Brandbuch Trends 2026
Refocus:
from Chaos to Velocity
What's happening out there?
We've gone from a period of volatility to an age of chaos. People and businesses everywhere are contending with political violence, big-boss-era work cultures, and unchecked AI acceleration. The chaos is no longer the exception. It's become the system itself.
It's time to Refocus
As we widen our view to the year ahead, one thing is clear: We can't resist the chaos. But we can build up the velocity to move through it - velocity that's more than a metric, but a discipline. The organizations that win in 2026 will be those with the authority, creativity and humanity to separate their internal operations from external turbulence. The ones who can say 'no' to reactive panic, and narrow their focus on high-speed, directional impact. Stand firm on your principles. Be fluid in your execution. Move with speed. Move with direction. Start building velocity today.
The signals that inspired our Trends for 2026
Tolerance is breaking. Insularity is building.
70%
of people hesitate to trust someone with different values or backgrounds
Edelman Trust Barometer, 2026
Performance culture is pushing well-being out of work.
2/3
of the US workforce reports burnout, undermining long-term performance
State of Workplace Learning Report, Moodle, 2025
Power is hardening. Resistance is growing. The (No) Kings Era is rising.
88
countries saw protests increase in 2025 — a record level of global mobilization
ACLED, 2025
Synthetic relationships are competing for social interaction.
49%
of Gen Z say they have already formed a meaningful relationship with AI
VML, 2026
AI is accelerating. Verification is lagging.
35%
of AI chatbot responses contained false claims in August 2025, up from 18% in 2024
Polytechnique Insights, 2025
Tolerance is breaking. Insularity is building.
70%
of people hesitate to trust someone with different values or backgrounds
Edelman Trust Barometer, 2026
Performance culture is pushing well-being out of work.
2/3
of the US workforce reports burnout, undermining long-term performance
State of Workplace Learning Report, Moodle, 2025
Power is hardening. Resistance is growing. The (No) Kings Era is rising.
88
countries saw protests increase in 2025 — a record level of global mobilization
ACLED, 2025
Synthetic relationships are competing for social interaction.
49%
of Gen Z say they have already formed a meaningful relationship with AI
VML, 2026
AI is accelerating. Verification is lagging.
35%
of AI chatbot responses contained false claims in August 2025, up from 18% in 2024
Polytechnique Insights, 2025
Tolerance is breaking. Insularity is building.
70%
of people hesitate to trust someone with different values or backgrounds
Edelman Trust Barometer, 2026
Performance culture is pushing well-being out of work.
2/3
of the US workforce reports burnout, undermining long-term performance
State of Workplace Learning Report, Moodle, 2025
Power is hardening. Resistance is growing. The (No) Kings Era is rising.
88
countries saw protests increase in 2025 — a record level of global mobilization
ACLED, 2025
Synthetic relationships are competing for social interaction.
49%
of Gen Z say they have already formed a meaningful relationship with AI
VML, 2026
AI is accelerating. Verification is lagging.
35%
of AI chatbot responses contained false claims in August 2025, up from 18% in 2024
Polytechnique Insights, 2025
Tolerance is breaking. Insularity is building.
70%
of people hesitate to trust someone with different values or backgrounds
Edelman Trust Barometer, 2026
Performance culture is pushing well-being out of work.
2/3
of the US workforce reports burnout, undermining long-term performance
State of Workplace Learning Report, Moodle, 2025
Power is hardening. Resistance is growing. The (No) Kings Era is rising.
88
countries saw protests increase in 2025 — a record level of global mobilization
ACLED, 2025
Synthetic relationships are competing for social interaction.
49%
of Gen Z say they have already formed a meaningful relationship with AI
VML, 2026
AI is accelerating. Verification is lagging.
35%
of AI chatbot responses contained false claims in August 2025, up from 18% in 2024
Polytechnique Insights, 2025
Trends
Trend 1
Narrative
agility
Abandon the illusion of narrative control. Anchor yourself in core truths, but deploy agile narratives that adapt to the speed of culture and the context of the moment.
Trend 2
Augmented
empathy
Operationalize care. Use AI to scale empathy, not replace it—ensuring no employee is left behind in the race for transformation.
Trend 3
Elastic
authority
Trade rigid tenure for elastic missions. Refocus on leaders who can bend without breaking, prioritizing raw adaptability over polished longevity.
Trend 4
Dynamic
grounding
Decouple impact from ideology. To bypass political backlash, companies must rebrand social impact as a hard operational necessity—trading moral language for semantic and regulatory survival.
Reporting with Velocity
This is not the year for a comprehensive trends report. Today's leaders need concise, efficient, and high-velocity guidance. They need to Refocus, move faster, and move better. So we've gone back to basics and made this year's report scannable, actionable, and ready to implement.
Brandbuch's perspective
Melissa Buch, Brandbuch Founder & CEO"As we help clients navigate this landscape, we've found that speed alone is not enough. Yes, we'll need to move faster than ever. But if we're going to survive and grow, we'll also need absolute clarity of purpose. In this report, we explore how leaders, employees, and society must refocus to move with velocity in 2026."