Category: News

Back in October, I had the privilege of traveling from the UK to the US to speak at the Digital Marketing World Forum in New York City, sharing the stage with industry thought leaders to discuss the future of marketing.

At the conference, my talk focused on how brands can ready themselves for what is next in today’s highly fragmented search world.

The discussion that followed my session was one of the highlights of the event for me, underscoring just how important this topic is for marketers today, given the strong interest and thoughtful questions from attendees.

I wanted to recap some of the core themes and insights from my presentation for those who couldn’t join in person.

The Search Crisis: Why Traditional SEO and SEM Are Breaking

Brands today are facing a major challenge as the traditional rules of search are being upended by two powerful forces: evolving consumer search behaviour and the rise of generative AI. Making traditional SEO and SEM more expensive and less effective. 

The modern consumer doesn’t search – they discover. For years, the path to purchase was a predictable journey: 

1. A user had a need
2. Typed a query into Google
3. Clicked a link
4. Landed on a website.

That era is definitely over!

We are in a new era of discovery, one fragmented by social media, driven by conversational AI, and defined by a new generation of users (Gen Z). 

The Fractured Landscape: Search is Everywhere

The old destination, the search bar, is now one of many starting points. 

Gen Z has shifted search behaviour, transforming platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram into visual, socially-validated search engines for everything from “nice restaurants in London” to “skincare for oily skin.”

Zero-click search with Google AI overviews is now becoming an essential part of how we find frictionless answers – making traditional SEO brand visibility and ROI difficult to quantify. 

AI is also becoming a beacon for multi-dimensional search, enabling users to merge text, imagery, and voice into a single search term, driving further personalized recommendations. 

For brands, this means your visibility strategy must extend far beyond Google.

In short: If you’re NOT in the answer, you’re NOT in the funnel.

The Solution: One Integrated ‘Whole Search’ Strategy

Brands need a unified approach that anchors their content strategy in human intent that can be activated across all channels. We call this Whole Search.

“Chasing algorithms is a losing game. Algorithms are constantly changing, but human behaviour signals are your constant.”

Whole Search is a modern, comprehensive approach designed to address the fractured search landscape and rebalance marketing efforts across Paid, Earned, Owned, and Shared tactics.

Whole Search has three essential principles that brands can adopt, to ensure they are creating the content strategy of the future: 

Principle 1: Lead with User Intent

The core of Whole Search is understanding the ‘why’ behind the search. Stop optimizing solely for keywords; start optimizing for intent. 

Whole Search goes beyond the standard intent categorization (Informational Intent, Transactional Intent, Navigational Intent, etc.). 

We add additional intelligence layers, for example, by classifying audience questions across all platforms, from forums and social media listening to traditional search queries we can uncover high-intent questions and build content that genuinely solves problems across the entire funnel and channel ecosystem. 

Principle 2: Break the Silos

A cohesive search strategy requires operational alignment. 

Teams must Plan, Activate, and Measure together, using one accessible set of holistic insights.

Principle 3: Develop an AI-Ready Content Engine

The future of search is a conversation, not a list of links. 

To succeed, your content needs to be effortlessly digestible by large language models (LLMs).

To become the answer, brands must commit to an always-on content engine (not just a campaign mindset) that is specifically optimized for AI, your content strategy needs to answer these essential questions:

1. Assess: Can your team move fast enough to respond to trends and news in real-time?
2. Optimize: Is your language and are your assets conversational and easily understood by AI?
3. Structure: Is your content formatted with clear signals, like headings, clean lists, and structured data that an AI model can reliably parse, cite, and summarize?

The New Search Mandate

The shift in consumer behaviour is rapid, and the technology is accelerating. 

This is no longer a conversation about SEO best practices; it’s about competitive survival.

By the end of this article, you should have four key takeaways to ensure your content strategy is ready for what’s next:

1. Search is a Powerful Signal of Consumer Behaviour: Be present where your audience begins their journey
2. Break the Silos: Plan, activate, and measure as one unified team.
3. Lead with User Intent: Shift from chasing algorithm updates to understanding human needs.
4. Become the Answer: Build an authoritative, always-on content strategy for the age of AI.

The brands that will win the next decade will be the ones that stop viewing search as a destination and start embedding themselves into the fabric of the customer’s decision-making behaviour.

