The marketing research world traditionally avoids a lot of fieldwork during the holidays. The logic is that December is "not representative" of normal behavior. But, if the only time we gather data is in months where people feel steady, rested, and regulated, we end up modeling behavior that exists only in ideal conditions. Most people don't make decisions in ideal conditions.

Our paper, The 100-Year Life Breaks Your Consumer Playbook, reflects the ideas shared during our esomar presentation.

The holidays are supposed to feel familiar. But for many people, they also mark change. It might be the first year in a new city. The first year without someone. The first holiday with a new baby, a new partner, a new job - or a new reality altogether. Even the most "traditional" seasons sits on top of transition. And yet, year after year, marketing leans on sameness: cheerful predictability, nostalgia, and "just like always" messaging.