Marketing Trends Analysis

Every sales leader I talk to at the moment is struggling with some version of the same issue. The symptoms are different, but the underlying cause is the same. - Sales cycles elongating - Deal slippage - Prospects not showing up to meetings - An uptick in ghosting - Poor forecast accuracy - A drop in deal volumes - A drop in conversion rates What's actually happening out there in Buyer land? I've been delivering win-loss reviews for B2B companies around the world since 2011 and I'm seeing buyer behaviours I've never observed before... Let me break down some of them quickly for you and share some guidance on how to use these lessons to your advantage: Trend #1: Risk has jumped up the decision tree in order of importance, to the very top of the list for many clients, even more so when it's a new vendor. Action: Go deeper on risk in your discovery conversations, recognise that risk is both organisational and personal...find ways to better manage, mitigate and share risk with your clients...Be the low risk option. Trend #2: Value for Money, Responsiveness and Cost are consistently selected as the most important decision criteria by many clients. Action: Responsiveness should be an easy one to get right, but many sellers are stretched too thin right now...do less, but do it better. Trend #3: Change in Strategic Direction is the most frequently cited reason for customers coming to market for a new solution at the moment. Action: Try to reverse engineer this reason, to understanding what caused this change in direction and what it actually means for the business. These are your keys to the kingdom, when building a rock solid business case. Trend #4: Feedback from Peers and Colleagues has emerged as the most trusted information source for almost all respondents. Action: Case studies and customer references are losing their luster...find ways to tap into the trust which prospective clients have in their own peer network, as a way to unlock deeper connections and build trust. Trend #5: Customers are demanding more detail in the proposal documents, tender responses and business cases which they are receiving. Action: Put in the work, avoid the cookie-cutter responses, find your win themes and weave them in, share the detail they need to make an informed decision. I haven't got a crystal ball, so I can't tell you if/when the pendulum will swing back the other way, from a buyer behaviour perspective. What I can tell you with a high degree of certainty is that prospective customers have raised the bar, in terms of their expectations from their vendor partners. It's our job now to to elevate the preparation, patience and professionalism of B2B sellers everywhere, to meet these changing needs and maintain our relevance to the customers we serve.

In 1980, 6 of the top 10 most valuable companies were energy giants. But in 2024, 7 of the top 10 were tech companies "Data is the new oil," explains one analyst. "AI is the new energy,” says another. These comfortable narratives attempt to explain the economic transformation happening before our eyes—but they're fundamentally wrong. This isn't a story about oil being replaced by data or electricity by AI. It's about something far more fundamental—the commoditization of abundance and the weaponization of scarcity. Data and computing power grow exponentially, becoming increasingly abundant. Human attention, however, remains stubbornly, biologically finite. The market leaders of 2025 aren't valuable because they collect data or build AI; they're valuable because they've mastered harvesting human attention at unprecedented scale. This became clear to me while analyzing Chris Hayes' work on attention as our most endangered resource. The winners aren't just wielding algorithms—they're engineering interfaces that capture and retain our focus. Here's what makes this economic shift significant: — Traditional advantages erode rapidly—witness how quickly DeepSeek challenges OpenAI — Manufacturing excellence becomes outsourceable — R&D barriers fall as innovation democratizes But attention capture? That's the new competitive moat. This principle extends far beyond Silicon Valley. Whether you're selling kombucha or medical devices, your primary challenge isn't operations—it's grabbing and holding scarce cognitive bandwidth. I've observed this transformation clearly in the global travel industry, where success increasingly hinges on discoverability rather than operational excellence. The flow of capital now invariably follows those who master this sequence: hail, grab, hold, repeat. Does your strategy reflect this reality? Are you still optimizing for an economy of abundance while ignoring the true scarce resource? The war of the AI era isn't about computation… …it's about cognition. Learn more in my full analysis: https://lnkd.in/ekuAC8wz