Want to know more about how we can help with your specific challenges? Take a 3-minute diagnostic quiz to find out

The term “Sober Curious” has dominated conversations about Gen Z drinking habits, but it’s widely misunderstood. The narrative often centers on abstinence when the reality is far more nuanced. While Gen Z consumes approximately 20% less alcohol than Millennials, Citizen’s latest research in the Gen Z Collective reveals something more sophisticated at play: the 5 personas uncovered aren’t outright rejecting alcohol—they’re rejecting thoughtless consumption. They’re saying no to the “default drink.”

Here’s what makes this shift so compelling: Gen Z’s health consciousness doesn’t translate to universal sobriety. Instead, their desire for control and convenience is driving them toward specific, premium alcoholic options. They’re making choices that allow them to feel intelligent and empowered—fully in command of their bodies and social experiences.

The Data: Rejecting the Ordinary

Gen Z demonstrates a decisive shift away from traditional, high-volume alcohol categories. They’re not just avoiding beer and wine—they’re rejecting the entire culture of generic, mindless consumption. Their preference? Beverages engineered for precision and convenience: Ready-to-Drink (RTD) cocktails and Hard Seltzers.

When we examine their RTD purchase drivers, three criteria dominate:

• Alcohol content level
• Uniqueness
• Calorie count

Every sip is a calculated decision. The RTD category—whether alcoholic options or functional non-alcoholic alternatives—serves as the ultimate moderation tool. It enables defined choices without sacrificing flavour or social connection. Brands win by selling intentionality itself: superior, consistent products that define the experience upfront (ABV, ingredients, precise flavour profile) and give Gen Z consumers complete control over their consumption.

Winning with Gen Z: A Persona-Driven Marketing Strategy

To connect with this highly discerning audience, marketers must shift focus from selling liquid volume to selling the intentional, controlled experience. By leveraging the insights from Citizen’s Gen Z Collective, brands can tailor their messaging to meet the distinct needs of each of the five personas.

Like what you’re reading?

Drop your email for more content like this straight to your inbox.

 

 

1. The Status Architect: The Wellness Collaborator

Status Architects are ambitious, image-conscious, and prioritize wellness and self-improvement, placing them firmly in their “wellness era”. They redefine “going out” to favour daytime Coffee Parties and wellness clubs. They desire luxury, even redefining their groceries to include high-quality brands like Liquid Death and Olipop.

2. The Beta Tester: The Utility Champion

Beta Testers are confident, opinionated leaders who thrive on being the first to adopt new things and demand utility and convenience. They are looking for frictionless, superior experiences.

3. The Value Vigilante: The Transparency Seeker

Value Vigilantes are practical, cautious, and hold brands to a high standard, seeking reliable brands and expecting transparency. Sobriety is specifically noted to be on the rise within this group, demonstrated by the popularity of drinks like Poppi and Olipop.

4. The Anxious Avoider: The Comfort Creator

Anxious Avoiders crave comfort, familiarity, and a slower, simpler pace. They are the “Homebody Generation” and seek acceptance and community where they feel safe (at home).

5. The Risk Junkie: The Niche Enthusiast

Risk Junkies are adventurous and embrace the niche, the novelty, and the weird. They value strong communities and are the most likely cohort to drink more than once a month (43%).

The CEO Takeaway: The Experience is the Product

The future of the beverage category hinges on the intentional experience, not liquid volume. Brands that position themselves as “unintentional consumption” will lose Gen Z entirely.

To win, brands must:

• Prioritize Precision – Clearly communicate attributes like ABV, calorie count, and ingredients
• Elevate Flavour – Justify quality through unique, sophisticated taste profiles
• Validate the Choice – Position your product as the intelligent decision that supports a balanced, wellness-focused lifestyle

Gen Z isn’t drinking less—they’re drinking smarter. The brands that understand this distinction will define the next era of beverage innovation.

For a custom look at how your brand can win with each persona, download the report and connect with us. 

Citizen Relations believes in the power of curiosity and mentorship as a critical form of connection in the creative space. Their commitment to empowering curiosity and nurturing the next generation of leaders is exemplified by the journey of Jon Dick, Senior Copywriter based in Toronto. Jon is in progress at the highly selective London International Awards (LIA) Mentorship Program. This intensive, global initiative connects Jon with a curated panel of industry leaders, offering a unique, executive-level perspective that is now being infused directly into his agency work.

