The advertising industry has always been shaped by technology, but the pace of change heading into 2026 feels different to anything we’ve experienced before.
The last few years have blurred the lines between creativity, data and automation, forcing brands, agencies and platforms to rethink not just how they advertise, but what advertising is for. As audiences grow more selective and tools grow more powerful, the industry is entering a period of quiet recalibration rather than dramatic disruption.
Rather than predicting a single dominant trend, 2026 is likely to be defined by tensions: between automation and originality, scale and trust, efficiency and meaning. The most successful advertisers will be those who learn to navigate these tensions thoughtfully, rather than chasing every new capability as it emerges.
Advertising Becomes Easier But Standing Out Becomes Harder
By 2026, the mechanics of advertising will be more accessible than ever. AI-driven tools already make it possible to generate copy, visuals and campaigns at speed, and this trend will only accelerate. Creating ads that are merely “good enough” will be cheap, fast and widely available, reducing the technical barriers that once separated large brands from smaller challengers.
But, as production becomes easier, differentiation is going to become increasingly harder. Audiences will be exposed to more content than ever, much of it competent, polished and instantly forgettable.
In this environment, creative quality, clarity of message and emotional resonance will matter more than sheer output. Brands that rely solely on automation risk blending into the background, while those that use technology to amplify a distinctive point of view will stand out.
In 2026, the competitive advantage will not come from making more ads, but from making fewer, better ones.
Trust, Attention and Meaning Take Centre Stage
As consumers become increasingly aware of how advertising reaches them – and how data is used to target them – trust will become a defining factor in campaign effectiveness. Privacy concerns, platform fatigue and scepticism towards overly polished messaging are already shaping behaviour, and by 2026 these attitudes will be more entrenched.
This shift will push brands to focus less on manipulation and more on credibility. Transparency, consistency and long-term brand building are likely to regain importance after years of performance-driven optimisation. Attention will be harder to buy and easier to lose, meaning ads will need to justify their presence in people’s lives rather than interrupt them.
In this context, advertising will move closer to storytelling, utility and cultural relevance. The brands that thrive will be those that understand their role not just as sellers, but as participants in broader conversations, offering value, insight or meaning in exchange for attention.
Here’s what the experts have to say.
Our Experts:
- James Kirkham: Founder ICONIC
- Renz Gonzalez: Head of Business Development at PropellerAds
- Nimesh Shah: Chief Operating Officer at Feel Good Contacts
- Stefan Hajek: ECD Head of Creative at Design
- Paul Greenwood: Global Head of Research and Insight at We Are Social
- Drew Ungvarsky: CEO of Grow
- Nick Yang: Head of MarTech at fifty-five
- James Lawton-Hill: Marketing and Agency Director at APS Group
- Sam Davis: Senior Director of Solutions Engineering, EMEA at Yext
- Becky Owen: CMO of leading social agency Billion Dollar Boy Group
- Fiona Wylie: Founder and CEO of Brand Champions
- Tom Inniss: Marketing Content Manager at Brew Digital
- Graham Fiel: Chief Revenue Officer at Outra
- Phil Acton: UK Country Manager, Adform
- Jaysen Gillespie: Head of Analytics and Data Science at RTB House
- Dom Dunne: Commercial Director, Programmatic and LaunchPAD Europe at Bauer Media Outdoor
- Maor Sadra: CEO and Co-Founder of INCRMNTAL
- Scott Morris: CMO at Sprout Social
- Joseph Black: Co-founder of nano-influencer agency SHOUT
- Ashley Fletcher: Chief Marketing Officer and VP People at Adthena
James Kirkham, Founder ICONIC
“This year, advertising will have to be less obsessed with reach and more concerned with agency both human and cultural. All audiences are tired of infinite scroll, beige content and algorithmic sameness. So they reject just ‘more’ messages.
“AI will sit underneath everything, but its value won’t be in volume smashing out countless copycat soulless spots; winning brands won’t use AI to make more ads faster, they’ll use it to decide when not to speak at all.
“Creativity will shift from production to taste, true curation and absolute cultural context.
“We’ll see advertising behave less like content and more creating moments, and with aftercare around culture rather than just shouting into it. In 2026, attention won’t be bought like it once was, it will be earned through relevance and restraint.”
Renz Gonzalez, Head of Business Development at PropellerAds
“By 2026, AI will stop being treated as a performance “boost” and become the operating system behind modern advertising. E-commerce is moving toward marketplaces and app-based shopping, which means advertisers are juggling way more variables: product, price, device, GEO, creative, timing. No team can manage all of that manually in real time anymore. AI is stepping in to handle these micro-decisions – reallocating spend, testing creatives, adjusting campaigns as conditions shift.
