The sense of a stable middle ground will proceed to erode across several elements of marketing in 2026. Studies indicate the center class is thinning, altering necessary consumer milestones. Monoculture can be on the wane as people spend more time engaged with algorithms hypertailored to their interests.
On the industry front, marketing services are gravitating toward two polarities within the wake of historic consolidation: White-glove models and plug-and-play ones built around artificial intelligence. Feeling a number of the most pain from these developments are the staff who make the industry hum but are facing a grim job market.
“There has been a rampant uptick prior to now few years of putting the give attention to shareholder value,” said Dustin Black, executive creative director at Preston Spire. “Culturally, the difference between decision-makers and makers has never been greater.”
The advancement of generative AI could encourage mediocrity — “slop” was deemed a 2025 word of the 12 months for a reason — but in addition profit marketers moving against the grain. To grab attention, brands may embrace messaging that’s deliberately button-pushing or daring.
“A variety of the output is trending toward the median,” said Taryn Crouthers, CEO of Spcshp, about AI in marketing. “It’s about pulling against the median because the entire content is merging to look very, very similar.”
Others could step up investment in emergent channels to succeed in audiences with growing economic influence, including Gen Alpha. There might be no shortage of stages to check these tactics, with a Super Bowl, Olympics and FIFA World Cup on deck. Below, Marketing Dive shares nine predictions for an industry at a degree of contraction and displaying mixed feelings about its future.
Agencies experience foundational shifts
Omnicom’s acquisition of Interpublic Group signals more agency consolidation coming down the pike, experts say. As rumors swirl around additional breakups and sell-offs, a brand new chapter is on the horizon for ad-holding groups.
“It’s absolutely signifying a shift towards media and technology scale as key foundational elements for what the legacy holding corporations will reorganize around,” said Jay Pattisall, vice chairman and principal analyst at Forrester, of the Omnicom-IPG deal.
Dealmaking activity might be enabled by further rate of interest cuts and a light-touch regulatory environment. Other agencies may broker richer strategic partnerships: For example, Publicis kicked off 2026 by striking a pact with LiveRamp, underpinning the importance of knowledge within the AI arms race, Ad Age reported.
Massive layoffs and the death of iconic creative shops — not to say the likelihood of future cost-cutting measures — have been painful but in addition mean that a military of talent is searching for its next enterprise.
“You might see plenty of these former executives trying to start out their very own firms playing to the more area of interest side of the marketplace,” said Paul Hardart, a clinical professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business.
Independents meanwhile may pursue different routes to expansion. ZMC-backed Wpromote’s purchase of Giant Spoon in late 2025 speaks to the role private equity is playing within the formation of “big indies” that would appeal to deep-pocketed brands.
“Not tomorrow, not next month, but within the not-so-distant future, there are going to be more options for enterprise marketers to select from as a results of the private-equity investments in what we historically call independent digital agencies,” said Pattisall.
Generative AI blurs the lines of authenticity
Brands will further push the bounds of AI-generated creative in 2026, with football’s big night acting as a key litmus test. Svedka already announced it’ll run a Super Bowl spot made with AI, however the spirits maker won’t be the one advertiser putting on an AI showcase.
“I might say, more likely than not, 50% of all Super Bowl spots we watch this 12 months will utilize generative AI in some facet,” said Chris Neff, chief AI officer at Anomaly, noting that those applications might be in pre-production and never immediately apparent on screen.
While the AI content spigot is flowing, marketers will explore different messaging avenues. Brands, including Equinox and Dollar Shave Club, have recently launched campaigns that prod on the backlash to AI slop while still leveraging generative AI tools. However, many proceed to underestimate strong consumer aversion.
“Rushing into anything — over doing things to that extent — is a mistake,” said Sean Cassidy, CEO of PR firm DKC. “One thing that humans appear to still possess…is a reasonably good B.S. detector.”
Trepidation around AI extends into other areas, even as the technology becomes institutionalized at brands and agencies. Artificially inflated engagement may create a negative feedback loop for advertisers which might be only investing more in social and digital, contributing to the Dead Internet Theory.
