Like most of you, December 31st always sneaks up on me.

This year more than most. It felt like one long exercise in humility, resilience, and paying closer attention than I’m used to.

As I head into 2026, a few things feel clearer than they did a year ago.

Live shopping is real.

I’ve watched it dominate in Asia for years and kept wondering if it would ever really click here. This was the first year it stopped feeling theoretical. Not a gimmick. A real shift in behaviour. The brands testing early are already learning things the rest of the market hasn’t caught up to yet.

I was wrong about tariffs.

I expected them to slow companies down. I thought ad prices would soften. Neither happened. Teams adapted faster than I expected, and competition only intensified. What stood out this year was how often resilience beat hesitation.

I lost a pitch I thought I had locked.

That one stung. Not just because we lost, but because it exposed a blind spot. I knew our story well. I didn’t know the competitive landscape deeply enough. That loss forced better thinking, sharper positioning, and stronger conversations for the rest of the year. It was uncomfortable but it was necessary.

BFCM planning mattered more than ever.

The wins didn’t come from last-minute heroics. They came from brands that planned early, pressure-tested assumptions, and treated collaboration as real work, not a calendar formality.

More than anything, I feel grateful.

For clients who trusted us when things felt uncertain.
For teams who stayed curious instead of defensive.
For lessons that only show up when you slow down enough to notice them.

2025 reminded me that growth rarely feels clean while you’re living it.
But clarity shows up if you’re willing to sit with what the year is trying to teach you.

Thank you to everyone who was part of the journey.
Onward to 2026.