“Human teams aren’t going away, but their role is changing. The best advertisers will use AI to take care of day-to-day optimization so teams can focus on strategy, product selection, and long-term growth. In a more competitive market, AI will separate the advertisers who scale from the ones who stall.”
Nimesh Shah, Chief Operating Officer at Feel Good Contacts
“By 2026, advertising alongside all marketing activity will be far less about volume and far more about relevance. As consumers become more selective, brands that rely on broad, generic messaging will struggle to cut through. The retailers seeing results are those investing in first-party data to deliver personalised, app-led experiences that reflect real customer behaviour.
“We’re already seeing how data-led marketing, combined with mobile-first journeys, drives stronger engagement, retention and repeat spend. Advertising is shifting closer to the customer experience itself, focusing on convenience, value and trust rather than pure promotion.
“AI will play a growing role in improving efficiency and precision across marketing, but it won’t replace the fundamentals. Secure platforms, transparent messaging and consistent brand experiences will be what customers respond to. In 2026, the advertising that works will feel less like advertising and more like a natural part of how customers interact with a brand.”
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Stefan Hajek, ECD Head of Creative at Design
“Moving from exclusive creator networks to anchor partnership models
Time for creators to move pursuing content execution solely on their own terms and step firmly into the reality of long-term brand-building.
“Forget the tired content formulas. 2026 is setting the stage for real shakeups in the creatorsphere. Influencers and creators will no longer be just stapled onto brand campaigns anymore. They’re going to need to evolve into true partners. Think more strategy sessions, fewer briefs, less direction, more co-creation. Marketers and creators will move beyond rigid directives and start building stories together, each contributing what they do best. The result will be messaging that rings true for both brands and audiences, leading to connections that build and deepen over time.
“While a broad mix of creators will still be relevant, it’s time to move to a hybrid model that builds in a few anchor partnerships. The resulting content will feel less manufactured and much more authentic. When creators are invested, audiences respond and brands become part of conversations people actually care about.”
Engaging on the audience’s terms through micro-communities
“Marketers, discerning customers are dodging your calls to action and excluding you from their friends’ groups, so if you want to hang out, you need to do so on their terms.
“As online audiences grow ever more skeptical – and frankly, bored – of digital (especially social platform) marketing, they’re flocking to more private digital hangouts. Cue the rise of Discord dens, Slack hideouts, niche subreddits, and invite-only LinkedIn circles. The hunger for privacy, authenticity, and algorithm-free interaction is only getting stronger as 2026 approaches. Engagement opportunity does exist, but within these micro-communities, the rulebook is totally different. Here is where traditional marketing goes to die. Here, it’s all about genuine connection over hard sell. These groups are built on shared passions, inside jokes, and authentic conversation.
“The play for brands is to show up as a curious member, not a billboard. Join the conversation, ask smart questions, drop helpful tips (when prompted), and bring actual value to the dialogue. In 2026, prioritizing authentic audience engagement through micro-communities can serve as a new epicenter of brand love and loyalty.”
Paul Greenwood, Global Head of Research and Insight at We Are Social
“Social search is set to surge even more in 2026. Brand discoverability on social media will be just as important as on Google. In particular, text-based social platforms are going to see increased interest from brands because they’re so often used to train AI Large Language Models, so brand presence there will help with GEO strategies.”
“Social commerce is another growth area. It’s already the norm in some parts of the world, particularly in the East, but expect to see Western platforms getting better at it next year with options like shoppable video and more trials of live shopping. People who use social for entertainment expect the shopping experience to be equally entertaining, so they’ll want social commerce to be like QVC on steroids.”
“We’re also going to see online behaviour evolving. Time spent on social media is plateauing and we may have already reached ‘Peak Social’, so brands will have to be more creative than ever to reach audiences, especially Gen Z and Gen Alpha users who are moving away from traditional platforms and into ‘dark forests’ like messaging apps and creator-centred communities.
“Although brands may struggle to get a read on these online communities, there is the scope to develop deeper connections, if not broader ones.”
“Finally, AI-generated content will continue to appear across social, so don’t be surprised to see reactions against the slop and countertrends. While tech and premium brands may lean into the clean, crisp AI-generated aesthetic, heritage brands will want to highlight natural settings and more overtly real, human-led stories.
“We’re in the third era of social influence now, where we’re moving away from video and visual and into the age of the expert. Next year will see more longer-form content on deep, meaningful topics, where people take what they post more seriously. They’ll expect brands to be the same – to provide expert insights and be more thoughtful and ambitious in their approach.”
