Note: This article was originally published as a guest contribution in absatzwirtschaft on January 2, 2026.

The circular economy is reshaping how value is created. Yet marketing still revolves around the moment of purchase. It’s time for a marketing mindset that puts lifetime value at the center.

Marketing continues to behave as if the purchase were the end of the story. “Buy now”—and goodbye. This logic comes from a time when resources appeared infinite. That system no longer holds. Materials are becoming more expensive, regulations stricter. The future belongs to long-term use, not rapid turnover. To product life, not product launches.

Marketing likes to present itself as fluent in cultural, social, and technological trends. And yet it is one of the least prepared sectors when it comes to creating value in a post-purchase-and-dispose world.

The shift is already visible. People are buying secondhand at unprecedented levels and repairing more. In France, Vinted is now the largest fashion retailer. Consumers expect transparency on how to care for products and what happens at the end of their life—and they demand durability from the few items they invest in during the cost-of-living crisis. These are new user needs brands can no longer ignore.

At the same time, the EU is mandating reparability, take-back obligations, and material transparency. For some product groups, these rules already apply. This means the user journey no longer ends at the point of sale—it starts there. Yet most communication still centers on the moment of purchase. The result: brands leave money on the table and miss strategic potential. If products are made to last longer, consumers will buy fewer new ones. Revenue and growth will have to come from somewhere else.

Making New Consumer Roles Visible

The core issue is mindset. Talking about repair feels like admitting failure; reuse is perceived as a threat to sales. As a result, brands stay silent or hide behind vague language—leaving consumers unaware that alternatives even exist. Many brands are already investing. Names like Calvin Klein and Timberland have launched resale platforms. But they often fail to make the most relevant parts of these offerings visible.

What’s needed now is bold, transparent marketing that supports the entire user journey—including everything that happens after purchase. Marketing that frames repair not as a duty, but as a smart decision. That tells the story of a product’s value across years—not just the first few weeks before it disappears into a closet. Brands that take this seriously can turn customers into collaborators: repairers, reusers, returners. Tomorrow’s consumers wear many hats—AI won’t change that. It’s up to us to make these roles irresistible.

Circular Economy: At the Heart of the Transformation

The conclusion is straightforward. If we want people to return products at the end of their life, we need to stay in relationship with them. If we want materials to stay in the loop, we need to remove barriers instead of hiding complexity behind clever claims. This is marketing work—not as an add-on, but as a core task.

The economic potential is significant. Value creation is shifting from one-off transactions to long-term use. From margin per unit to lifetime value. Brands that understand this gain something traditional advertising never could: loyalty—earned by solving real problems rather than creating short-lived desire. Brands like Freitag, Decathlon, and Patagonia have already internalised this logic.