It is 2026. Holiday pyjamas are clearly making way for shining blazers. Family gatherings recede for now, replaced by office frenzy, calls and strategy sessions.
Some may say this sounds too early since it is the first full week of the year. I understand. However, business never sleeps. Even the greying ‘Santa’ has a strong business undertone. He is gone for the usual year-long hibernation for now. But imagine the billions of Dollars the smart commercial fairytale concept pulls into corporate wallets annually. Everything is business.
Let’s dive into the year. Time to do business. Going by the trend in the past couple of years, consumers are fending off brands or businesses that treat them as mere data metrics rather than people. They are waking up to demand attention. They want to be taken seriously.
That isn’t about leaning into celebrated marketing analysis comprising buying habits, where people go, what messages move the needle and how people shop. It is about matching creativity with context to build credibility.
Consumers, whether in Lagos or Laos, are becoming more adept at decoding sales pitches, brand messaging and packaging. A great cultural and personal awareness is taking root. Social sensitivity is improving. Everyone is becoming media-literate. Techy consumers have learned to train their feed to escape messaging that toys with their emotions and leads them towards buying what they are not prepared for. Ad blockers are gaining prominence on blogs.
At the street levels, big boards and experiential activities that are filled with creatives that are inconsistent with realities are mocked and ignored. To simplify things, it is great to say consumers are wise now.
Presaging 2026, Kalpesh Patarpan, Group Creative Officer at Indian VML, said, “The brands that stand out won’t be the loudest or most present; they will be the most intentional.”
How intentional can you be in this new year?
To capture a large chunk of the market moving forward, businesses will have to do more. Businesses would have to do more than messaging. They will have to connect. Businesses would have to do more than fill up people’s feeds with AI-sourced content riding on leads provided by platforms’ algorithms. They will have to tune into what the growing cultural and socioeconomic aware shoppers want.
Precisely, product development and promotions will have to put the market at the centre. Putting the market at the centre involves understanding cultural trends. It involves scanning the environment to understand the consumers and their challenges before a product and its marketing campaigns are being targeted. It also involves understanding when it is best to stay silent and when to go loud.
Decades ago, they said ‘consumers are king’. Sorry, consumers are now ‘emperors’. And they demand to be prioritised – somehow at all costs.
Consumers feel prioritised when their cultural essence is honoured. Consumers feel prioritised when their economic situations are factored into product pricing and distribution. Consumers feel prioritised when a product’s utility is stronger than the marketing hypes woven around it. That consciousness will shape patronage in 2026.
Hence, amongst others, what are the three (3) ways to align creativity with consumer aspirations for a sales boom in 2026?
- Prioritise human touchpoints – Aloof. Distant. Those two words serve as a trap for businesses. As AI gains saturation, authentic, human-first content targeting employee advocacy, customer testimonials, and behind-the-scenes content will stand out and build genuine connection and trust for your products. Go out and connect.
- Deepen personalisation – There is no one-size-fits-all product and service anymore. Neither can you find any media that reaches all audiences. Use data to create targeted products and services, as well as drive personalised experiences that resonate with your market. You are wondering why Coca-Cola reintroduced bottles with people’s names.
- Build community – Community stimulates loyalty and yields innovative ideas. Create micro-communities woven around your customer interests. Such communities can be in the form of in-person events, forums or online groups, where your customers can connect over shared interests or challenges. Also, leverage user-generated content (UGC) that encourages the community members to share experiences, stories, and testimonials that will serve as social proof for your business.