Drew Ungvarsky, CEO of Grow
“Creativity And Technology Will Speak The Same Language
“In 2026, the distinction between ‘creative thinking’ and ‘technical execution’ will feel increasingly outdated. The strongest ideas will emerge from teams where creativity and technology work side by side, shaping concepts together rather than passing them across silos.
“We’re already seeing a backlash against work where AI is treated as the idea itself, or where technology is bolted on at the end. When teams are fragmented, the work shows. When they’re integrated, the technology disappears, and the experience feels effortless.
“As tools become more powerful and accessible, craft and judgement become the real differentiators. Which means knowing how ideas behave in real systems, and designing accordingly, is going to be so important in the next twelve months.”
Experience Platforms Will Deliver Brand Value
“The brands doing the most interesting work in 2026 will be the ones who shift from chasing attention in short bursts to investing in experience platforms that evolve over time and reward repeat engagement.
“This shift changes not just what brands build, but how they bring value to their audiences. Platforms demand that brands earn attention by creating content and experiences that are worthy of seeking out and returning to.
“AI will also shun the spotlight, supporting these platforms behind the scenes, enabling personalisation and responsiveness. But the real differentiator will be sustained engagement, as brands focus on creating value over time with ever-evolving digital destinations.”
Nick Yang, Head of MarTech at fifty-five
“Marketers and advertisers are already making use of AI to drive efficiency, but in complex marketing environments – where models, data sources and workflows rarely conform to standard patterns – out-of-the-box AI agents quickly hit their limits. As organisations look to scale AI-driven marketing, the need for more robust, bespoke agentic capabilities will become unavoidable.
“2026 will start to see more focus on where it can improve effectiveness, with agentic AI playing a vital role. Advanced AI use cases have the potential to deliver significant gains, giving you yet more time to focus on the things that matter whilst supporting strategic decisions that can improve effectiveness against objectives.”
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James Lawton-Hill, Marketing and Agency Director at APS Group
“This year, attention will be the scarcest resource brands compete for. Like we’re seeing in other industries, the organisations that succeed will be the most relevant, credible and authentic, rather than the loudest or most prolific. Audiences increasingly expect brands to listen, respond and create experiences that feel personal and participatory rather than broadcast-led. And that should all centre around that vital human touch.
“We’ll likely see a stronger emphasis on real-world engagement, with physical activations, retail experiences and live moments playing a bigger role in building emotional connection and trust. I’m not saying these experiences will replace digital channels, far from it – but instead, they will complement them.
“At the same time, expectations around purpose and sustainability will harden. Vague commitments and aspirational messaging are already – and will no longer be – enough. Brands will be judged on evidence, transparency, honesty and measurable impact, and agencies will be expected to help turn intent into action.”
Sam Davis, Senior Director of Solutions Engineering, EMEA at Yext
“We’re used to hyper-personalisation on our screens, but in the coming years, we may see tailored recommendations everywhere we go because of embedded AI. Imagine, walking into a hotel room after checking in, or stepping into your car, and embedded LLM’s conversing with you based on what it knows about your personal preferences, location and needs at that exact time.
For example, your car would know the stores or services you’re loyal to in a specific location, as well as your preferred brands and your upcoming plans. The car would recommend where you stop and anticipate your actions with directions like: “there’s a store ahead where you will double your loyalty points today.”
Patrick Young, MD of PRS IN VIVO
“The new HFSS advertising restrictions coming into force in January are set to reshape how food and drink brands show up in-store and in advertising. For years, many brands have relied on product-centric creative, such as close-ups of oozing cheese or indulgent chocolate, to grab attention and trigger desire. But with limits on how and where these products can be promoted, particularly on TV and in digital spaces, marketers are being forced to think more laterally.
“We are likely to see a creative pivot away from explicit product imagery and toward emotional cues, brand storytelling, and subtle behavioural triggers. Expect more campaigns focused on identity, lifestyle, and context, all designed to make you feel something without necessarily showing the food itself. This shift will also influence packaging and point-of-sale design, which will have to work harder as a standalone brand asset, conveying appeal and distinctiveness even when advertising is restricted.
“Ultimately, the brands that succeed under HFSS restrictions will be those that invest in distinctive assets, build emotional resonance beyond product visuals, and reimagine how brand desire can be sparked in more indirect but powerful ways.”
Fiona Wylie, Founder and CEO of Brand Champions
“The primary aim of the new HFSS advertising rules is to prevent children from being exposed to promotions for unhealthy products. Unsurprisingly, brands whose HFSS products are directly targeted at younger audiences are likely to feel the greatest impact. However, these restrictions also create an opportunity to rethink how brands show up.
