If your brand went away today, what would your community miss?
It’s a question that cuts straight to the heart of a brand’s very essence. Because if the answer is “not much,” then you don’t truly have a brand. You have a product with a barcode.
And yet, a wave of marketing voices are proclaiming that “brand purpose is dead.” The common narrative increasingly points to the need for brands to concentrate on products and avoid staking positions on cultural or societal issues.
But the data tells a different, more nuanced story. Brand purpose hasn’t declined, rather it has pivoted.
The 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report: Brand Trust, From We to Me found that:
- 64 percent of people say they choose brands based on their beliefs, up 4 points year-over-year.
- 68 percent say it’s very or extremely important that brands make them feel good.
Furthering the trend, over half of respondents globally say they would be less likely to buy from a brand that ignores its obligation to address societal issues.
So, the truth is, purpose isn’t dead but expanding.
While people may no longer appreciate grand gestures or world-saving rhetoric, they do expect brands to be present in their lives, establish relationships, and offer support. It seems as though consumers care less about brands addressing societal issues at large, and more about those that play in their sandbox and enrich their daily lives.
Now, brand purpose is about something more intimate: “me.”
In this new landscape, the most successful brands must display emotional intelligence. They should listen closely, respond thoughtfully, and show up with empathy.
This trend reflects the intensity and personal fragility of the emotional climate people are navigating. Inflation, job insecurity, rising costs and financial stress have become the norm, with the majority of people under age 45 reporting some form of financial hardship in the past year. Factor in political uncertainty and institutional distrust, and the result is a consumer that’s cautious, skeptical, and craving connection.
Here’s where brands come in.
When people feel let down by traditional institutions like the government, business, media, and NGOs, they look to brands to step up. In fact, our report found that brands are more trusted than any of these institutions.
But the modern consumer is not asking brands to be bold, loud, or even brave. They’re asking brands to offer emotional availability, and a sense of stability in a world that rarely delivers it.
To truly connect with their audience, brands must fulfill a new responsibility: build relationships with the individual by delivering deep relevance, understanding not just who they are, but what matters to them in the moment.
This may come contrary to popular belief, as it challenges the notion that successful marketing efforts derive from blanket reach, penetration, and consistency. It also runs counter to the idea that neutrality is the safest path forward.
Staying silent no longer provides security or insulation. When a brand remains passive or purely transactional, people begin to fill in the blanks themselves. Brand relationships risk stalling when audiences feel neglected and seek clarity elsewhere.
New data from Edelman found that 53 percent will assume the brand is doing nothing or hiding something if a brand is silent on societal issues. In today’s AI-shaped information ecosystem, that risk will likely increase. Silence becomes someone else’s opportunity to rewrite your story.
That doesn’t mean brands should be everywhere, all the time. Instead, they should show up intentionally, relevantly, in ways that feel deeply human.
We’ve moved from the age of mass disruption to the era of personal reassurance.
Brands that stand out today understand the nuances of their audience and use them as connection points. They lead with intention, understand their obligations, and build real relationships on the individual level. And those directives must start from the top down.
Today’s consumers don’t separate what you sell from who you are.
As a result, CMOs are facing new pressures. They must decide quickly and assertively how to respond to sensitive or controversial topics – the “should we say something?” debates. Brands are walking a tightrope, expected to act, but not overreach.
So, what’s the path forward?
The new mandate requires a different kind of brand architecture where corporate brands carry the obligation to guide, empathize, and create space for their products to thrive. Product brands, in turn, must earn the right to show up emotionally. That permission comes from credibility, relevance, and consistency.
When brands deliver on real, human needs, five meaningful roles emerge:
- Provide Me with Community: The strongest brands cultivate and earn trust within existing communities. The question to ask: Are you building connection or merely chasing engagement?
- Make Me Feel Good: Providing emotional support can be essential whether it’s a good laugh or a moment of peace. The question to ask: How are you reducing stress or sparking delight?
- Give Me Optimism: Consumers crave momentum and a sense of possibility. The question to ask: What are you helping someone move toward?
- Help Me Do Good: People still want to support causes just not ones that feel hollow. The question to ask: Are you enabling values-based action or just broadcasting beliefs?
- Teach and Educate Me: Consumers want to shape products into their lives. The question to ask: Are you inviting co-creation? Are you sharing something useful or actionable? At the end of the day, if your brand disappeared tomorrow, and nobody noticed, you haven’t built a community. The brands who win from here on out are the ones who know exactly who they are, what they mean to people, and why they matter.
Nuance may just be the new brand superpower.
Jackie Cooper is Edelman’s Global Chief Brand Officer and Senior Advisor.
