Designing for Resilience: Lessons from FUSE Miami

2 NOVEMBER 2025

At FUSE Miami 2016, global branding leaders from Virgin, PepsiCo, BBC, CVS Health, and RJ Reynolds gathered to discuss how design can serve as a strategic force in building brand resilience. Nearly a decade later, the insights remain strikingly relevant. The central theme was clear: resilient brands are those that recognize opportunities in disruption and embrace change with agility.

Recognizing Opportunity in Volatility

Resilience begins with awareness. Major corporations often face setbacks tied to shifting consumer expectations, especially among millennials, rising demands for transparency, and the disruptive power of agile startups. The difference between brands that falter and those that rebound lies in their ability to spot opportunities hidden within adversity.

CVS Health’s decision to stop selling cigarettes illustrates this principle. By aligning with the macro trend of healthfulness, CVS not only reinforced its positioning but also expanded into new categories like insurance. This proactive move transformed a potential reputational risk into a credibility‑building opportunity.

This aligns with resilience theory in management scholarship. Lengnick‑Hall, Beck, and Lengnick‑Hall (2011) argue that resilience is not about “bouncing back” but “bouncing forward”—using adversity as a catalyst for transformation. CVS exemplified this by turning a reputational challenge into a strategic repositioning.

Embracing Change Through Design

Resilience also requires the capability to embrace change. Design was highlighted as a critical lever—both as a creative discipline and as a strategic mindset. Amazon’s communication around drone delivery was cited as an example of bold, future‑oriented design thinking. By envisioning how product packaging might evolve to fit drone arms, Amazon demonstrated how design can bridge the present with the future, inspiring stakeholders while preparing for disruption.

Design, in this sense, is not just about aesthetics; it is about anticipating transformation. Schultz and Hernes (2013) emphasize that embedding long‑term narratives into organizational identity strengthens resilience by ensuring continuity under external shocks. Just as individuals schedule regular health checks, brands should adopt “resilience checks”—structured reviews of their narratives, positioning, and design strategies to ensure they remain agile in the face of change.

Agility as a Competitive Imperative

The conference underscored that Fortune 500 turnover is faster than ever. In a world where reputational damage can spread in minutes, agility is no longer optional. Brands that ignore opportunities risk being displaced by more nimble competitors. Resilience, therefore, is not a static trait but a dynamic capability—one that must be cultivated continuously.

The dialogue between CVS and RJ Reynolds revealed that even seemingly opposite brands share a common imperative: transformation. CVS shifted away from low‑value goods to reinforce its health positioning, while Reynolds diversified its activities around smoking to manage risks. Their exchange highlighted that resilience is not about ideology but about adaptability—finding ways to evolve while maintaining trust.

Conclusion

The FUSE Miami discussions remind us that resilience is engineered, not improvised. It requires brands to recognize opportunities in disruption, embrace change through design, and cultivate agility as a core capability. For today’s leaders, the lesson is timeless: resilience is not simply surviving volatility—it is using volatility as a catalyst for transformation.

References

Lengnick‑Hall, C. A., Beck, T. E., & Lengnick‑Hall, M. L. (2011). Developing a capacity for organizational resilience through strategic human resource management. Human Resource Management Review, 21(3), 243–255.

Schultz, M., & Hernes, T. (2013). A temporal perspective on organizational identity. Organization Science, 24(1), 1–21.