The attention economy has everyone chasing 15-second wins. But if you're building a brand for the long haul, that's not enough. You can grab someone's attention with a flashy reel or a trending hook, but that doesn't mean they'll remember you tomorrow, especially when the attention span on social media is decreasing everyday. Most brands are stuck in this cycle: spend money to get noticed, make a sale, then start over. The shift that actually works is when brands stop renting attention and start earning permission. Permission to email consumers. Permission to show up in their feed without being scrolled past. Permission to be part of their routine instead of an interruption. At Honasa Consumer Ltd., I've seen this play out with our brands. The content that builds loyalty isn't the loudest or the most polished. It's the stuff that's consistently useful, honest, or genuinely interesting. Small touchpoints that add up over time. Think of it like compound interest for brand building. One good interaction doesn't change much. But dozens of them, over months? That's when people shift from consumers to advocates. The D2C brands winning in 2025 aren't just visible - they're invited. They've built communities that actually want to hear from them, not audiences they have to keep convincing. Attention is rented. Permission is owned. And in a world where everyone's fighting for the same scroll, being invited in is the only sustainable advantage. #Entrepreneurship #Brandbuilding #StartUp #D2C

want to know the dirty little secret about trend forecasting? while everyone's obsessing over what's "next," the real innovators are already capitalizing on what's here. i've spent weeks analyzing reports from YouTube, Meta, Spotify, and others. here's what's actually changing (and what's just recycled thinking): 3 massive shifts happening RIGHT NOW: 1. emotional depth revolution ↳ gen Z isn't asking for personalization, they're demanding real connection ↳ example: patagonia turning product repairs into community narratives 2. AI moving from behind the scenes to center stage ↳ we're shifting from AI-powered to AI-partnered ↳ brands winning: look at snapchat's AI characters giving style advice 3. hybridized experiences taking over ↳ physical spaces becoming content studios ↳ digital/physical divide? it's already disappearing bottom line: 2025's "trends" are unfolding in today's consumer behavior. the most successful brands aren't waiting for tomorrow - they're acting on the patterns hiding in plain sight. question is: what signal are you seeing today that you can act on while others are still planning for tomorrow? #FutureOfBusiness #Innovation #DigitalTransformation #MarketingStrategy #Leadership

Everything we know about online brand discovery is about to break. People aren’t browsing pages anymore. They’re asking AI. And that means the entire digital value chain is being rebuilt. Users are no longer starting with a Google search, clicking on links, and browsing websites. Increasingly, they’re turning to AI tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini to get direct answers, summaries, and recommendations. No links. No websites. No page one rankings. That shift is forcing a rethink of how visibility works online - and where SEO (Search Engine Optimization) fits. Traditionally, SEO has been about helping businesses appear higher in Google results. That meant optimizing websites to match search terms, earn backlinks, load quickly, and convert well once the user arrived. But that model depends on one thing: people clicking on search results. AI tools don’t work that way. When users ask ChatGPT for help - “compare project management tools,” “what’s the best CRM for startups,” “find me a cheaper alternative to X” - they’re not browsing. They’re expecting a direct, summarized answer in the chat itself. That’s where the biggest shift is happening. Data from Profound shows how user intent is evolving in AI environments: 1. Generative intent now leads at 37.5%. These are prompts where users ask AI to create or do something directly: write an email, summarize a document, recommend a product. 2. Informational intent - traditionally the most common in Google - is down to 32%. These are questions looking for facts or explanations. 3. Navigational intent - looking for a specific website - has collapsed from 32% in traditional search to 2% in AI. In chat, people don’t say “take me to X.com.” 4. Transactional intent has jumped 9x (to over 6%). That includes prompts like “buy running shoes,” “find deals on laptops,” or “compare prices.” 12% of prompts are conversational: things like “thanks,” “make it shorter,” or “can you add a joke?” - which play a subtle but growing role in shaping how AI interprets tone, preferences, and even brands. Why does this matter? Because all of this happens before a user visits a website - if they visit at all. In this new model, there’s no clear click path. No landing page. No bounce rate. That makes most current marketing KPIs and tools largely obsolete. A new wave of startups is helping brands adapt - decoding how AI models reference products and content. The focus has shifted from rankings to being included in AI-generated responses. The move from SEO to “AI visibility” is early, but accelerating. The question now isn’t: “How do I get more search traffic?” but “What do AI systems say about the brand - and is it even part of the answer?” Because soon, it won’t just be users asking. It will be AI agents deciding - on their / our behalf. Are you ready? Opinions: my own, Graphic source: Profound 𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫: https://lnkd.in/dkqhnxdg