For Jon, the LIA Mentorship program ensured he was prepped with the ability to secure a path forward in a rapidly evolving industry. Jon sought guidance from a diverse group of creative leaders working across different sectors and regions. This intentional breadth confirmed a vital truth: success is achieved by forging your own unique path, one that often “meanders” through different experiences.

A major topic of conversation with global leaders was the looming question of Artificial Intelligence. While uncertainty abounds, the consensus from Jon’s mentors was overwhelmingly optimistic: AI will function as an increasingly embedded tool in the creative process, but it won’t replace the core human element.

“In a world dominated by AI, the differentiating factor will be ‘taste,'” Jon notes. “This requires the uniquely human ability to judge the quality of work, to believe in humanity, and to possess that individual belief in what is truly good.”

The most significant lesson Jon is bringing back to his day-to-day work at Citizen is a refined clarity: success is about creating work that makes a measurable impact now, not just chasing titles or flashy campaigns. This shift in mentality emphasizes driving the most significant value for clients and consumers, aligning perfectly with Citizen’s commitment to setting the industry standard and unleashing potential for its clients.

The key takeaway that aligns closest with the agency’s values is the mandate to be “insatiably curious.” Jon stresses that curiosity is the essential fuel for all creative professionals, leading them to find new insights and avenues for breakthrough work. Much like Citizen’s CCO Josh Budd advocates for, Jon is prepped to expand his Creative Range of Motion (CROM) and stretch his creative muscles. 

Jon’s mentorship experience required him to chase down meanings to feed his curiosity, which reinforced that great opportunities are only “half the battle.” The journey to success never ends, and sustained effort, driven by relentless curiosity, is the key to unlocking true potential.

Citizen Relations recently hosted “Tomorrow First: 2026 Trends & Bets,” a panel discussion in their Toronto office exploring how brands can successfully build reputation, trust, and discoverability in the face of AI and evolving consumer behaviour. Citizen is fresh off a 3-year run on Strategy’s AOY podium and ready to go full force into the new year. The event – moderated by CEO Nick Cowling and framed by EVP, Marketing & Growth Sue Jackman – emphasized Citizen’s “Tomorrow First” approach to keeping clients ahead of culture.

The Panelists:

The discussion featured four distinguished industry leaders navigating transformation in their respective fields:

• Tanbir Grover (Chief Marketing & Digital Manager, Pet Valu): Focused on data-driven growth, analytics, and customer experience.
• Dave Kim (Head of Industry, TikTok): Offered perspective on the creator economy and social discovery.
• Jon Macca (Chief Marketing Officer, RBCx): Shared insights on tech, retail marketing, and adapting established brands.
• Kate Torrance (VP, Head of Brand, Content & Comms, SickKids Foundation): Provided a mission-driven perspective on building trust and brand.

Four Forces Reshaping Marketing

Brand Building Makes Its Comeback

The pendulum is swinging back from pure performance marketing. Data now proves the tangible dollar value of investing in brand reputation and trust. As Kate explained for SickKids Foundation, “Brand work brings in the love, while performance work provides the tactics that close the donation gift.” Jon emphasized the need to rebuild: “We must extend our brand story and invest in the long-term equity that drives organic discovery and recommendation.”

Like what you’re reading?

Drop your email for more content like this straight to your inbox.

 

 

The Baseline? Being Real 

The panel’s advice on what brands must stop doing was refreshingly direct:

• Stop taking yourselves so seriously. Magic happens when brands loosen up and show personality on social platforms.
• Stop selling in every piece of content. Focus on being genuinely useful rather than creating thinly veiled sales pitches.
• Stop creating overly staged content. Amplify real, human moments from your community instead.
• Stop being performative. As Kate warned, people will quickly notice and call it out.

When we take on a creator approach with this lens, the credibility lies in the genuine connection between the brand, the creator, and the community. When that partnership is truly authentic relationships are built among creator ambassadors and the audience. 

Navigating AI-Transformed Discovery

The classic SEO funnel is fracturing. Dave described the new three-stage discovery journey: using AI chat for planning and structure, TikTok for social proof and lived experience, then traditional search for transactions. In short: AI gives us information, but social is a critical compliment in giving that information texture and human context that we crave. Jon sees AI’s biggest promise in analytics—pulling together disparate datasets for real-time impact and better attribution. Meanwhile, Pet Valu is exploring AI-powered personalization at scale.

