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Fighting Complacency in a Competitive Economy

By Anushka Pandit

Adam-Mills

Adam Mills, Head of Insight, Loyalty & Strategy, The Wine Society, says the biggest challenge is to move away from the internal expectation that your customers will always be your customers.

As brands flood every feed and inbox with templated tactics and generic personalisation, the real winners are quietly shifting focus—toward relevance, resonance, and real connection.

“We’re in a world where spray-and-pray activity hits the right target once in a blue moon,” says Adam Mills, Head of Insight, Loyalty & Strategy, The Wine Society. The age of precision has ironically led to overload, where even one-to-one marketing feels more like surveillance than service. 

In response, savvy marketers are embracing a “one-to-few” mindset, says Mills—targeting clusters of like-minded consumers with meaningful experiences, not just content with a call to action.

The bigger challenge, however, is fighting complacency in a cutthroat economy. As wallets shrink and loyalty fades, assuming your customers will stick around simply because you’re “good enough” is a losing bet. Mills makes the case for re-earning attention with every interaction—because in today’s experience economy, brands aren’t just selling products; they’re selling moments that matter.

We had a chat with Mills to discuss what marketing is predicted to look like in the near future. Read the full interview:

What’s one trend or shift you believe will have the biggest impact on marketing in 2025?

As simple as it sounds, I see us all facing a big shift back to relevance, and shaping meaningful experiences. We’re in a world where spray and pray activity hits the right target once in a blue moon, and where 1:1 marketing is now seen as Big Brother permanently watching you. 

A slight pivot back towards relevance enables the 1:few principle – finding like-minded consumers with the right content at the right time for them. Consumers are bombarded on an hourly basis, let alone a daily basis, and cutting through is harder than ever – appealing to them with something that has a good hook, that is targeted well, and delivers an experience that has meaning is paramount.

What’s one challenge marketers must overcome to stay competitive this year?

We all know the score – the world is bleak right now. Wallets are tight, and getting tighter every month that passes. Competition is strong in every industry, and we’re all fighting for the same customers with the same wallets. 

It’s an old adage, but for me, the biggest challenge is how as a business you move away from the internal expectation that your customers will always be your customers – the belief that ‘we’re good enough’ really isn’t good enough in a world where brand loyalty is waning across every sector and every industry. Again, shaping moments that matter – especially now that we exist in the experience economy – should be fundamental to us all, but we’ll face headwinds getting there.

If you could give one piece of advice to today’s marketing leaders, what would it be? 

Keep fighting the good fight. Stick to the basics. Don’t overcomplicate things. Trust your instincts, but pay attention to the insight. Do right by your customers – and they will do right by you.

Adam Mills will join a panel of experts to answer the question – Is loyalty dead? Rethinking customer connections in the modern era at Vibe Marketing Tech Fest. 

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