We surveyed 2,000 B2C marketers from London to Singapore. The brands that won cultural moments last year weren't smarter or better resourced. They were match-fit, built for both the planned games and the surprise moments between them. Here's what separates them, and what it's costing the rest.
Two-thirds of brands said they watched at least one cultural moment go by in the past year because they couldn't move fast enough. The cost of sitting on the bench is real, and a majority of brands are paying it.
Only 1 in 6 brands can launch a reactive campaign within 2 hours when a moment hits. Speed is the threshold for whether you're in the game.
Just over a third of brands have plans, assets, and triggers in place for the 2026 World Cup™. 45% are still building as of writing (May 20, 2026).
Cultural moments now drive 10–20% of total marketing revenue for the majority of brands. Yet two-thirds of marketers said they watched at least one moment go by, likely because their setup wasn’t built for it.
74% of brands attribute more than a tenth of total marketing revenue to cultural moment activations. 21% attribute more than a fifth. The cost of missing them is now a board-level number.
63% of brands decide cultural moment participation case by case. Only 28% have clear brand guidelines for which moments are on-brand. Most teams call each shot in the moment instead of running a play.
55% of marketers are only "fairly confident" they reach the right customers with the right message. They segment, but without real-time data, they can't personalize when it matters. The 41% who can are running on real-time profiles.
Methodology: 2,000 B2C marketers across the US, the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Australia, and Singapore.
Fieldwork: April 2026
Most brands know cultural moments matter. Most still aren't built to catch them.
Most marketers couldn't have defined "vibe marketing" a year ago. Today, most are already practicing it.
Only 8% of marketers say they don't use AI for cultural moments at all. That number is headed to zero, fast.
Founders and CEOs are 75% more skeptical of vibe marketing than the directors and managers actually running campaigns. The conversation about AI is happening in two different rooms.
Marketers want AI to personalize messaging based on customer preferences or match outcomes. Another 33% want it producing campaigns faster, and 24% want it answering Q&A during games.
The 41% of marketers who are “very confident” they reach the right customer with the right message are the ones running on real-time profiles. Every signal—purchase, browse, support ticket, opened email, clicked text message—moves you closer to the goal.
48 teams, 5 billion viewers, 1 test most marketing platforms weren't built to pass. Save your seat at our Playing to Win, webinar, featuring new research and live Q&A with leaders from two global brands.
June 16, 2026 at 12 p.m. ET
Real-time customer data, intelligence, and AI agents so your brand can match moves with the moment, in real time and across every channel.
Methodology
In April 2026, Klaviyo and Datalily surveyed 2,072 B2C marketers across the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Australia, and Singapore. Respondents represented a mix of company sizes (50 to 5,000+ employees) and roles (founder/CEO through marketing manager). Data weighted by region and company size.