Irreplaceable Human Skills

As AI advances, the most valuable leadership capabilities are becoming more human: discernment and bravery to know when to trust data versus instinct, compassion that AI cannot replicate, and cultural awareness to protect brand reputation as things move fast.

Citizen’s Strategic Response

Nick outlined how Citizen is addressing two fundamental industry crises:

Whole Search audits how content performs across social platforms, AI answer engines, and traditional search—ensuring clients show up as the answer everywhere people look.

Experience Renaissance recognizes people’s craving for tangible, real-world interactions that build trust in ways digital alone cannot. The future blends Whole Search discoverability with experiential storytelling.

The Path Forward

The brands that will thrive won’t be those with the biggest budgets or most sophisticated AI. They’ll be the ones brave enough to show up authentically, strategic enough to meet audiences across fragmented discovery journeys, and human enough to build connections that matter.

In a world changing faster than ever, the only sustainable strategy is to stay tomorrow first. If you are ready to future proof your strategy, reach out for a quick chat. 

The PRovoke Global Summit has always been where senior communications leaders gather to confront the profession’s most pressing challenges. This year’s Chicago event—centered on “Why Relationships Matter More Than Ever”—revealed an industry in the midst of fundamental transformation.

Citizen Relations took to the Windy City to experience the conference first hand, even walking away with a Global Sabre for a top campaign of the year recognition for its Undone campaign. Beyond the accolades, the Summit’s conversations exposed three critical shifts reshaping how PR operates in 2025 and beyond. Here’s what our Citizens learned:

1. AI Has Redefined What “Agility” Actually Means

AI dominated every conversation. Mary Kate McCarthy, Associate Director, PR, observed this year’s event was “much more AI & crisis management heavy” than previous gatherings, with Josh Budd, Chief Creative Officer, noting “every third conversation touched on AI in some capacity.”

The reason? PR owns a brand’s reputation, risk, and credibility, making our discipline central to how brands navigate this era of experimentation.

The impact on speed has been seismic. AI tools now outpace traditional cultural and social listening platforms “within months,” delivering faster insights for clients. But speed without strategy is dangerous.

The non-negotiables:

• Human oversight remains critical. Firms must maintain a “human in the loop” approach, ensuring experienced professionals can still execute without AI when systems fail.
• Balance your talent. Teams need AI-native skills and seasoned judgment to quality-check outputs.
• Define your goal first. As McCarthy warned: “You don’t want to be caught just doing something to do it.”

Like what you’re reading?

Drop your email for more content like this straight to your inbox.

 

 

2. The Line Between “Promote” and “Protect” Has Disappeared

The most striking shift? The collapse of traditional PR boundaries. The clear separation between proactive promotion and reactive crisis response is gone.

McCarthy captured it perfectly: 2025 is the year where “two things can be true” in strategy. The political landscape and post-COVID blurring of work and life have made the old “promote and protect” binary obsolete. Crisis management now “feels like a branch of overall PR strategy as opposed to a separate approach, agency, or team.”

What this means: Every campaign requires risk assessment. Every crisis response needs brand positioning. Agencies must build predictive work into everything.

For creatives, this ambiguity is opportunity. Budd declared “PR’s definition is officially undefined. And that’s a great thing for creativity in the discipline”—a philosophy Katie Skinner, Vice President, PR, echoed when discussing the award-winning TurboTax work: “There’s creativity anywhere—even in the most corporate work, creativity can live in the most unexpected places.”

3. EDI and Purpose Aren’t Optional—They’re Innovation Engines

McCarthy delivered one of the Summit’s most powerful takeaways: “There is no innovation without EDI.” The logic is simple: groupthink kills creativity. EDI isn’t just about culture—it’s a competitive advantage.

Skinner reinforced this thinking with her own perspective on creative problem-solving: “Look beyond your borders. Someone in a different market with different experiences can still spark your imagination.” This global, inclusive approach to ideation isn’t just good ethics—it’s smart business.

On corporate purpose, the message was clear: it still matters. While some have tried to course-correct from perceived over-emphasis, Budd noted that in spaces like the SABREs, “purpose still wins a jury room over.”

