2026
The self becomes the medium through which brands acquire meaning, while individuals, often unintentionally, take on the work brands once did: positioning, differentiation, and proof.
From consuming the product to becoming the product.
Idea that the product is activated through the self. Products no longer brought for what they do - it’s about what they signal to others (Taste,Belonging,Discernment, Proximity to certain lifestyle etc). Economic shift:
Not just change in taste or behaviour
Quieter economic reorganisation occurring
Individual self becomes primary site of value creation
Ownership no longer end point of transaction – now the beginning of new kind of labour
From consuming the product to becoming the product.
substack.com
how buying the product is no longer the end of the shopping journey; it’s the entry point. The real work happens afterwards, in how ownership is made visible, narrated, and put into circulation.
How Gen Z Is Redefining Collecting
artnews.com
COLLECTING CULTURE & PHYSICAL OBJECTS
When I feel well, all I want to do is enjoy life, which often ends up online. When I feel good, I want to share about that good-feeling and reinforce my sensation of aliveness with the dopamine hits of other people witnessing it and affirming it alongside me. When I feel bad, my natural instinct is to put the phone away. For the most part, I happen... See more
J Wortham • is performative offline the new performative online?
is performative offline the new performative online?
And the Oxford Word of the Year 2025 is…
This is where vicarious nostalgia marketing comes into play. The need to belong is a fundamental human trait (Baumeister and Leary 497, 522), but factors like alienation and anxiety inhibit people from feeling connected/capable of fitting in with others (506). While they may be negative traits, from a marketing standpoint, loneliness and... See more
The Nostalgia Generation | Forbes and Fifth | University of Pittsburgh
Nostalgic Marketing - How and why