Brand Experience: Considerations for Association Leaders

Brand experience reflects how associations work, communicate and deliver value over time. As expectations rise, alignment and clarity matter more than ever. 

For many associations, conversations about brand center on visual identity. Design brings clarity, directs attention and creates familiarity across touchpoints — from websites and reports to events and learning environments. But members experience an association through far more than its visual presentation, including how clearly it communicates, how consistently it operates and how reliably it delivers value. 

Every interaction with members, volunteers, partners, staff, sponsors and prospects shapes how people perceive and remember the organization. Over time, those moments add up. Together, they define the brand experience. 

Brands are widely recognized as business assets. Interbrand estimates that strong brands can account for 20 to 50 percent of a company's total value. While associations don't carry equity valuations in the same way, the dynamic is the same: brand strength shapes how stakeholders assess credibility and staying power. For associations, that shows up in renewal decisions, sponsorship interest, partnership opportunities and how boards evaluate long-term sustainability. 

"Brand experience reflects how associations work, communicate and deliver value over time."

This has always been true. What has changed is how directly brand experience influences trust, loyalty and decision-making. 

The Edelman Trust Barometer has found that trust grows when organizations act competently, reliably and transparently — and people learn those qualities through experience, not messaging. Consistency reinforces that trust. Gartner research shows that consistency across touchpoints strengthens confidence in an organization's value. When experiences feel disconnected or unpredictable, credibility weakens, even when mission and strategy remain strong. 

Brand experience takes shape across the entire organization — not in one department or function. Governance, onboarding, events, education, digital tools, staff interactions and follow-through all play a role. When members, volunteers and staff know what to expect, how decisions happen and how issues get resolved, confidence grows and friction drops. As associations add programs, adopt new tools or adjust structure, shared standards preserve quality and coherence without losing momentum. 
 

"Brand experience takes shape across the organization."
 

For associations, strengthening brand experience is less about reinvention and more about alignment — making sure how the organization works reflects the value it has always delivered. 

Three Questions for Association Leaders 

• Where does our member experience most clearly reinforce trust? 
• Do our visuals, systems and behaviors tell the same story across every touchpoint? 
• If someone interacted with us for the first time today, what would they experience and what would they remember? 

Meet the Authors

Karen Saverino

Chief Marketing Officer
Smithbucklin 

Matt Sanderson

President & CEO
Smithbucklin