New Year. Same tendencies for trouble. Not a surprise. The lack of understanding of brands and the disregard for brand-building growth and maintenance principles continue to plague organizations, leading to unprofitable, short-term performance.
In December 2024, Omnicom merged with IPG, eliminating approximately 4,000 jobs. Among those displaced were hundreds of brand strategists who had spent their entire careers honing the art of positioning, differentiation, and cultural resonance. They didn’t lose their jobs because they weren’t talented or dedicated. They lost them because the infrastructure they relied on—the promise-making apparatus of the advertising age—collapsed from obsolescence.
Every December, leaders everywhere sit down with the same familiar ritual: drafting resolutions. Lose the waste. Grow the revenue. Fix the culture. Get more focused, more organized, more intentional.
As 2025 draws to a close, several brands are focusing on revitalization. Why? Poor strategies, sour executions, ignoring basic, evergreen, brand principles, and other given reasons like the weather, tariffs, and, sigh, still COVID. Kohl’s, Cracker Barrel, Macy’s, and Bath & Body Works are redesigning themselves for enduring profitable growth.
Amid all the issues surrounding air travel over the holidays, one thing that makes flying worth considering is safety. We do not need to place safety on our list of holiday air travel woes, a list that is already extensive.