Younger generations continue driving accountability, with millennial and Gen Z cohorts praised for pushing corporations to align actions with stated objectives.

The Takeaway: The Future Belongs to the Adaptive

The 2025 PRovoke Global Summit painted a picture of an industry that’s simultaneously more complex and more exciting than ever. The practitioners who will thrive are those who can:

• Harness AI without losing the human judgment that makes great communications possible
• Navigate blurred lines between promotion and protection with strategic foresight
• Embed EDI and purpose into innovation processes, not just mission statements
• Find creativity in unexpected places and look beyond traditional borders for inspiration

As relationships become more critical and the landscape grows more volatile, one thing is certain: the old playbook won’t work anymore. The question isn’t whether to evolve—it’s how fast you can do it.

Citizen Relations is demonstrably operating as a tomorrow-first agency, not just observing these shifts, but actively implementing modern practices that align with the future of communications highlighted at the 2025 PRovoke Global Summit. The agency’s strategic philosophies and recent successes illustrate how they are embracing agility, integrating promotion and protection, and using diversity as an engine for innovation.

What happens when you combine tomorrow-thinking strategy with an integrated team determined to unleash potential? Impactful and award winning work.

The agency was honoured at back-to-back award shows last week, receiving wins at The ADCC Awards and The CMA Awards: two of the industry’s most prestigious events. The ADCC Awards (Advertising & Design Club of Canada) celebrates the highest standard of creative excellence in Canadian advertising and design. The CMA Awards (Canadian Marketing Association), recognizes the best in data-driven strategy and marketing success. 

Citizen’s impressive success across multiple shows and varied disciplines is a powerful confirmation of its integrated approach, solidifying its position at the intersection of strategic effectiveness and creative innovation. This achievement demonstrates that true integration is essential for modern marketing success and that unlocking client potential requires a fluid, forward-thinking communication strategy.

Canadian Marketing Awards 2025: 

• SickKids Foundation: Balloonspotting – GOLD for Social Causes: Customer Experience

ADCC Awards 2025: 

• Molson Coors Beverage Co: Fix Tixflation – BRONZE for Experiential: Events
• Egale: Gallery of Memories – BRONZE for Audio/Radio: Branded Content & Podcasts

These wins follow a year of success for Citizen, who was just named a PR Agency of the Year winner for the third year in a row and recognized in PRNews’ 2026 Agency Elite Top 120 list earlier this fall. Additionally, ‘Gallery of Memories; was seen earlier this year landing wins at the North American SABRE Awards and the SABRE Innovation Awards, while Fix Tixflation took home Bronze at CLIOs. Citizen attributes this success to its integrated teams, whose collaborative expertise allows the firm to fluidly move between different platforms and objectives, delivering groundbreaking work for its clients.

Citizen Relations’ commitment to excellence and unleashing the potential for ambitious brands has been recognized once again by Strategy, with the agency winning bronze for PR Agency of the Year (AOY) at the 2025 Strategy AOY Awards last night. This marks the third consecutive year Citizen has secured a coveted AOY honour, taking home  Gold PR AOY in 2023 and Silver PR AOY in 2024. 

The Strategy AOY Awards are among the most prestigious distinctions in the Canadian marketing, advertising, and PR industries. This recognition signifies best-in-class performance and leadership in driving client success.

“Securing our third consecutive Strategy AOY award reflects the power of our integrated teams,” said CEO Nick Cowling. “It speaks volumes of our forward-thinking, tomorrow-first approach and the partnership we’ve built with our clients. Especially in a challenging market, consistency at this level proves we’re not just adapting – we’re leading.” Hear more from him in his interview with Strategy Magazine. 

The recognition is fueled by the agency’s continued growth and momentum in 2025, including expanding its global portfolio with new clients, promoting innovators into leadership roles and building a creative arsenal with strategic talent moves.

This win joins a prestigious lineup of continuous agency-wide recognition that highlights Citizen’s global and industry-specific leadership, including being named to the 2026 PRNews Agency Elite Top 120 roster, winning Campaign 2023 Global PR Agency of The Year (Bronze), and being named in PRWeek’s best places to work in 2022 and 2023.

Gen Z is the most economically anxious generation since the 1970s. Plagued by student debt, historic inflation, and a high cost of living that makes traditional milestones like homeownership feel impossible, they are often branded as financially reckless, defined by the “doom spending” narrative.

