along those lines we usually work on absolutely everything, all scales. Agility plays a key role.