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Data, culture, creativity. Here's your monthly guide to what's going on in the world of marketing.
Welcome to Trend Watch, your monthly source of trends and forecasting by the Amigo Strat team. Keeping our ears to the ground, every month we’ll compile our sharp take on what’s next and why it’s important.Ta
We’re halfway through the year and cracks are showing. Keir Starmer has faced his first major rebellion, Rachel Reeves broke down on national TV, causing the pound to drop, and Trump is shifting his tone on Putin. Meanwhile, the joy of Pride month seemed tempered this year by policy regression in both the UK and US. Still, hope remains. In Hungary, the annual Pride event amassed a huge turnout, a powerful show of solidarity in defiance of the Prime Minister Victor Orbán’s attempt to shut it down. Elsewhere, tragedy struck, with deadly floods in Texas and a plane crash in India, as well as heatwaves sweeping Southern Europe.
Even the creative world is shifting gears. At Cannes, creative leaders called for better measurement and greater brand purpose. And in music, Irish rap group Kneecap’s banned London Underground poster sparked urgent conversations around censorship, Palestine, and double standards, bringing the politics of protest to the centre of brand experience. This was compounded by criticism directed at the BBC for choosing not to cut the broadcast of the English punk-rap duo, Bob Vylan, following their controversial and derogatory remarks about the IDF during their Glastonbury performance.
In this climate, empty words won’t cut it. After years of lofty brand purpose and glossy posturing, July is all about showing, not saying. One campaign that recently did this to perfection was Stella Artois x Wimbledon, which served up a limited-edition embossed white tin, in line with Wimbledon’s famously uncompromising all-white dress code.
So, the standout brands are building trust in visible, tactile, and participatory ways. From festival-stage politics, backstage B2B psychology, to the layered power of women’s sport, this month’s trends tell a story of credibility earned.
"Censored Honesty" Billboard Patrón Tequila
Patrón proves purpose is a creative act
Patrón’s latest campaign takes aim at the muddied waters of brand purpose. Their mission is to make proper tequila, no additives. Seems simple, but it was not without consequence. When the brand’s transparency clashed with Mexico’s Tequila Regulatory Council which saw the brand temporarily lose its NOM certification blocking its ability to export tequila under their name, Patrón didn’t back down. It’s a reminder that true purpose shows up in what a brand defends.
The brand’s point of pride is being 100% additive-free. This temporary suspension inspired the brand’s new marketing offensive, developing the ‘Censored Truth’ campaign to comply with these conversations while still clearly communicating what’s in (or not in) their tequila.
Foresight
With audiences tuning out hollow value statements, brands need to show their thinking and their actions. Patrón’s approach is an example of a brand articulating a consistent, emotional idea that runs through product, comms and behaviour. Looking ahead, the strongest brand platforms will be the ones you can see and feel, not just read about in a manifesto. Purpose isn’t dead, but the performative kind might be. What replaces it? Clear, creative conviction backed by decisions that carry weight.
LinkedIn's head of marketplace innovation Mimi Turner / Miranda Parry Photography
Defensibility is the new differentiator
Forget product specs. LinkedIn’s latest “Buyability” report reveals that the biggest deal-breaker in B2B isn’t price or performance, it’s fear. Specifically, the fear of making a decision you can’t defend later. In a crowded shortlist of capable vendors, the one that feels safest wins. It’s not about being the best. It’s about being the least likely to get someone fired. This shift is changing how B2B brands show up and how they tell their story. Add to this the rise of B2B influencer marketing, (yes, Snoop Dogg for Notion is real), and the B2B landscape is becoming more about trust.
Foresight
We’re entering an era where emotional reassurance becomes the core product. Buyers want confidence, peer validation, and stories they can repeat in a meeting. Social proof will outpace sales decks. Creator partnerships will replace sales-y webinars. Influence will come from people “like me,” not corporate comms. The smartest B2B brands will embrace this by swapping performance stats for narrative confidence and showing up consistently in the spaces their buyers already trust, especially LinkedIn. Defensibility is the new differentiator. Relatability is the new ROI.
Xero appoints The Space Between for FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 Campaign
Lionesses x Xero: the business case for women’s sport
Sam Daniels, Head of Brand and Campaign Marketing at Xero, recently shared the rationale behind the accountancy software company’s strategic partnership with England’s Lionesses. Xero’s investment into women’s sport, including partnerships with FIFA and the FA, is part of a clear long-term strategy.
Foresight
Such a partnership is clever and right on, and backed by data. Half of Britons feel more positive towards a brand that sponsors women’s sport and with commercial interest accelerating rapidly, the timing couldn’t be better. Xero is positioning themselves alongside an under-tapped, fast-growing sector of engaged fans and cultural capital.
What’s more, women and teenage girls have long been among the most powerful brand advocates, from Beatlemania to beauty brands gone viral on TikTok. Unfortunately, brands rarely give this most loyal fanbase the respect they deserve (see Vox's excellent article, Who runs the world? Not teen girls). As the UEFA Women’s Euros kicks off, the rise in global sponsors reflects a broader truth: this is prime ground for brands that want to be associated with talent, momentum and change.
So come say hello, amigo@amigopartnership.com