Written by Julien Ricciarelli-Bonnal
7 January 2026
In 2026, the market is no longer saturated with companies but with what companies produce. Every brand publishes, comments, broadcasts, explains, stages itself, retells its story, updates its vision and recycles its own discourse in an endless fog of digital presence. The result is simple. Nobody truly listens anymore, but everyone keeps talking louder. The problem is no longer competition, but pollution. And within this global saturation, a silent rule is taking shape. Only brands that are genuinely useful will survive. Not useful in a moral sense, but in a strategic one, meaning brands that bring something identifiable, understandable, applicable or memorable to their audience.
The end of cosmetic marketing
For nearly a decade, brands believed that being visible was enough to appear credible, that being active was enough to appear relevant and that being present was enough to appear memorable. The illusion thrived that a daily post could replace an actual vision, that a creative visual identity could compensate for the absence of structure and that a well-crafted storytelling could cover for a lack of coherence. That era is ending, not because audiences suddenly became demanding, but because they are exhausted. They no longer want to be entertained by brands, nor impressed, nor artificially seduced. They want to understand how a brand helps them in a world where every second of attention has become costly. This shift is real, measurable, visible in the smallest consumption decisions. A brand that cannot articulate its usefulness will need to make twice the effort to remain relevant, and soon, even that won’t be enough.
The rise of intelligible brands
In today’s buying behaviors, clarity has become the primary driver of trust. Consumers are not searching for an image anymore, but for logic. Companies that can explain in twenty seconds what they do, for whom and why it matters instantly gain an advantage. Intelligibility becomes a competitive weapon, while opacity becomes a fatal weakness. This transformation is directly linked to the cognitive saturation created by the explosion of AI-generated content. The more noise there is, the more the human brain searches for anchors. The more confusion there is, the more clarity becomes rare and therefore precious. This is why brands capable of articulating a coherent vision, a structured promise and a readable value proposition stand out almost effortlessly. It is also why strategic audits come back as indispensable tools for companies that need to understand how they truly appear from the outside and how to restore their clarity.
Usefulness as the new strategic territory
Being useful does not mean becoming philanthropic, nor turning into an educational institution, nor producing purely instructional content. Usefulness, in its simplest marketing definition, is the ability of a brand to solve an identifiable problem or improve a concrete situation. In 2026, this criterion surpasses all others. A brand may be aesthetic, innovative or entertaining, but if it does not deliver something tangible to its audience, it quietly disappears from their mental landscape. Usefulness becomes a refuge value, a stable foundation in an environment where every trend seems temporary. Successful companies are those that simplify their customers’ lives, reduce their mental load, save them time or help them work better. This usefulness may take the form of a product, a service, a method or an experience. It may be discreet or striking, technical or emotional, but it must be real. People instantly recognise sincerity and detect superficiality just as fast. This is also why structured business development regains importance: it transforms utility into long-term positioning.
The downfall of brands that pretend to be brands
Many companies spent years confusing communication with existence, as if speaking loudly were enough to prove they had something to say. In 2026, this illusion collapses. Brands that only imitate marketing trends, repeat the same formulas as everyone else or produce interchangeable content are weakening. Digital performance is no longer measured by volume but by depth. Superficiality is not a weakness anymore, it is a risk. Brands losing reach are not victims of algorithms but of their own lack of substance. The market is not punishing the absence of creativity but the absence of coherence. Form has never replaced substance, and AI has only accelerated this return to reality. A brand that does not know what it stands for has no right to expect the public to guess it.
Usefulness, clarity, coherence: the new competitive triangle
The key to this new era lies in the combination of three elements. First, usefulness, which anchors the brand in reality and gives it a reason to exist. Then, clarity, which allows audiences to understand this reason effortlessly. Finally, coherence, which aligns decisions, messages and actions. When a brand masters these three pillars, it no longer needs to overperform to be seen, because it becomes naturally legitimate. This approach requires methodology, structure and vision, all elements that companies rediscover through strategic consulting and well-framed business development. These investments restore a backbone to organisations often worn out by years of scattered communication.
2026, the year of natural selection for brands
The market is not collapsing, it is clarifying. Companies that disappear are not eliminated by competition but by their inability to demonstrate usefulness. Conversely, brands that grow are those willing to be evaluated not on what they show but on what they bring. They do not chase trends because their legitimacy relies on something far more stable than a temporary wave. Natural selection in branding does not reward the loudest but the most useful. Not the most visible but the most coherent. Not those who publish the most but those who think the best.
Written by Julien Ricciarelli-Bonnal
7 January 2026