India’s food landscape is shifting fast. The recently released Godrej Food Trends Report 2026, built on inputs from hundreds of industry experts, lays out clear trends that F&B brands can’t afford to ignore. From an F&B perspective, here’s what brands need to internalise - + Savoury protein is the next big format → Sweet protein has hit fatigue. The pivot is toward namkeen - bhel bars, high-protein kebabs, street-food-flavoured protein snacks. Backed by new manufacturing tech, this category is primed to scale. + Fibre is the new protein → ‘Fibremaxxing’ is going mainstream. Gut-health awareness, GLP-1 diet influence, anti-UPF sentiment - all pushing in the same direction. Fibre-fortified snacks and RTE products have a real runway. + Snacking needs a mood brief, not just a taste brief → Mindful indulgence is what drives the next generation of snack loyalty, like nostalgic flavours, mood-enhancing cues. + Beverages → Savoury-forward cocktails - fat-washed, fermented, umami-rich - are redefining the bar occasion. For beverage brands, the brief is shifting. Complexity and cultural storytelling over sweetness and high ABV. + Q-commerce is reshaping home cooking → ‘Assisted cooking’ - quality base preps + consumer-finished dishes - is a product innovation white space that didn’t exist three years ago. + Flavour boldness is non-negotiable → India isn’t chasing global fads. It’s doubling down on teekha-chatpata roots. Innovation that plays it safe on flavour will get ignored. + Sweets & desserts → Mithai is going Indo-modern - texture mashups, western influences, multi-sensory indulgence. The traditional sweet is being reinvented. + Provenance sells → GI tagging, micro-region storytelling, and women-led agri sourcing are becoming premium brand assets - not just CSR footnotes. In today’s world, consumer signals - expressed and otherwise - are multiplying fast. Brands that read them early and build them into innovation pipelines won’t just keep up. They’ll own the shelf. #trends

Beyond financial performance, annual reports often provide insights into the consumer trends and behaviours that companies are preparing for. Tata Consumer Product’s FY 26 annual report offers an interesting peek to how one of India’s largest FMCG company sees Indian consumer’s behaviour shaping One theme that runs consistently through the report: Indian consumer is becoming more intentional Tata Consumer describes an "irreversible trend toward premiumisation, health & wellness and digital-native consumption." The implication is not that consumers are spending indiscriminately, but that they are becoming more selective about where they choose to upgrade. The report positions premiumisation as a long-term consumer trend alongside health & wellness and digital-native consumption. Tata Consumer has organised its innovation agenda around five specific need states: Gut Health, Metabolic Health, Iron Fortification, Protein and Sugar Reduction indicating that consumers increasingly seeking clear benefits and outcomes from the products chosen. Perhaps the most interesting phrase in the entire report was Tata Sampann building consumer affinity in "trust-deficit categories" such as pulses, spices, cold-pressed oils and dry fruits. That struck a chord. In many food categories, the real competition may no longer be about taste, price or even convenience. It may increasingly be about trust. As consumers become more informed and intentional, what role will trust play in shaping brand choice? #ConsumerInsight #MarketerDiaries 

Google's launch of new protocol and tools for agentic shopping is an alarm to all brands, including B2B tech. We’re not just optimizing for humans anymore. ‼️ We’re optimizing for 𝗔𝗜 𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗳 𝗼𝗳 𝗯𝘂𝘆𝗲𝗿𝘀. These autonomous systems don’t scroll, skim, or click like humans. They 𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗲, 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝘂𝘆𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱. Here’s the 2026 reality for CMOs and VPs of marketing: 1) The customer funnel is being rewritten AI agents increasingly handle discovery and early decisioning. Humans enter the journey later, after an agent has already scored options and filtered down choices. Visibility isn’t about ranking in a list of links; it’s about being the candidate an AI trusts and recommends. 2) Technical accessibility becomes a competitive moat If your content isn’t 𝗺𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲-𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲, 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁-𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆, you disappear from the agent worldview. Traditional UX and keyword SEO are no longer enough; you need schema, APIs, and protocols that let agents interpret and act on your data. 3) Personalization shifts from “nice to have” to table stakes Agents don’t make generic recommendations; they optimize for task-specific goals. ‼️ 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲, 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝘁, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗹. 4) Attribution and measurement need rethinking Classic click-through metrics will understate influence because many outcomes will happen “behind the scenes” through agents. It’s time to define KPIs that reflect agent engagement, task inclusion, and selection rate, not just traffic. 𝗕𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗺 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲: In 2026, AI agents become the new buyers you can’t ignore. If you’re still optimizing for humans first, you’re already losing share in consideration sets that matter. Getting agent-ready is not optional; it’s mission-critical.

