How brands can lead through uncertainty without losing their values

By Kevin Skobac, Managing Director, Strategy Group, M+C Saatchi SS+K

This article first appeared on Ad Age on 15 April 2025.

It’s not a political or particularly controversial statement to say we are living in a moment of unique uncertainty. 

Global relations and economic principles are being upended. The AI revolution is transforming every industry. There is a strong sense that the next decade will be very unlike the ones that preceded it. 

We’ve identified this turbulent feeling as being “on the cusp.” The social and economic revolutions are posing a challenge not just to how we work but also to how we relate to one another, how we relate to the products and services we buy—and even our core values. Will restoring industry secure our future? Will AI bring us unprecedented productivity and leisure? There’s no way to know for sure. 

The status quo isn’t working for most people. We can’t see ourselves in the future that’s coming, so there is an instinct to upend everything. 

Marketers need to be attuned to this uncertainty so that they can respond and adapt to behaviors they’re seeing in their consumers. Here are some ways brands can stay connected: 

Show you get your customers’ realities 

What is the role you play in their lives, and how can you, in an authentic way, be on their side as they face uncertainty? The Ordinary’s egg pop-up, which saw the skin care company sell eggs at an “ordinary” price, is a good example. 

It was a nice, simple way of letting customers know the brand understands the everyday challenges they face and is paying attention. It might not have laddered up directly to the product, but it was a great way of building brand loyalty. 

Harness the spirit of transformative change 

That doesn’t mean you have to tear down the walls and rewrite your playbook. But it does mean recognising this is a moment to consider what’s working, and what’s not, for customers and employees. 

In many cases, the brands that are rushing to change for change’s sake might appear careless at best or performative at worst. The ones that demonstrate the pursuit of improvement in ways that will tangibly matter to their audiences will be rewarded. 

Be deliberate in how you embrace change. Involve your stakeholders and listen to what they like and don’t like about how you are positioned. 

Be a steady hand 

Be clear that even as you embrace change, you are a steady hand. Indeed, the way things are isn’t working for everyone, but dramatic change is also unsettling. Ask how you can give people confidence that you’re part of their long-term story. How can you show that you’ll be a constant? How can you be reliable at this moment? 

Balancing the spirit of change with the confidence of a steady hand is essential in critical industries. Everyone changes. The question is whether your values and your core identity carry through amid those changes. Without that, your brand can lose its meaning for its customers. 

We are on a cusp that is both a risk and an opportunity for brands. They need to demonstrate that they can not only evolve as times change but provide support and understanding at a time when many are very apprehensive about the immediate future. 

Sitting it out is not an option. Long-term success, and real staying power, come from understanding the larger moment, navigating the change along with your audience and coming out the other side with your basic values intact.