Forget KPIs: Vibes, community, and culture are how to build a brand in 2026

Gone are the days when marketers can think in five- or 10-year plans. These days, it’s about tomorrow, not the next 16 months, because culture and what captures consumers’ attention is changing faster than ever.

Today, it’s Love Island and Traitors reality TV star Rob Rausch posing shirtless on a giant billboard in Times Square for MAC Cosmetics. And tomorrow, it’s Punch the Monkey holding on to his plush doll. (And if you know what we’re talking about, congrats, you are chronically online and in tune with the culture. If you don’t, you’ve got some work to do, but that’s why we’re here.) 

The state of brand building in 2026 looks vastly different than what any veteran—or new—marketer remembers from even two years ago. 

Consumers have pulled back on purchases, with retail sales falling 0.2% in January, according to Commerce Department statistics. More consumers have mixed feelings about the economy than overall negativity, says global management consulting firm McKinsey & Co. in its February research report. 

But consumers are still buying, whether it’s “little treat culture” or bigger luxury products at both retail shops and the grocery store. It’s how we convince them as brands to keep buying with us that’s changing. And thus, the state of brand marketing in 2026 is born—it’s fast, it’s weird, and honestly, at times, it makes no sense. But for those of you in the room making decisions on how to engage consumers, it could be the time of your life, as long as you keep your finger on the pulse and move quickly and intently with these principles in mind.

KPIs are cringe: Instead, understand the data, but don’t rely on it

To be a responsible marketer, you need to understand any data a campaign or activation provides. But besides that, execute without key performance indicators, or KPIs, in mind. (To us, this term is cringe in 2026.) It’s about gut calls, vibes, and how anything is going to make someone feel in order for them to buy with their heart, not their heads. 

Vibe marketing is resonating with consumers—we know, because some of us started that trend. At the organic infant formula company Bobbie, we led the first breastfeeding billboard in Times Square with cookbook author Molly Baz; we also empowered mothers to parent with confidence by naming artist Cardi B chief confidence officer. 

At Poppi, our Super Bowl campaign with Charli XCX and Rachel Sennott was all vibes—it did not take itself too seriously, which is exactly how the company operates—leaning into top-of-funnel marketing moments for our highly captive audience of women and Gen Zers.

All of this changes depending on your marketing budgets, of course. But reaching people doesn’t always take a multimillion-dollar campaign. It’s surprising and delighting your community with moments that were once exclusive to media and influencers; it’s engaging with your comments sections and turning those into campaign moments, or simply a touchpoint to send someone merch “just because.”

Leaning into your community and who your consumers already are will help you develop the best messaging for your brand: What’s the story you want people to tell your brand when they’re talking to their friends, family, and neighbors?

Say something, do something 

Culture isn’t the only thing that’s rapidly evolving. With escalating geopolitical and domestic issues, consumers are looking for their favorite brands to weigh in and stand by their values. It’s important to stress that not every brand has to take a stance if it’s not in its DNA, and that’s okay.

However, many companies have always been purpose-driven. But it’s no longer enough to have a random web page with a vague statement. Consumers want to see companies put their money where their mouth is by donating or partaking in some sort of advocacy work. 

It doesn’t always mean launching a new product or campaign with the hopes that someone purchases your product. At Bobbie, we just released our Paint the Hill Green docuseries, which shows our efforts to bring the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act back to Congress. Our work—along with countless others—has resulted in the bill being reintroduced to Congress under this administration for the first time. 

We didn’t just sign a petition or pledge to do something. We put in the time and work and brought our community along with us. 

For SolComms, our communications agency has advised countless brands on when they should enter a political conversation. We assess the risk and a brand’s right to win within a certain issue, and then we execute. For example, with August, the sustainable period care company, we helped them work to fight the tampon tax by refunding customers who’ve paid a sales tax on menstrual products. And for Blueland, the sustainable cleaning product brand, we assisted in introducing a bill in the New York City Council to ban the distribution and sale of plastic detergent pods and sheets in NYC. Both efforts were actionable and on-brand, and resonated strongly with their respective target audiences.

Stay true to your customers

Whether it’s social media, email, or even direct mail, consumers are being sold to at every single possible moment. 

And they’re over it.

They’ll let a brand know if they don’t believe in their product and post on social media to tell people—where it can quickly take off and turn into a nightmare that no one saw coming.

Instead of working on crisis communications, brands should stay true to who they are and what their products are about. Continue to make sure your products have the best quality. If you’re marketing to a certain generation, stay the course, and they’ll most likely stay with you. 

Drunk Elephant has become another example of this in practice. The company enjoyed an uptick in sales and awareness from Gen Alpha tweens who would stock up on the brand’s $79 serums and $66 moisturizers. The pivot to relying on this generation meant leaving behind older consumers. 

Tweens are fickle consumers, however, as they’re quick to chase whatever the latest trend might be. And soon Drunk Elephant was not at the top of their list. The company’s sales dropped 65% year over year in the first quarter of 2025. In January, Drunk Elephant announced a new brand direction along with a “Please Enjoy Responsibly” campaign.

At Poppi, we thought we had to gain more audience, so we signed a bunch of creators and influencers, and expanded our reach into sports because we wanted to reach more men. We didn’t see any positive results from these initiatives, so we pivoted and found that talking to our female customers is how we’d get to men. 

It’s easy to get obsessed with other audiences and not your core audiences, in order to chase the shiny new generation. But the smarter strategy is to go deeper into your core audience. 

It’s easier than ever to get distracted by the hundreds of signals we think we should be following—whether it’s AI, community building, LinkedIn posts, flashy out-of-home advertisements, activations at every single major music festival, and the list goes on and on. 

But the brands that are capturing a consumer’s attention—and dollars—are the ones thinking about them, and only them, and what they want. Those are the brands receiving $2 billion exits, major retail exposure, and organic love from consumers; those are the companies we’ll still be writing about 20 years from now, and that will eventually become the rare, coveted 100-year-legacy brand.