Brand architect Bedbury speaks at Leaders in Dubai

A great - and lasting - brand is the result of mixing the best product with the best people, according to Scott Bedbury, one of the world's leading brand architects.

Bedbury, who was responsible for Nike's Just Do It campaign and the emergence of the Starbucks, said: "It takes time to create a great brand, and it is the result of the best product, combined with the best people.

"If these elements are right, the company name becomes loaded with intangible qualities, which ensure it will become a great brand."

According to Bedbury, a successful brand is not the result of a clever advertising tagline alone. "The words Just Do It were only spoken in one Nike advert in eight years; the words themselves didn't hit home, it was that they were born out of a great strategy. Indeed, on paper, those words meant nothing, but they started to come to life as part of a corporate culture change."

He stresses that top-tier executives should start to be held accountable for how they influence the corporate brand.

"We are seeing companies hold their top executives accountable to brand equity performance, not just financial performance.

"This is particularly important if companies need to streamline: there are many ways to increase the financial performance of a business in the short-term, but many of these will kill your brand in the long-term."

Meanwhile, the increasing dominance of the internet has forced companies to become more transparent and focus more on their core values, according to Bedbury.

He said: "The internet has made companies realise they are totally transparent - one email from a disgruntled journalist can be made available to the world's media. Companies now have to focus on their core values, as customers have access to all sorts of information to help them make a decision - from consumer watchdog reports, to competitors' prices.

"The internet has levelled the playing field again: it all comes down to the intangible qualities of a company - and which brands you trust more."

Bedbury will appear at Leaders in Dubai alongside eight business and political headline names, including Mikhail Gorbachev, former leader of the Soviet Union, and former American President Bill Clinton (via video cast) will take part in the debate on leadership best practices.