Beyond Average: Building Brands That Can’t Be Ignored

It’s the start of the year, which means the usual ritual: trend decks, predictions, hot takes about what 2026 will bring. As if any of us can really keep up at the moment!

Will AI finally eat everything? Will attention spans shrink further? Honestly, who knows. But if there’s one feeling I’m confident about, it’s this: people are already bored of average.

AI is going to accelerate that boredom. Not because it’s bad, far from it, but because it’s very, very good at producing the middle. The most likely answer. The safest option. The version of an idea that has been stripped of edge, opinion, and risk. Useful? Absolutely. Inspiring? Rarely.

And that’s the opportunity for brands right now.

As machines raise the floor on quality, the ceiling becomes cultural sharpness - having a point of view beyond the average and creating work that feels impossible to ignore, not because it’s louder, but because it’s thought provoking.

That matters because the wider context is heavy. Politics feels increasingly unstable, the news cycle is exhausting and social feeds are a constant reminder of how you should look, think, earn, and behave.

But if there’s anything we learnt from Havas’ ‘Britain In Full Colour’ study in 2025, people are looking for the relief from this pressure cooker and to enjoy a feeling of escapism. Something that cuts through the depressing and the bland and reminds them who they are, or who they might want to be.

2026 shouldn’t be about following best practice, mirroring trends, or copying what worked last year, it should be about picking your lane and committing to it, even if that lane isn’t for everyone, because culture doesn’t move forward through consensus, it moves through conviction.

This was a belief that drove our recent work for Asahi Super Dry, where we launched 'Seek What Is Unique'. Far beyond the familiar global beer narratives about sunshine and togetherness, we challenged the habit of looking in the same old places for the same old answers. In a category full of familiar cues, it was about backing curiosity, individuality, and the confidence to step off the well-worn path.

This is also where fandoms will become so powerful. Not as a buzzword, but as a demonstration of who you are and who you’re for. Fandoms are what happens when people find something that feels like theirs whether that’s a music scene, a sports club, a fashion code, a creative movement. They’re communities built on shared taste and shared values, not algorithms. And so, building credible engagement with fandoms by showing up with humility and intent, contributing and collaborating, can be a powerful way for brands to tap into real conversations that go well beyond the average.

With what feels like a rejection brewing against the pressure to perform the ‘average’ version of life we’re fed through socials and AI, people will look to brands as a way to get their identities back. Brands that understand this won’t try to please everyone. They’ll focus on creating work that’s impossible to ignore for their audience. They’ll feel human. Opinionated. A little imperfect. And unmistakably intentional.

We don’t know exactly what 2026 will throw at us. But I’m confident about this: as AI floods the world with competent sameness, the brands that win will be the ones brave enough to go beyond average.

Clare Phayer is head of strategy at Havas London