“With product imagery limited, advertising will shift away from direct selling and toward brand-building. Identity, tone of voice, and creative world-building will become more important than ever. We are already seeing this in campaigns such as Coca-Cola’s Taste the Feeling, which promoted Coke Zero Sugar through lifestyle and emotion rather than product features, keeping the brand culturally relevant without focusing on sugar.
“Established brands with strong visual assets and recognisable cues will have an advantage, but challengers can compete by being more disruptive and experimental. Test-and-learn creativity, distinctive storytelling, and human-led narratives will define success. Much like post-tobacco advertising, the future of HFSS marketing will prioritise feelings, culture, and memory over the product itself.”
Tom Inniss, Marketing Content Manager at Brew Digital
“What are the biggest risks AI poses to the industry in 2026?
“By 2026, we will likely see vendors aggressively bundling “AI features” into core subscriptions to justify 20–30% price hikes, regardless of whether those features add genuine value to your specific workflow. This commoditisation of AI means you pay a premium for tools that simply maintain parity rather than offer a competitive edge. Simultaneously, the “black box” of automated media buying is deepening. As platforms like Google and Meta remove granular controls in favour of AI-led bidding, marketers lose visibility on where budget is actually deployed, risking massive inefficiency.
“On a macro level, the industry’s reliance on a potentially fragile AI-buoyed economy is dangerous. If the “AI bubble” bursts due to a lack of tangible monetization, marketing budgets, often viewed as discretionary, will be the first casualty. We must be wary of building strategies on foundations that could evaporate overnight.
“Personalisation and AI innovation
“We are heading towards a global bifurcation in personalisation due to varying legislative approaches. In the EU, the AI Act acts as a significant brake, forcing companies to prioritise compliance over raw capability. Here, personalisation will be limited by the appetite businesses have for strict transparency reporting.
“Outside this region, however, the potential is frankly Orwellian. We aren’t just talking about product recommendations anymore; we are looking at biometric sentiment analysis that reads signals, keystroke rhythm, facial micro-expressions via webcams, or voice modulation, to deduce a user’s state of mind in real-time. Imagine a landing page that doesn’t just change its headline based on location, but rewrites its entire value proposition because it detects you are anxious. This level of psychological mirroring, reminiscent of Meta’s emotional impact studies, could weaponise empathy to drive conversions, turning personalisation into something far more invasive: predatory persuasion.”
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Graham Field, Chief Revenue Officer at Outra
“Looking ahead, 2026 will be defined by the rise of identity-first strategies. As signals fragment and privacy requirements evolve, brands will increasingly rely on unified, privacy-safe first-party data to reach audiences effectively and measure outcomes reliably.
“Generative AI will also play an important role, but its impact will depend entirely on the quality of underlying identity signals. Where data is inconsistent or fragmented, AI risks automating guesswork rather than delivering actionable insight. Brands that successfully unify and enrich first-party data will create a foundation that supports both human and AI-led decisions.
“This shift will also redefine activation and partnerships. Brands that prioritise privacy-compliant, persistent identity across devices will outperform peers, with partners capable of maintaining reliable identity becoming central to strategy.
“Ultimately, success in 2026 will belong to those who combine enriched first-party data, robust identity resolution, and intelligent activation, setting the standard for measurable, privacy-safe performance in an increasingly complex digital ecosystem.”
Phil Acton, UK Country Manager, Adform
“Programmatic is growing and changing in 2026 and is no longer tied to a single channel. CTV, audio, DOOH, and retail media are showing how programmatic can connect consumers across environments. But reaching consumers everywhere is just the beginning. To succeed, advertisers need more than reach. They need insight, control, and the ability to act on signals in real time.
“This is where curated signals and AI come in as they shape the way forward; they help surface opportunities, speed up planning, optimisation, and testing. These tools make teams smarter, not just faster. Yet they are accelerators, not replacements. The DSP stays at the centre, bringing together all data, from first-party and CRM to identity and supply, so that decisions can happen quickly and at scale.
“Winning in 2026 means playing the long game. Shortcuts may seem tempting, but lasting success comes from connecting strategy, technology, and insight across channels. By using AI and curated signals carefully, while keeping human oversight front and centre, advertisers can cut through complexity, reach the right consumers, and deliver results that last.
“Programmatic in 2026 is not just faster or easier. It is smarter, more connected, and built to deliver meaningful outcomes over the long term.”
