I’ve always taken pride in my ability to “speak fluent customer.” A kind of sixth sense honed through years of experience—and a surprising amount of insight gained from working with psychiatrists—helped me sift through data, tone, behavior, and context to decode what customers really wanted.

That superpower served me well in business—and surprisingly, in parenting too. I could read the room when it came to my customer: tone of voice, choice of words, time of day, body language, even how they engaged with “my brand”. I thought I had cracked the code (the parenting code :)).

But, like many marketers out there, I become too cocky, ultra confident, assuming that I know everything there is to know about the customer, assuming my brand will stay relevant through all the different life stages of the customer, that the messages I had fine-tuned a year ago still resonated, that the customer is reachable on the same channels as 6 months ago, that I know all there is to know about these channels and the competition, and that everything is under control.

But as Oscar Wilde once said, “If everything is under control, you’re moving too slow.”

He was right.

Somewhere along the way, I stopped updating my insights about the most important customer in my life – my child. I assumed that the deep understanding I had built over the years of refining the customer persona (demographics, behaviors, hobbies, needs, goals, challenges) was still accurate.

Yes, I have missed that one critical factor: people change fast. Teenagers even faster adding to their arsenal new challenges, new hobbies and interests, new goals and …. new sources of information which might alter the need to rely solely on the brand they once cherished and eventually change their perception over that brand. And I? I was out of sync. I hadn’t just missed the memo—I hadn’t checked the inbox in months.

I could not fathom that the information I provide needs to be validated by other channels and many times questioned. Suddenly I become an “old” brand. Slowly, but surely I was not able to meet my customer on the right channels (Snapchat, Spotify, YouTube) and speak his language (streaks, sups, B/R), and my once-authentic brand messaging became overcomplicated, misaligned, and—frankly—off-brand. I went from center-stage to background noise in his life, just another brand that lost its edge.

This isn’t just a parenting story—it’s a marketing reality. Many brands fall into the same trap. They build detailed customer personas, invest in big research projects, and then let those insights gather dust on a shelf while the world shifts under their feet. Customer behavior evolves. Channels change. Language morphs. Attention spans shrink. And competitors are working overtime to understand your customer better than you do.

The good news? Relevance is not a one-time achievement—it’s an ongoing commitment.

So whether you’re managing a brand—or just trying to speak your teenager’s language — here are four action points to keep your marketing (and relationships) alive and kicking:

1. Revisit Your Customer Insights Regularly

Your audience isn’t static. Set a schedule to refresh your data, review feedback, and refine your personas. Make it a habit, not a campaign.

2. Meet Customers Where They Are—Not Where They Were

Stay curious. Explore the platforms they use now, not the ones they used last quarter. Even if it means downloading Snapchat and pretending to understand what “streaks” mean.

3. Learn and Speak Their Evolving Language

Jargon isn’t the goal—connection is. Pay attention to how your audience communicates. Language reflects mindset, and speaking it builds trust.

4. Test, Learn, Adapt—Repeat

Relevance is earned through iteration. What works today might flop tomorrow. Be nimble. Keep testing your messages, channels, and formats.

P.S. Yes, I now have a Snapchat account. And a Spotify one too. I still listen to ABBA, and no, I haven’t cracked what “bet” or “it’s giving” really mean in Gen Z-speak. But I’m learning—and that’s the point.

Because in marketing (and parenting), staying relevant isn’t about knowing everything. It’s about being willing to keep learning.