How to adapt brand strategy for changing consumer behaviour

What do people really want from brands in 2025?

Accenture’s Life Trends 2025 report offers brands a sharp lens on how consumer expectations are quickly shifting. It explores the tension points brands now face as people grapple with synthetic content, digital fatigue and an increasingly blurred line between online and real life.

I’ve unpacked these insights and translated them into tangible actions for brands who want to stay ahead. Here’s what matters now – and what you can actually start doing about it.

1. Digital trust is broken. Brands need to help people feel certain again

With deepfakes, AI scams and misinformation on the rise, people are very wary of what, and who, to believe online. This hesitation is slowing down ecommerce journeys and is a huge barrier to building brand loyalty.

What actions can you take:

• As AI becomes central to digital branding, you need to be clear on how your content is produced to protect your brand reputation and build consumer trust.
• Use real testimonials and behind-the-scenes storytelling to reinforce your credibility.
• Avoid hyping things up without substance. Brands need to evidence their claims, otherwise it’s just empty promises.

Next steps

Make sure you’re putting an authentic voice at the heart of your brand communications – while it’s ok to use AI as a starting point, everything needs a human touch, right from the start of your content strategy all the way through to tone of voice and user experience.

2. Families are overwhelmed. Build safe spaces, not just sales funnels.

Today’s parents are navigating an online world full of pressures they never faced growing up, from cyberbullying to filters that warp body image. Many are calling for a hard reset, with the rise of movements like Smartphone Free Childhood. In light of this societal shift, brands have a responsibility to communicate in a way that respects children and their family.

What actions can you take:

• Reassess how your brand speaks to younger audiences and their guardians.
• Create campaigns that empower, rather than persuade.
• Respect boundaries, and if your brand activity feels ethically or morally grey, reassess or reapproach it in a way that doesn’t.
• Make sure your digital spaces are accessible, inclusive and age-aware.

Next steps

If you work in education, retail or any family-facing sector, establish content guardrails and brand behaviour that genuinely earns trust.

3. We’re in the age of impatience, so design like every second counts.

People want answers very fast. They’re not taking the time to read through lengthy product specs, instead they’re watching a 15-second TikTok review and clicking ‘buy’. Brands that overcomplicate or delay the customer journey are quietly losing out.

What you can do:

• Deliver fast, frictionless user journeys.
• Create agile, mobile-first content strategies designed for fast-changing digital behaviours.
• Offer real utility – like FAQs that directly answer the question.

Next steps

Streamline your customer experience and craft content that’s built to meet real-time expectations. If your customer has to navigate through multiple comms and dig deep to find information, it might be time to rethink your strategy.

4. AI is changing the workplace. Make it feel more human.

Yes, AI is making work faster, but it’s also making people anxious and the backlash has already started. Employees fear they’ll lose creativity, purpose or even their role altogether. As well as being a tricky HR issue, the problem directly affects brand perception too. If people feel a brand is overly reliant on AI (and it’s easier to spot than many brands realise), trust suffers which hampers growth and runs the risk of reputational damage.

What you can do:

• Reassure your people through thoughtful internal comms.
• Celebrate the human skills that machines can’t replace.
• Shape a future-of-work narrative that includes everyone.

Next steps

Brands should be bringing humanity to the forefront regardless of where they’re communicating. Both existing and potential employees should be celebrated and encouraged in a time of such uncertainty, in order to get the best out of them.

5. Digital fatigue is real. People are searching for tangible, meaningful moments.

We’re now in the age where very few people haven’t grown up with technology from a young age. After years of sustained swiping, scrolling and streaming, people are craving offline connections again and brands that understand then act on this shift will be well perceived. But when people are locking their phones in drawers to get away from the digital realm, what can brands do to connect on a more meaningful level?

What you can do:

• Blend your online and physical brand experiences to connect digital convenience with real-world emotion – think interactive retail and live brand storytelling.
• Give people opportunities to slow down, reflect and engage deeply. The world’s moving fast and people welcome a pause.
• Bring back craft, emotion and real-world joy to your brand experiences.

Next steps

Shape hybrid campaigns that feel genuinely memorable and build in moments of excitement.

Do you need help translating cultural insight into brand action? Get in touch – we’d love to help. Alternatively, for the latest brand and behaviour insights, take a look at our Articles page.