Branding 3.0: Chained

How the blockchain will help brands restore their credibility by providing radical transparency on the digital ledger. 

Consumers are done with greenwashing. According to Simon Kucher, 57% of consumers believe that brands they use are guilty of “greenwashing,” expressing skepticism about sustainability claims and nearly 70% of respondents reported that they conduct research before trusting a brand’s sustainability claim.

Brands face a costly credibility gap. Regulators have taken action. In 2025 alone, lawsuits scrutinized Procter & Gamble’s “responsibly sourced” Charmin and Apple’s “CO₂-neutral” watch, forcing a line-by-line review of their sustainability claims. 

The call for brand transparency isn’t new, but the consequences are mounting.

Throughout my professional career, I have consistently reiterated my brand mantra: “Fail to deliver what your target audiences want from you at your own peril.” Any claim of value — no matter how clever  — is only as strong as the truth behind it. From diversity in boardrooms to social ratings to third-party certification badges, evidence holds more weight than the brand itself.

HISTORICAL TAILWINDS OF BRAND VALUES

In No Logo (1999), Naomi Klein argued that branding had shifted from selling products to selling identities and values – blurring the line between truth and aspiration. That shift has only accelerated as brands race to capture eyeballs on many digital stages. If Shakespeare imagined life as a “poor player,” technology and social media have stretched that brief candle into wildfire—an exponential desire to be seen, understood, and meaningful, and brands have struggled to move their identities at the speed of culture. The content may be sound and fury, but what does it all signify? It is no longer enough for brands to proliferate; the audience demands evidence that they are as genuine and consequential as the identities they represent.

THE FUTURE: BRANDS ON THE BLOCKCHAIN

I see hope in the near future for brands that put their supply line on the blockchain. Blockchain technology brings new layers of transparency to everything, from carbon offsets to ethical sourcing, and has a multitude of applications: ownership, claims, transactions, records, sourcing, assets, and more – so Blockchain isn’t just cryptocurrency; it has significant use cases in sectors like logistics, healthcare, real estate, insurance, gaming, digital finance (DeFi), and more. (The latest data on Blockchain adoption worldwide can be found at Statista.) 

If we assume that blockchain technology will continue to proliferate, token claims could become tokenized on this digital ledger, irrefutable proof of supply chain sources, carbon credit allocation, verifiable credentials, and more. For brands that have misread their audiences and fumbled their claims, or for all the brands now considered suspect thanks to a few bad actors,  blockchain technology may offer a path to redemption.

Welcome to Branding 3.0, where being real could mean being chained.

A LOOK BACK AT BRAND AND CULTURE

Enduring brands utilize many tools to rise above the noise, often reshaping culture in their own image by co-opting its signals. It follows that these strategies have always evolved in step with cultural shifts, from persuasion to resonance, and now onward, toward verification. 

When we take a closer look at the evolution of branding —from persuasion to resonance to evidence —the future 3.0 epoch is predictable because it logically follows the evolution of brand strategy.

• Branding 1.0 was aspirational and persuasive – built on catchy slogans, jingles, and trust in institutions. It worked when consumers believed what they were told. Example: “Choosy moms choose Jif.” (Grey Advertising for JM Smucker Co.)
  
• Branding 2.0 shifted toward emotional resonance and identity alignment. It told stories, invited belonging, and spoke empathetically. Example: “Having a baby changes everything.” (J&J)
• Branding 3.0 will reflect a post-trust environment, where consumers don’t just want to believe, they want to verify. It’s not enough to tell a good story; you have to back it up. Enter blockchain. Branding 3.0 will be grounded in reality, predicated on the digital ledger, and impossible to fake.

If branding 1.0 was prescriptive, and branding 2.0 was emotional, branding 3.0 will be evidential.

OPERATIONAL REDESIGN UNDERWAY

Responding to sour consumer sentiments, AI automation and re-skilling,  and numerous global and regulatory pressures, a recent McKinsey report found that half of the organizations surveyed plan to embark on an operational redesign in the next two years ( McKinsey: A New Operating Model for a New World 2025).

