Bringing in Regulatory

During one of our recent workshops, a regulatory leader shared some frustrations.

"I want to be in the room earlier," she said. "Marketing brings me campaigns to review, and I'm seeing brand decisions baked in that I can't change without starting over. I want to help shape this upfront, not just police it at the end."

She's not alone. We're hearing this from regulatory leaders more often.

The pattern: A company develops its brand strategy and messaging platform. Marketing builds campaigns. Then regulatory sees it for the first time at review. By then, the entire approach hinges on claims or implications that won't clear. Back to square one.

The cost isn't just time. It's the strategic opportunities missed because regulatory insight came too late.

What's changing: The best teams are bringing regulatory into brand strategy discussions before anything is written. Not to approve messaging, but to inform the strategic choices that determine what's even possible.

A few things we've seen work, where a shared understanding of brand story can help break down silos and facilitate communications:

Regulatory leaders who understand brand strategy and the story the company is trying to tell can flag risk territories early, when the team can still route around them. They can distinguish between "this specific claim won't work" and "this entire strategic direction is going to be a problem."

They can also advocate for what IS possible. Marketing often plays it too safe because they don't know what regulatory would actually support. The regulatory team can actually think through ways to help the company be as bold as they legally can be, not just as cautious as possible.

The key question she asked was, "What do I actually need to know about brand strategy to add value in those early conversations?"

Not everything. Just enough to recognize when a strategic direction will create downstream regulatory friction and when it won't.