Will Brands Survive the Third Wave?

After 20 years in branding, I’ve seen three major shifts. The third one is already unfolding — and it’s unlike the others.

Photo by Daniel Pichardo on Unsplash

Branding has come a long way — but somehow, it’s more confusing than ever.

I’ve been watching the shifts, both subtle and massive, for over two decades, and this article is my way of making sense of what’s happening now. Not a prediction — just an attempt to connect dots, spot patterns, and ask better questions.

The Current State of Branding

There are tons of interpretations. Myths and contradictions spread fast. Everyone talks about branding, but few seem to agree on what it is — or what it’s becoming.

With social media came things like “personal branding,” and suddenly people started labeling themselves, building pyramids of identity, squeezing the self into strategy decks.

At the same time, big brands — the ones that used to invest in brand-building and follow classic marketing funnels — shifted their focus to performance marketing. Now they’re fading. Losing their voice. Losing consistency. Drowning in the same noise everyone else is making to capture attention.

And if we look just a little ahead — with the rise of AI and IoT — most household purchases will soon be done by intelligent agents. It won’t be humans choosing between brands. It’ll be machines optimizing choices.

Clothing is next. Looks, updates, discovery, and orders — all orchestrated by AI.

So the big question is:
Will brands still matter?
What will branding mean in a world where we’re not the ones deciding?

Three Major Shifts

Photo by Bubun Das on Unsplash

I was lucky enough to witness three huge transformations in society that reshaped marketing strategies.

The first started in the early 2000s, with the rise of broadband internet. Businesses had to quickly adapt. They were launching their own websites, learning SEO and search ads, trying to occupy space in this new online reality.

At that time, it was mainly about providing information — whether about a business, a promotion, or a brand. The internet erased the line between ATL and BTL, introducing a new concept: TTL. It opened doors for both traditional ATL agencies and BTL teams to create new strategies — where large audiences were reachable and a direct customer connection was suddenly possible. A magical combination.

Yet the world of marketing and advertising was still ruled by ATL and creativity. Good ads generated word of mouth. They were perceived as entertainment. Some truly great ones became iconic — part of cultural heritage.

Working in advertising made you feel almost as cool as a rock star. Brands competed in being funny, relatable, bold — showing off how creatively they could strike right at the heart of the customer. The highest art was in turning insights into differentiating creative communication.

Then came the second shift — social media.

Photo by KOBU Agency on Unsplash

Quite soon — just some ten years later — we were all hooked on social media, eager to share our everyday life updates, reconsider what a “friend” is, and master our photography skills. A new cohort of celebrities, called influencers, appeared. Brands quickly rushed to occupy this new media space, switching communication even more toward the direct, engaging one-on-one with customers through reviews, post discussions, and meme competitions.

Some time later, still within that same decade, online streaming introduced real-time interaction with audiences — and went as far as turning live entertainment into live shopping and buying (especially in Asia; the Western world is yet to catch up to this model). The pandemic became the ultimate push for those who still had doubts. The world got fully digitized. Big tech became the new royalty — Google, Meta, Amazon as the kings, big data as their queen.

Marketers, of course, rushed to serve them. Marketing became deeply performance-driven. Influencers, who quickly adapted the new name “content creators,” became the new creative teams, aiming to entertain and hold attention. Brand keepers shifted into number language — chasing performance, CPAs, CPCs, CTRs.

Differentiation, personality, values, creativity — all of it was gradually replaced by algorithmic optimization. Clicks, likes, shares, subscriptions. So much data was generated that it began to turn into white noise. The true ad magicians were the ones who could take this noise and turn it into improved metrics.

Brand soul stopped playing a big role. Brand character faded. And since content performance relied so heavily on user engagement, people gradually started taking over the ownership of brand narratives.

In the Eye of the Storm

Photo by Luke Jones on Unsplash

It wasn’t easy, but most brands adjusted.
They embraced the new realm. They built playbooks to work with influencers, engaged in direct communication with customers, became performance gurus, and built internal factories for content production.

And just as things seemed to settle, sales slowly returning to pre-pandemic levels — a new player entered the stage.

Some early adopters jumped on AI’s potential. Some hesitated.

But by 2025, we can surely say: media, content, and marketing are entering a new, full, irreversible transformation.

The Question That Keeps Coming Back

Will brands remain the way we know them today?
Or will they become cultural stamps of the past?

What is it that a brand can still offer in a new paradigm, where most decisions are made by AI agents?

Surely, people will adopt this new style of shopping quickly — first with essentials (food, drinks, household), then clothing, and eventually even bigger and more meaningful purchases.

Why search, compare, or grow emotional attachments to products and services — when you’re no longer the one choosing them?

Product characteristics will rule. Imagine you’re a health enthusiast who likes to explore new products. Would you care more for a brand? Or would you let AI scan the nutrition table, price, packaging, and reviews — and recommend the pick for you (if not order it immediately)?

Who would you trust more — an ad you saw (even from a favorite influencer) or the rational, data-backed recommendation from your AI agent?

Same with clothing. With cars. With travel. With everything.

So once we delegate brand choice to assistants — and this will happen, it’s just a matter of time — what will be the place and role of brands?

I don’t have all the answers. But I know we need to start asking better questions.
And that’s what this space is for.

💬 Also published on Medium.