These are brave undertakings rife with urgency, especially as control of the brand narrative continues to shift to the consumer. However, emerging blockchain infrastructure is already out with strong messaging, and a look at these offers clues into what Branding 3.0 might sound like.  

In this thought experiment, I aim to demonstrate the power that blockchain integration can bring to brand messages. I chose two industries to demonstrate this tech and brand relationship, below: 

BRANDING 3.0:  FOOD ON THE CHAIN

“Traceable macros, chained to your #goals.”

Food brands can use blackchained messaging to signal values and aspirations. Health is the aspiration, and climate-friendliness is the virtue, and consumers seek validation for both from the brand and from themselves. My research has shown that, in the mind of the consumer, there have been strong associations between ‘climate’ and ‘food’ as well as ‘fuel’ for some time.

Some examples of messages and terminology from the blockchain for food:

• “Building trust with primary, proven data” — Bext360
  Bext360 connects regenerative farms with consumers via innovative, contract-verified sourcing, including blockchain-based impact statistics.
• “Revolutionizing the way food is tracked” — AgriLedger
  Similar to IBM’s Food Trust, AgriLedger says that its tokenized credits “ensure an immutable, transparent path” from sources to the consumer. 

BRANDING 3.0:  APPAREL ON THE CHAIN

“Curated fabrics, smart-chained to our mission.”

This is another example of the uncompromising quality that can be supported by the radical transparency that blockchain technology can unlock. The fashion consumer, also having goals and aspirations, wants to be seen as having good taste and good judgment. A smart-chained brand can signal that they are along for the same journey.

Note the echoes of these sentiments in both the naming and positioning, below.

Some examples of messages and terminology from the blockchain for apparel:

• “Trace every step, trust every claim” — TrustTrace
  TrustTrace  is verifying origins, labor conditions, and sustainability metrics; The entire supply story is radical transparency.
• “The highest level of brand protection”—Everledger
  Everledger writes new information to the blockchain. This is the position and proof brands need, and the confidence to be named “Ever”ledger.

Organizations that redesign their operations to align their values across all areas of production have an unprecedented opportunity to create narratives that resonate more deeply with consumers, thereby restoring credibility as they increase observability in their operations.

GET READY TO REDESIGN AND CHAIN

If McKinsey’s predictions become true, many organizations will undergo operational redesign. This should be seen as a rare opportunity for brands to align with and engage audiences by chaining promises. To reorganize the operation and chain the brand, follow a plan:

1. Redesign and document your supply chain
2. Secure third-party certifications
3. Align brand values, operational governance, and ethics
4. Create a ledger of all your sourcing and production on the blockchain
5. Parallel these steps with your operational redesign strategies, including AI maturity
6. Rebrand to develop the messages that will signal change 

Don’t miss the opportunity to be chained to proof. Get ready to be radically transparent and win back consumer confidence.

 SOURCES:

1. Charmin Toilet Paper Eco-Friendly Advertising Class Action — Hagens Berman
   (August 8, 2025)
2. Charmin class action alleges toilet paper not as sustainable as advertised — Jessy Edwards (January 23, 2025) Article reporting the class action lawsuit over alleged misleading sustainability claims in Charmin marketing. Top Class Actions
3. Sustainability’s New Normal: What 2024 Consumers Expect (June 2024) Simon Kucher
4. Procter & Gamble accused of greenwashing in Charmin toilet paper, lawsuit says — Reuters
   (January 17, 2025) News coverage on lawsuits claiming P&G misled consumers with environmental claims for Charmin.
5. No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies — Naomi Klein (1999) Non-fiction book by Naomi Klein, first published by Knopf Canada and Picador in December 1999, examining how branding shifted from selling products to selling identities and values. Wikipedia
6. A New Operating Model for a New World — McKinsey & Company (June 18, 2025) McKinsey article
7. Bext360 (company webpage) bext360.com
8. AgriLedger (company webpage) AgriLedger
9. TrusTrace (company webpage ) TrusTrace
10. IBM Food Trust  (company webpage, product demo) IBM
11. Everledger (company webpage) Everledger