“The bot traffic goes to extend. Is that going to make the metrics even higher? Is that going to be the catalyst for this vicious cycle for it to worsen and worse and worse?” said Neff. “It’s very hard to know exactly what’s real and never.”
“[Brands are] playing checkers, and data corporations are playing chess.”
Bill Bruno
CEO of Celebrus
Data: less collecting, more connecting
Advertisers, agencies and other stakeholders have spent years shoring up their land grabs within the data-driven marketing ecosystem to fuel developments like programmatic promoting and help gird against the shift from identifiers like third-party cookies. That rush for data will proceed to accentuate amid the rise and operationalization of AI-driven promoting, giving marketers a likelihood to learn and apply the teachings of previous eras.
Data transparency and ownership might be key as AI complicates challenges that marketers already face around ad visibility and efficacy, especially amid the rise of zero-click search and AI-powered bots and agents that would muddy measurement waters.
“You’ve got plenty of brands… which might be principally using terms like ‘AI readiness’ that do not know what they need or what they’ll do, necessarily,” explained Bill Bruno, CEO of knowledge firm Celebrus. “I do not think plenty of persons are pondering two or three steps ahead immediately. They’re playing checkers, and data corporations are playing chess.”
To have a greater handle on data, marketers can shift focus from collecting data to connecting it via tools like consumer data platforms and data fabric environments that give a more unified view of consumers, several experts said. That might help marketers give attention to exactly what they need, quite than getting washed away in a flood of knowledge.
“My clients who’ve been most successful are specializing in marketing-specific use-case data readiness,” said Nicole Greene, vice chairman, analyst at Gartner. “Do we actually know what our customers want? Can we safeguard the info that they’ve entrusted us with, and as a result, can we do marketing and promoting higher?”
“I don’t think being more authentic necessarily has to mean scantily clad women… It’s more being true to what the corporate and what the audience is.”
Adam Singer
Vice president of marketing at AdQuick
Bold creative cuts through blandification
Some of last 12 months’s boldest promoting featured good jeans, spicy plumbers, the most effective automotive to have sex in and a full bush summer. Similarly edgy ad creative could return to the fore as marketers look to interrupt through in an increasingly fragmented and frantic media landscape.
While those campaigns relied on — and sometimes parodied — “sex sells” tropes, their success speaks more to their ability to interrupt through an ad landscape that has grown increasingly stale and bland, even before the rise of AI, said Adam Singer, vice chairman of marketing at AdQuick.
“Companies have change into really risk averse. I feel consumers are really thirsty for brands to do things which might be interesting,” Singer said.
However, being daring doesn’t mean that brands must turn back the clock and revive aesthetics and attitudes which have largely fallen by the cultural wayside.
“I do not think being more authentic necessarily has to mean scantily clad women and even necessarily really attractive celebrities, although celebrities definitely push product,” Singer said. “It’s more being true to what the corporate and what the audience is.”
Marketers can bring one of these authenticity to life in several ways, from emotional messages to easily portraying their products with beautiful photography and videography — as long as the corporate is authentic to its core values. Last 12 months’s Cracker Barrel rebrand fiasco is an example of what to not do.
“Everyone tried to make that a political thing and say it was ‘woke,’ but I do not think that is really what was occurring,” Singer said. “We’ve seen corporations flattening every part, making every part slightly bit more boring, and persons are bored with that. They want brands to do big, daring things.”
Vulnerabilities appear for ad-tech power players
Marketers should prepare for further consolidation in an ad-tech industry that has reached maturity but continues to evolve alongside technological change.
“At different areas within the ecosystem, there’s a consolidation of the media activation between DSPs and SSPs — most of them are beginning to compete with one another and not only partner with one another anymore,” said Mathieu Roche, CEO of identity firm ID5.
In the DSP space, Amazon and Walmart proceed to develop their offerings, while Microsoft’s sunsetting of Xandr provided a lift to Amazon via a transition partnership. Some brands have looked to check different sell-side workflows, including marketplace deals and guaranteed programmatic buys, especially as more connected TV inventory comes on board, said LiveRamp’s Travis Clinger.
