Your 2026 Growth playbook looks different

For years, brands could count on one thing:

If you showed up high in search rankings, customers would find you.

That era is shifting.

AI is reshaping how people discover information, evaluate options, and even who to trust. As a result, marketers are now being told they need to optimize for answer engines, not just search engines.

That shift isn’t theoretical. It’s already changing consumer behavior.

But AI isn’t the only force reshaping the way brands approach growth.

The creator economy has become a trust engine.

People don’t trust brands the way they used to.

They trust people.

Creators, influencers, and personalities are shaping opinions, driving purchases, and — increasingly determining which brands even make it into a consumer’s consideration set.

Why?

Because consumers are building trust with the growing time they are spending with their favorite creators:

A few weeks ago, I walked into a store specifically to buy a postbiotic drink. Not because I’d seen an ad, but because I’d been watching and engaging in social media posts for weeks that featured some of my favorite creators. I appreciated how the brand was engaging in and even shaping culture, and I wanted to support them for it (along with those creators I followed).

I’d never heard of the brand before those social media posts. And had I seen a paid ad for it? I wouldn’t scrolled right past.

This isn’t a short-lived trend that will pass in a few months.

It’s where trust has moved.

Identity and belonging now shape buying decisions

The makeup of the global consumer base has been shifting for decades:

But it’s not the demographics alone that’s shifting the way the market behaves.

It’s the expectations.

Consumers no longer want to assimilate to belong.

They expect brands to see them, support them, and design experiences that work for them as they are.

When brands fail to do that, consumers notice.

And when they get it right, consumers reward them — loudly.

Again, not a trend.

A lasting shift in how discovery, trust, and loyalty are formed.

But a lot of brands are uncomfortable with these shifts.

I get it. Change can be hard, especially when you’ve had a tried and true playbook that has been good to you for years.

Brands must evolve with external forces to compete and grow.

Back in the 2016 letter to shareholders, Jeff Bezos talked about “embracing external trends” as one of the keys to the behemoth brand’s success.

To be clear, here is how Bezos defines Day 2 “Stasis. Followed by irrelevance. Followed by excruciating, painful decline. Followed by death.”

As we prepare to enter into a new year, the question I want to pose to you, is are you preparing for the future, or fighting it?

If growth is your goal, then evolution has to be a part of path to success.

Let’s ride the tailwind of these shifts — not just to grow faster, but to serve customers better and make a bigger impact while doing it.