The Gen Z Collective, recently released by Citizen, shows this narrative is not only lazy but fundamentally wrong. Gen Z’s financial behaviour is not careless; it is calculated, complex, and highly intentional. They are the first generation forced to adopt an investment mindset just to survive.

The Core Paradox: Anxiety vs. Control

The high-stakes tension between financial anxiety and intentional spending defines Gen Z’s financial behaviour. Their splurges are not driven by nihilism, but by a desperate effort to exert control and make strategic investments.

They aren’t ignoring their financial problems; they are solving tangible, immediate needs with their wallets. This intentional spending is a calculated, justifiable investment in three key areas:

1. Mental Health & Control

2. Future Competence

3. Social Capital

Case Study: Selling Agency and Competence

Brands that successfully connect with this financial paradox don’t sell stability; they sell agency and a pathway to competence.

Robinhood serves as a prime example. It succeeded by turning a historically intimidating financial activity (investing) into a frictionless, accessible, and gamified experience.

• Democratizing Access: It eliminated friction and lowered the entry barrier for investing, making a financially anxious activity feel manageable.
• Focusing on Competence: It positioned itself as a tool for financial education and empowerment, allowing users to feel smart and in control of their future.

This approach validates the Gen Z mindset: a financial risk is acceptable if it feels like a strategic, informed step toward independence.

Like what you’re reading?

Drop your email for more content like this straight to your inbox.

 

 

Winning with the 5 Personas

A successful PR and marketing strategy must recognize and speak to the intentionality behind every purchase decision. Here is how brands can position their product as a justifiable, strategic investment for each of the five personas identified in The Gen Z Collective:

CEO Takeaway: Stop Selling Fear, Start Selling Aspirations

Brands that try to connect with Gen Z by dismissing their spending as reckless will fail.

If a Gen Z consumer is splurging, they are making a calculated, justifiable investment. Provide proof points that position your product as a smart, justifiable investment in their well-being, their competence, or their social capital.

For a custom look at how your brand can win with each persona, download the report and connect with us. 

Global communications agency, Citizen Relations, has been named to PRNews’ 2026 Agency Elite Top 120 list. This recognition on one of the industry’s most respected list of PR agencies is a testament to the increased momentum the agency has had over the past year. PRNews is dedicated to spotlighting the most innovative public relations and communications firms of the year, celebrating those who demonstrate excellence, creativity, and impact year after year.

Citizen’s success is the result of continuous investment in its global capabilities and people. Over the past year, the agency has expanded its global portfolio with new clients, promoted staff members to new leadership roles, bolstered their integrated offerings with AI, and launched their 2024 Connections Report — all designed to give clients a competitive edge and drive unignorable campaigns

Citizen’s performance at the PRNEWS Awards extended beyond the agency level. Earlier this month, Alex Green (SVP, PR) was individually honoured as a PRNews Agency Innovator, a highly-coveted recognition for leaders who are redefining the industry by driving growth and transformation. A true tomorrow-first thinker, Alex embodies the spirit of innovation we champion across the agency. 

Spruce’s “Who Let The Dogs Out” campaign was also given an Honourable Mention for PRNews Platinum Awards’ CPG Campaign of the Year. The campaign created buzz for its successful launch of Spruce Weed & Grass Killer using a playful, nostalgia-driven spin on the Baha Men’s famous anthem to highlight the product’s pet-safe differentiator. Exceeding KPIs by 647%, this campaign took over social media and retailers, changing the conversation about weed & grass killers.

The Agency Elite Top 120 recognition adds to a successful year for Citizen and honours those who demonstrate excellence, creativity, and impact. With integrated teams across PR, Digital, Strategy, Creative, Insights & Intelligence (I&I), and Experiential, Citizen excels at staying ahead of trends and making bold moves for its clients. 

Most recently, Citizen has received accolades at the SABRE Innovation Awards, North American SABRE Awards, CLIOs, PRWeek Purpose Awards, Canadian Event Awards, The Drum Marketing Awards and ILEA E-Spirit Awards. Citizen’s sustained performance is highlighted by other agency-level titles, such as Strategy 2024 PR Agency of the Year (Silver) and Campaign 2023 Global PR Agency of The Year (Bronze).