Jaysen Gillespie, Head of Analytics and Data Science at RTB House
“There is much to look forward to as we look ahead to 2026. Attribution will still serve as a day-to-day operational measurement tool, but incrementality will also drive longer-term strategic decisions on which channels and tactics truly perform. We see most major platforms continuing to respond to the need to show both attributed and incremental sales. Whether ads are bought via the open internet, social platforms, retail media networks, traditional search or affiliate deals, vendors who can’t prove incrementality will be de-prioritised.
“Marketers will continue to wave goodbye to the traditional search buy, as branded search proves less effective at driving new sales and AI-powered tools change how audiences are reached. As pure search audiences shrink, marketers will be pushed towards more adaptive, intelligence-driven strategies that prioritise and deliver real growth.”
Dom Dunne, Commercial Director, Programmatic and LaunchPAD Europe at Bauer Media Outdoor
“Programmatic Out of Home (prOOH) made significant strides in 2025 and is increasingly recognised as a flexible, measurable, and creative-led channel. Digital OOH now represents 42% of total OOH revenue and as a result, prOOH is also gaining momentum thanks to the growing appetite from advertisers for campaigns that deliver both scale and precision.
“As more brands move along the programmatic maturity curve, the focus is shifting from simple impressions to meaningful impact – using high-quality placements and smart targeting to support the full customer journey, from awareness to conversion.
“Looking ahead to 2026, the LHF restrictions coming into full force at the start of the year are likely to accelerate investment in prOOH. While digital channels face tighter limits, prOOH remains fully open, offering trusted, large-scale visibility in a compliant and responsible way. Combined with smarter programmatic planning, this positions prOOH to play an even more strategic role in campaigns that deliver both reach and relevance.”
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Maor Sadra, CEO and Co-Founder of INCRMNTAL
“Imagine an endless feed of AI-generated content tailored just for you — videos, memes, stories, even fake replays of your own photo album. Your WhatsApp messages get voices. Your memories come to life. And yes, ads slip right in.
“It sounds futuristic, but it’s already starting. In 2026, we’ll see the rise of what I call AI mega-publishers — TikTok-style platforms powered entirely by generative AI.
“OpenAI’s Sora 2 is already creating endless short-form video feeds. Google’s Veo is being integrated into YouTube with whispers of an AI-only stream. The idea is simple but game-changing: a feed of infinite content, no creators needed, fully owned and operated.
“Why does it matter? Because whoever wins this game could become the next TikTok – just with lower costs and higher control. TikTok proved an endless scroll and a smart algorithm can capture billions of hours. Now imagine each video is generated for you, in real time. It might sound creepy, but users will get hooked on this.
“Expect major user acquisition pushes in 2026 – and a new content war built entirely by machines.”
Scott Morris, CMO, Sprout Social
“The way we search for content is changing and that is a huge opportunity for social marketing. Consumers no longer search on traditional online engines, they scroll. With recent integrations of GEO into social media platforms like Snapchat, this trend is only set to mature in 2026.”
“Rather than focusing on mass reach, brands who focus on direct, meaningful connection with specific audience groups will reap the rewards. Platforms like Reddit, Substack, and Discord are powering private groups and micro-communities that build loyalty, inspire advocacy, and spark movements.”
“The flood of easily generated content and deepfakes will push consumers to seek out content that feels unfiltered, human-generated, and real. That’s a huge opportunity for any brands looking to make the most of the creatorsphere’s soaring influencer – as long as authentic partnerships are prioritized.”
Joseph Black, Co-Founder of Nano-Influencer Agency SHOUT
“In 2026, influencer advertising will focus on building trust, not follower counts. From the boom in AI-generated content, to the lack of transparency amongst some influencers around paid content, consumers are unsure of who, or what, to believe online. In response, brands will move away from chasing high follower counts and will instead focus on working with specialist creators who have the confidence of smaller, highly engaged, audiences.
“This shift will be particularly evident on platforms such as TikTok and YouTube, where younger audiences are more sceptical of overtly commercial content and expect authenticity, honesty and clear disclosure from both brands and creators.”
Ashley Fletcher, Chief Marketing Officer and VP People, Adthena
“Ads in the Age of AI Search: How to Stay Visible in 2026
“In 2026, ads will increasingly appear within AI Overviews (AIOs) and LLM-driven search experiences, making the digital advertising landscape more complex and less predictable. User behaviour is shifting as AI-generated answers become more prominent across SERPs, making visibility harder to secure.
“To stay competitive, SEO and Paid Search teams must work more closely, moving beyond keyword matching to contextual strategies that reflect understanding of user conversations and true buyer intent. Success will depend on where ads appear, how often brands are referenced across trusted sources, and the ability to adapt quickly. Data-led insight is critical, enabling marketers to understand performance across the evolving AI search ecosystem and to optimise campaigns in real time.”
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