Justice, a brand everyone sees but no one owns.
Imagine an organization that eleven million Belgians interact with and depend on every day. They see it as one unified system delivering an essential public service. They form opinions about it, trust (or distrust) it, and judge its performance as if it were a single entity.
Having spent years in the branding and advertising industry - a world obsessed with perception - my shift to advising Belgium's Federal Public Service Justice gave me an unusual insight: Justice already has what many organizations spend millions trying to build - a brand that lives in the minds of eleven million Belgians. Could this be a missing piece to achieve successful transformations?
The paradox? A unified justice system exists only in people's minds.
In reality, Justice operates as separate institutions – courts, prosecutors' offices, administrative services, and more – each with its own identity and ways of working. Behind these walls, we find dedicated professionals who play vital roles in our legal system, yet they often identify more with their specific entity than with Justice as a whole. This independence serves democracy but creates real challenges in our digital age, especially when it comes to public communication and trust.
The identity crisis nobody talks about
Think about it: 11 million people use the justice system. Governments and the European Union invest huge amounts of money to modernize it. We're constantly discussing whether it works well enough. But underneath all this lies a complicated web of separate institutions, each doing its own thing.
For over a decade, significant resources have been invested in modernizing Justice through consulting-led reorganization and new technology. Yet something crucial has been overlooked: while citizens experience Justice as one system, internally it operates as separate pieces that often don't work together smoothly.
The media landscape makes this challenge even more pressing. Social media amplifies unverified information and oversimplified narratives about legal matters. High-profile cases often spark public outrage, with influencers reaching large audiences through emotional, often uninformed takes. While some magistrates try to provide context through official channels, their voices rarely reach beyond their immediate networks.
This gap between public perception and reality causes practical problems. Each institution pursues its own digital transformation path, often duplicating efforts. Different parts of Justice struggle to communicate effectively with the public, sometimes even sharing contradictory information about the same case. Inside Justice, this fragmentation leads to frustration and a sense of powerlessness among staff.
This creates a fundamental paradox: how can you transform something that doesn't see itself as one thing?
Why traditional changes don't stick
This identity crisis causes practical problems that many improvement efforts miss. In the old days, when everything was on paper, different departments could work separately and just pass files back and forth. But in today's digital world, they need to work together in new ways.
Take Belgium's attempt to create a digital case file system. Even though everyone agreed they needed to modernize, disagreements about technical details and workflows caused years of delays. This shows how having separate identities can stop progress, even when everyone knows working together would help.
Traditional consulting approaches excel at answering "how" questions: How do we digitize processes? How do we improve efficiency? But they often struggle with "why" questions: Why should different institutions align their efforts? Why should citizens trust the system? This is where brand thinking becomes valuable – not as corporate-style branding, but as a framework for creating shared purpose while preserving independence.
Finding a better way forward
Consider how other complex organizations handle similar challenges. The European Central Bank operates through independent national banks while maintaining one trusted identity. The BBC manages numerous independent channels under one respected brand. These organizations show that unity and independence can strengthen each other.
Think of it like an orchestra: each musician plays their own part, but together they make beautiful music. Similarly, "justice" can be a unifying idea that helps different parts work together while staying independent.
A shared brand framework could transform how Justice works in practice. When different parts of Justice implement new systems, they could work from common principles about what "good" looks like, while still meeting their specific needs. Instead of confusing citizens with different messages from various institutions, Justice could speak with a coordinated voice that builds understanding and trust. Different parts of Justice could share knowledge and best practices more easily, not through forced standardization, but through a shared understanding of success.
Making change happen
Transforming our justice system isn't just about having good ideas – it's about making them work in the real world. Success depends on understanding how citizens actually experience and perceive Justice, developing shared principles that strengthen rather than compromise institutional independence, and creating frameworks for collaboration that respect necessary boundaries.
We need everyone to share the same vision of success. Imagine all parts of the justice system – courts, prosecutors, administrative staff – working toward the same goal of making justice work better for citizens. Each group keeps its independence but understands how their work fits into the bigger picture. When a judge makes decisions, when an administrator processes cases, or when a prosecutor builds a case, they're all working toward making justice more accessible and fair for everyone.
We must also commit to long-term change. Think about how long our justice system has existed – centuries. We can't transform it overnight or even in a few years. We need to plan beyond election cycles and quick fixes. Countries that succeed in modernizing their justice systems often create special teams that work continuously on improvements, sharing their progress with the public regularly.
Finding justice's voice
Right now, while various institutions work diligently, there's no unified story that connects their efforts to the bigger purpose they serve. This creates a disconnect: internally, dedicated professionals work toward improving justice without seeing how their role fits into the larger picture. Externally, citizens struggle to understand how these separate pieces come together to deliver justice.
A shared identity for Justice changes this dynamic in two powerful ways. Inside the system, it gives everyone – from judges to administrative staff – a clear sense of purpose and belonging to something greater than their individual roles. When a court clerk understands how their work contributes to "Justice," it brings new meaning to their daily tasks. When a prosecutor communicates about a case, they can connect it to Justice's broader mission in society.
For the public, this shared identity transforms how they see and understand Justice. Instead of encountering disconnected institutions, they engage with one clear voice that speaks about our democratic values, our commitment to fairness, and our continuous journey toward better justice. This voice doesn't replace individual institutions – it amplifies their work by showing how each part contributes to the whole.
Looking ahead
By embracing the brand that already exists in people's minds, Justice can become more than the sum of its parts. It can maintain the independence essential to democracy while creating the coherence citizens need and expect. For the dedicated professionals working within Justice, this shared identity can provide something equally valuable: a clearer sense of how their specific role contributes to Justice's broader mission in society.
This isn't a silver bullet for all of Justice's challenges. But it offers something valuable: a North Star that can help four independent organizations see their common goal, rather than each pursuing digitalization from their own separate perspective. It provides a framework for speaking with a coordinated voice in an age of viral misinformation and oversimplified social media narratives.
The opportunity is clear, and so is the urgency. Our justice system must adapt – not just to be more modern or efficient, but to remain something democratic society can trust. The brand already exists in the minds of eleven million Belgians. Now it's time to harness its power to help build a better justice system for everyone – one that's both powerful and fair, maintaining its essential independence while fostering the trust and understanding our society needs.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are entirely my own, drawn from my experience as a brand strategist and change advisor. They represent a novel way of looking at institutional transformation through the lens of identity and shared purpose, informed by but independent from my professional engagements with justice institutions. This perspective, while unconventional, aims to contribute new ideas to the ongoing dialogue about justice modernization. It should not be interpreted as representing the position of any organization, institution, or political party."
Thoughts
COPYRIGHT © 2025 JO VAN GRINDERBEEK
STRATEGIC AND CREATIVE ADVISOR