Marketing Trends that Brands Should Look Out For: Brand Humanization and the Importance of Consumer-Product Connection

Marketing Trends That Brands Should Look Out For: Brand Humanization and the Importance of Consumer-Product Connection

By Adele Kattenfeld

Illustration by Zoey Morris

In the current advertising world, there is a rise of depersonalization between customers and brands. Some customers feel disconnected from brands and organizations due to a lack of transparency and over-commercialization of once familiar and comforting brands. Customer loyalty has decreased globally, as they no longer feel individually important or truly ‘seen’ by marketing campaigns from socially prominent brands.

To combat this, we have seen the prioritization of human connection and emotional storytelling within campaigns. As we get further into 2026, brands have understood how and why their product is necessary beyond practical application. The key to connectivity through marketing is communicating how a brand’s mission makes their customer’s life and relationship maintenance easier.

The Rise of Brand Humanization – Prioritizing Human Connection and Product Utility

During Super Bowl LX in February, there was an OpenAI advertisement during the first quarter that focused on how ChatGPT Codex can be utilized to assist in human creativity. Throughout the advertisement, people were shown building robots together, coding, asking questions in calculus class, and more. At the very end of the advertisement, the statement “You can just build things” was shown boldly.

This message is contradictory to what most people think about ChatGPT. It often thought of as a replacement for critical thinking and the development of creative skills. This advertisement was a strategic attempt by OpenAI to show how they prioritize human creativity and communication skills, as well as the convenience factor that ChatGPT brings.

Along with OpenAI, many brands realized that a connection factor between their product and human communication is necessary. According to the 2025 EY Future Consumer Index, 88% of customers believe that brand messaging doesn’t resonate with their needs or values. Furthermore, only 34% of people say they trust the brands they use, according to John Glenday on The Drum. When product users don’t feel connected to a product, they are less likely to repurchase due to feeling unappreciated or manipulated. This results in lower utility for both the customer and the supplier, a chronic lack of brand loyalty, and an urge for product differentiation from brands.

Why Customers Crave Relatable Advertising

Consumers want one thing – to be understood. If a product does not provide someone with happiness, convenience, or a solution, they most likely won’t buy it. Marketing strategies are the connection between a brand and their customer. Advertisements are how a brand communicates to potential customers about why they should buy their product.

The truth is that customers were bored and misunderstood by most past advertisements. Some felt that they were watching the same message over and over again: “Buy our product because it does this!” Customers weren’t being shown why they needed it, or how it would truly make their lives and relationships better.

Humans are complicated and feel lots of emotions in our everyday lives. Advertisements are truly impactful and memorable when we can see our personal experiences reflected in relation to a product’s functionality or purpose. Instead of brands making their product the entire focus of a marketing strategy, they showcased how their product performs while being integrated into life. When a customer sees a product fixing a problem they face in a relatable and purposeful way, their brand loyalty increases because they feel visible to a brand.

What This Means for the Future of Marketing Strategies and Connectivity

As more and more brands begin to rebuild customer loyalty by highlighting product utility in a relatable way, the purpose of advertisements could begin to shift. Brands are focusing on showing target customers how their product will make their lives more convenient with user-centralized advertisements. We might see the focus of marketing strategies shift more from product functionality to consumer relationships, emotions, and needs.

This might also include more communication between brands and consumers directly. To earn customer trust and loyalty, brands might ask for more user feedback and maintain relationships through personalized promotions and additional products.

To keep up with competitors, all brands should address how their product helps users communicate with each other, maintain relationships, and function throughout their daily lives. Focusing on showcasing how a product conveniences a consumer through reflections of universal, yet sometimes emotional, experiences will increase brand loyalty and overall consumer appreciation, visibility, and happiness.