Trend Adoption Principles: A Guide to Approaching Trends in the Marketplace

Trends are everywhere, but the winning play isn’t to chase them - it’s to choose them. This article pairs six quotes from marketing leaders into three quick lenses: Speed with Sense (move early, but keep it on-brand), Stay True, Build Trust (let values and transparency be your filter), and Guardrails to Green Lights (only scale what clearly serves strategy and moves a metric). These principles can help guide you and your business in an ever changing digital market.

Speed with Sense

Jessica Jacobs

CMO at MDVIP (recognized as one of The Women We Admire’s Top 50 Women CMOs of 2025) and former senior growth marketing leader at Shopify and Wayfair, Jess blends brand craft with performance rigor and is frequently tapped to discuss “brandformance” on industry podcasts.

“First, you can get a lot of outsized impact by trying things earlier than others. By the time everyone has hopped on a trend, generally speaking, most of the benefit has already been eaten away.

So things like new advertising platforms or new technologies - the best time and the most impact you can get from them is early on. 

Secondly, I would say the best way to understand what has actual impact vs. what's vaporware is to immerse yourself and use all of these things yourself. That way you can develop the pattern recognition for what's something that's going to have longevity vs. something that's going to fade away.

Just being an early adopter yourself, over time you'll be able to realize what are the trends that have the highest likelihood of being durable and scaling.”

Joni Marmo

Former Senior VP of Consumer & Corporate Marketing at Univision Communications, where she led enterprise brand strategy and the network’s in-house agency across marquee tentpoles and national campaigns.

“I am an advocate for establishing brand guidelines with clear values, mission, and vision to ensure consistency across all consumer touchpoints. However, for a brand to stay relevant and successful, it must be agile in adopting new trends and technologies. What’s the solution? Avoid trends that are unrelated to your brand’s positioning or that fail to provide consumers with significant value. Any topic, trend, or technology must align with the brand’s mission, deliver beneficial products, content or information and enhance operational efficiency and effectiveness.”

Stay True, Build Trust

Yanyn San Luis

Founder & CEO of The Win Woman, Yanyn is a negotiation and social-impact strategist who has helped enterprise brands like Dell, Microsoft, and Hyatt unlock measurable growth with values-driven programs. 

“When evaluating AI trends, I look for alignment with core brand values, measurable utility, and ethical integrity. Not every shiny tool is worth adopting. To mitigate risk, I use a few key guardrails: Does this AI enhance value for our audience? Can it be implemented transparently and responsibly? And most importantly — does it complement our existing strategy rather than override it? Staying on brand means using AI to humanize, not just automate.”

Ligia Trejo

Vice President of Content and Programming at NBC Universal Telemundo Enterprises, Ligia is a research-backed marketing leader focused on trust, communication, and engagement in organizations.

“Staying true to core values and identity is crucial for brand survival. In the same way, when approaching marketplace trends, brands should choose to follow trends that align with these elements. By doing so, brands are more likely to create long-term trusting relationships and credibility, instead of seeking short-term buzz that eventually fades away."

Guardrails to Green Lights

Irina Kallaur

A performance and growth marketing leader, Irina has 8+ years of global experience building paid media engines and advising teams on strategy, measurement, and voice consistency. 

“I see trends as opportunities only if they meet three principles: they align with the overall strategy, deliver measurable business value, and reinforce the brand’s voice. This discipline allows us to innovate without chasing hype or creating unnecessary risk.”

Brandon Diaz

Communications & Marketing Manager for the City of South Miami, Brandon is an award-winning public-sector marketer known for community-first strategy, brand governance, and measurable civic impact.

“Trends can be powerful tools when approached with strategy and discipline. I assess whether a trend supports the organization's long-term goals, aligns with our brand identity, and delivers tangible value to the community we serve. At the City of South Miami and through my work in both public and private sectors, I’ve learned that the key is to innovate without losing sight of trust, credibility, and mission. Guardrails like brand consistency, audience relevance, and risk assessment ensure that when we do embrace a trend—whether AI, digital storytelling, or social engagement—it strengthens rather than distracts from the bigger picture.”

In a market that changes by the week, these principles can help guide you when assessing whether or not a trend will potentially give you a return. They remind you to move early without losing the brand thread, let values and transparency earn trust when tech gets shiny, and demand proof before you pour on budget. When headlines shift, come back to these principles to decide what to test, how to measure it, and when to scale. You’ll spend less time chasing noise and more time building momentum that lasts.

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