Annie Harte, Audience Strategy Lead at eight&four, recently contributed to Performance Marketing World’s PMW Unlocked 2026 feature, sharing a stark warning for brands heading into the year ahead: most simply do not have the gravitational pull to build a community, and in 2026, they will not be able to pretend they do.
As platforms shift, agentic commerce accelerates and the industry continues to grapple with the so-called death of the click, the gap between brands with genuine cultural relevance and those relying on surface-level engagement will become increasingly clear. According to Annie, the issue is not that community no longer matters. It is that the definition of community has fundamentally changed.
People no longer gather around brands or products in isolation. They gather around meaning, identity and shared belief systems. Communities are built through shared backstories, emerging lore, in-jokes and rituals, the cultural signals that create belonging beyond transaction.
Annie notes that this is where many brands fall short. Fandom cannot be forced or fabricated through short-term campaign tactics, nor is it the result of chance. It requires deliberate world-building and long-term commitment, engineering the conditions where devotion can grow. Crucially, many of these micro-communities operate outside the traditional brand playbook and are often resistant to conventional marketing approaches.
The message for 2026 is clear. Brands will no longer be able to declare that they have a community and expect credibility. Community will be something that must be earned through consistency, authenticity and cultural relevance. Those willing to do the work, invest in meaning and play the long game will be the ones that truly stand out.
Read the full articlle on Performance Marketing World here.