What happens when a legacy CPG giant like PepsiCo acquires a fast-growing disruptor like Poppi? It’s a blueprint for the future of FMCG. PepsiCo has spent years evolving its portfolio, shifting toward healthier, functional, and better-for-you options. From acquiring Siete Family Foods to Sabra Dipping Company, and now Poppi, they’re doubling down on what today’s consumers want: ✅ Functional Ingredients: Poppi taps into the gut health boom, projected to reach $72B+ globally by 2032 (Source: Market Research Future® (MRFR)). Consumers aren’t just looking for hydration—they want drinks that boost immunity, digestion, and energy. ✅ Premiumization of Soda: Traditional soda sales have declined by 12% in the last decade, while functional and prebiotic sodas are growing 35% YoY (Source: Beverage Digest). Brands like Poppi prove that consumers will pay a premium for added health benefits. ✅ The Power of Challenger Brands: Nearly 60% of Gen Z & Millennials say they trust emerging brands more than Big CPG (Source: McKinsey & Company). PepsiCo knows the future belongs to brands that feel authentic, mission-driven, and community-led. So, The “Big Food vs. Challenger Brand” battle is over-it’s now about collaboration. Legacy brands need disruptors to stay relevant. Health & wellness aren’t trends-they’re becoming industry standards. If a brand isn’t innovating in functional benefits, it’s already falling behind. The next wave of acquisitions? Expect strategic buys in functional beverages, gut health, and personalized nutrition. This is just the beginning. Are Big CPGs moving fast enough to keep up with evolving consumer demands? #FMCG #PepsiCo #Poppi #GutHealth #ConsumerTrends #MergersAndAcquisitions #FoodAndBeverage

Intentional shopping is no longer a trend — it’s a shift in consumer logic Across grocery, CPG, and even pet food, one thing is becoming clear: the most valuable consumers today are intentional. They shop with purpose — looking for products that align with their values: health, sustainability, clarity, and functionality. They read labels, scan products, verify claims, and choose based on alignment, not brand loyalty. And increasingly, they expect the same for the people and pets in their household. What defines the intentional shopper • Makes informed choices based on ingredients, impact, and integrity • Expects brands to deliver real transparency, not just marketing • Uses tools and apps to validate nutritional or ethical claims • Applies the same mindset to convenience food, snacks, beverages — and even pet nutrition • Favors brands that reduce friction without sacrificing quality Why this matters for the industry? • Assortment strategy is shifting: Nutrient density, functional benefits, and ingredient purity are becoming key to visibility — especially in digital environments • Reformulation is not optional: Regulatory frameworks (HFSS, front-of-pack labeling, Nutri‑Score) are moving in the same direction as consumer values • Product ≠ packaging: Messaging alone doesn’t win. Products must embody the values they claim Implications for startups: • Startups that offer clean-label convenience — like pre-portioned, additive-free, or plant-based products — are gaining traction • Differentiation often lies in format innovation: from paste (as seen in portable coffee startups) to water-activated meals or pet food snacks based on microbial protein • A new generation of brands is being built from the inside out — products like YummyEats (instant Nutri‑Score A meals), NoNormal Coffee (Fairtrade coffee paste), and VEGDOG (plant-based, vet-formulated dog food) represent this shift Implications for investors • Brands that bake in trust and function are positioned for premium margins and long-term relevance • Infrastructure around nutrition data, ingredient science, or ethical supply chains is becoming investable • The pet category is maturing into a mirror of human wellness — and consumer expectations are converging • The winners will not just sell products — they will enable lifestyle choices that reflect identity and values Intentionality is now the operating system for modern consumption. It cuts across demographics, channels, and categories — and it’s reshaping how relevance, loyalty, and value are created. #retail #fmcg #consumertrends #intentionalshopping #nutrition #functionalfood #startups #investors #petfood #plantbased #digitalshelf #reformulation #cleanlabel #transparency #productinnovation #foodtech #retailtech #nonormalcoffee #yummyeats #vegdog #europe #usa #germany #sustainability #genz