Marketing in the Tariff Era: What Retail & FMCG Brands Need to Know (and Do Next)

Tariff hikes may seem like a finance or supply chain story, but for Retail and FMCG brands, they’re a marketing challenge of the highest order. Why? Because Marketing sits at the intersection of consumer behavior, brand value, and commercial outcomes. Right now, all three have the potential to be disrupted simultaneously.

Pricing pressures. Inventory inconsistencies. Shifting loyalty patterns. Everything you put in the market — from media and messaging to product positioning — must reflect this new volatility.

DEPT is advising global brands through our Strategic Navigator Program, helping them adjust tactics and strategy. Below are five urgent marketing challenges we are seeing — and what forward-thinking marketing leaders can do to lead through them.

When prices go up, trust is on the line

With rising costs being passed to customers, brands must walk a fine line: How do you communicate price increases without eroding brand trust or losing share? Especially if there are viable alternatives for consumers to choose from. What to do: Shift your messaging to emphasise value, quality, or smart savings. Maybe even around buying in bulk right now. Reframe your narrative and meet your customers where they are. Right now. 

For example, Chipotle’s CEO, Scott Boatwright, recently said that the fast food chain intends to absorb the impact of the tariffs and keep its prices as is so it can stay the course on “delivering extraordinary value to the consumer”. While this may not be an option for every brand, it’s important to be as transparent as possible in this moment and connect your messaging to your larger brand story. 

The brands doing this well create preference, not just permission — showing consumers that higher cost reflects a higher purpose or better return.

When what you’re promoting isn’t in stock

When tariffs cause stockouts or reduce the variety of products available, marketing gets hit. If you’re promoting products that aren’t in stock, it leads to wasted spend and customer frustration.

What to do:  Build dynamic content frameworks, integrate with inventory systems, and stay nimble with paid media targeting. This isn't just an efficiency play — it's about brand integrity. Inconsistent availability paired with static messaging can make your brand seem out of touch or unresponsive. A good example of this is our work with Foot Locker. Together, we’ve developed an AI-powered solution designed to uncover products that will drive the healthiest revenues. These scores are then used to prioritise which products should be invested in, as well as where to minimize advertising investments. 

Squeezed budgets, higher expectations

With rising costs in operations, marketing budgets are under pressure, but expectations haven’t gone down. Marketers need to do more with less, with fewer resources.

What to do: Smarter audience targeting, modular creative, and performance-driven media planning to stretch every dollar further. In short, use AI to drive your personalised content solution.  

We work with eBay to leverage our creative automation tools and create multiple cross-channel messages and creative variations for various eBay audiences. Automated asset production allows us to tailor messaging to each customer segment and iterate on the messaging quickly based on performance data. We create over 200 monthly campaigns in multiple languages that convey their unique brand voice and articulate their values consistently to millions of people around the world.

Price-sensitive, values-driven: Today’s consumer is both

Consumers will be more price-conscious – that’s a fact. But they are also increasingly values-driven. Decisions made now will impact their choices in the long term. They’re watching how brands react to pricing shifts and whether the brand’s messaging still aligns with their reality.

What to do: Use real-time data, social listening, and testing to keep a pulse on sentiment and pivot messaging quickly. Do it Daily. Adjust and use your content updates for better outcomes.  

Thriving in uncertainty 

Tariff changes can come fast, disrupting even the best-laid quarterly plans.

Brands that rely on long lead-time content or seasonal planning are at risk of being caught off guard.

What to do: Build agile marketing workflows with room to adjust timing, creative, and spend media allocation, and do it daily. If your agency can’t do it, find one that can. 

The bottom line

Tariffs are reshaping how brands go to market. The brands that thrive will be the ones that stay agile, listen closely, and act fast. Retail and FMCG leaders must prioritize resilience in your operations, double down on understanding and serving your most valuable customers, harness the power of AI, and make the tough strategic choices necessary to protect your profitability.

Tariffs may be outside your control, but how your brand responds is where leadership lives. We’re already helping clients pivot — from messaging and media to content and commerce — and speed matters, so act now. 

Andrew Dimitriou is the chief client and growth officer for DEPT.