The Future of Marketing

Here’s how you should think about the future of marketing.

Most buying decisions (especially higher price-point, and committee purchases) aren’t being shaped in a moment (e.g. ad, shelf, scroll).

Yes, there are impulse shoppers, but those purchases are typically for brands that are already known and trusted.

Buying decisions are typically shaped over time through:

👉 Accumulated trust (i.e. word of mouth, influencer, past experience…)
👉 Consistent experience or exposure
👉 Alignment with identity/values
👉 Past behaviour + data feedback loops

So marketing becomes less about changing minds quickly and more about earning a permanent position.

This will become much more relevant in the future with subscription and voice shopping.

So the question you should be asking yourself is…

How do we make our brand the default in a subscription, or voice-driven, world, or someone’s favourite brand?

In these instances, the consumer isn’t considering alternatives.

If you think about a future where AI is making choices for you, it will likely make choices based on your values and belief system.

For that, it needs signals, it needs to know what you like or value.

Where do those preferences come from?

For example, when you speak to your AI, “Order me shampoo.”

It’ll order the one that it thinks you will like based on your values. It’ll know your values either through a setting or just by knowing you.

Your AI will purchase:
“The healthiest option”
“The premium option”
“The sustainable option”
“The option that high-performers use”

As brand owners, we need to think about this.

If there’s no moment of choice, then there’s no moment to influence.

Thus, we need to lean heavily into our brand values, build communities, work with influencers, create experiences…