Last year drained a lot of people for a lot of different reasons. It wasn’t just pressure from work and family or shifts in our industry. As that movie title puts it, it felt like everything, everywhere, all at once. I felt like I was constantly flipping from one concern to the next — the news cycle, the stock market, tariff impacts and a long list of other issues. There was always one more thing demanding attention. Many of us responded by scaling back or even shutting off our news intake. But that’s a luxury marketers simply don’t have. Staying on top of the news lets you spot how today’s events can turn into tomorrow’s business opportunities — or threats.
Last year was yet another exercise in learning how to pivot and adjust our strategies to keep up with rapidly changing conditions in how we operate and how we market to customers. The business acumen we sharpened during the COVID years has definitely been put to work again. At the same time, I’m starting to see encouraging signs that suggest there really is light at the end of the tunnel — and it might not be an oncoming train this time.
1. 2026 could finally be the big technology replacement year.
I don’t like to make hard-and-fast predictions about the year ahead. Instead, I focus on highlighting trends to watch and offering context so people can make sense of what’s happening in our industry and where it might head over the next 12 months. Back in 2024, I said leading retail brands would end their broad freeze on new technology investments. I anticipated that companies which had…