When everyone optimises for speed, the slowest moments become the most valuable. We're living through the great flattening. Every brand is automating, compressing, polishing. Same flows, same tone, same AI-shaped interactions. It's all very slick. And very forgettable.

As Black Friday stretches into Black Week, Cyber Monday, and now what feels like Black November, a question emerges: are we optimising for transactions or eroding brand equity?

In 2025, we saw major players roll the dice on this emotional connection. Some brands proved that a refresh can revitalise health conscious consumers. Others learned the hard way that erasing heritage can lead to months of online hate campaigns. We're living through the great flattening. Every brand is automating, compressing, polishing. Same flows, same tone, same AI-shaped interactions. It's all very slick. And very forgettable.