Consolidation may benefit brands and publishers as it reduces fees and the prices of operating, however the reduction of consumer selection has caused the space to face antitrust issues. Google is predicted to learn the fate of its ad-tech antitrust case this 12 months, and while it seems that it’ll not face more dramatic structural remedies, any decision could cause a surge in ad-tech M&A, explained Evelyn Mitchell-Wolf, a senior analyst at Forrester.
“Google’s competitors aren’t going to let a possibility pass them by to reap the benefits of any weakening of Google’s position within the ad tech market,” Mitchell-Wolf said. “I do anticipate the remainder of the ad tech market attempting to shore up their offerings, just to organize and posture themselves to have the maximally enticing place to land for any advertisers or publishers that take a have a look at what Google is offering on the tail end of this.”
Gen Alpha solidifies its place in marketer playbooks
Though the oldest members of Gen Alpha might be turning only 16 in 2026, the generation is already making waves. The cohort already wields $28 billion in direct spending power, and its influence could be seen inside the marketing strategies of brands starting from Lowe’s to Hi-Chew. In 2026, advertiser interest in Gen Alpha, or those born between 2010 and 2024, will change into more concrete, based on GWI Chief Operating Officer Misha Williams.
“Thinking about [Gen Alpha] by way of an afterthought or a demographic to not be considered when you’re shaping your brand positioning … is a mistake,” said Williams.
While the older end of Gen Alpha is starting to make purchases for themselves, the cohort holds significant sway over purchases made by their parents and has already established awareness for a whole bunch of brands. The group can be being raised within the age of social media algorithms and AI, priming them to expect deeper personalization from brands in comparison with previous generations, Williams explained.
“With access to information, people change into more aware of what they like, what they don’t like,” Williams said. “So if you’re talking about Gen Alpha and the incontrovertible fact that they’re so young, a critical mistake is to treat them as such.”
Brands targeting Gen Alpha should expect media consumption behavior that’s much more fragmented than their Gen Z predecessors, Williams said. The cohort can be more inclined to lean on their social connections to validate whether or not a brand or product aligns with their lifestyle, making it critical for marketers to search out an authentic value proposition.
“What you’re putting in front of them, from an promoting and marketing perspective, should be authentic,” Williams said. “It has to resonate with them contextually.”
“It’s not like marketing was ever a straightforward job. It just became even tougher.”
Dipanjan Chatterjee
Vice president and principal analyst at Forrester
Surging creator investment emphasizes growing pains
Social media and creator-led marketing surged in 2025 as giants like PepsiCo and Unilever evolved how they work with agencies and dramatically boosted their investments, a signal of the growing role each channels play in shaping culture. Interest is predicted to grow in 2026, with creator ad spend within the U.S. forecast to climb 18% 12 months over 12 months, per the IAB. The bet is a signal that marketers have begun to value community over reach, based on Movers+Shakers Chief Creative Officer Geoffrey Goldberg.
Brands will likely direct much of their budgets to smaller creators this 12 months, Goldberg forecasts, noting that AI could help streamline the method by helping marketers scale content volume and higher understand goal audiences. However, category interest is sure to emphasise growing pains. For example, an increase in AI content on social feeds will likely pressure creators to strengthen their creative muscles to chop through the noise.
“Already, the amplification of content and the various varieties of content has upped a lot due to AI … there’s quite a bit more people within the playing field,” Goldberg said. “The algorithms are still prioritizing great content, it’s prioritizing that over followers.”
A surge in content could see each social media teams and consumers faced with burnout as more brands opt for always-on strategies. Broadly, as social media becomes a more foundational aspect of marketers’ playbooks, concerns around a scarcity of measurement standardization will only grow, a challenge Goldberg recommends brands approach by prioritizing metrics that prove engagement.
“In order for [social] to actually be their operating system, we must be really clear on how we measure success and there’s no singular, clear metric,” Goldberg said.
Marketers rating big with micro sports
Sports marketing might be a significant avenue for marketers looking to succeed in consumers in an increasingly fractured promoting landscape in 2026. Major events such as the FIFA World Cup and 2026 Winter Olympic Games will deliver captive linear TV audiences while emerging sports and leagues create avenues for marketers to attach with more area of interest, but growing, consumer groups.
“One of the things we’re seeing is a very incredible momentum behind plenty of small, micro leagues from a familiarity perspective. They’re not super well-known yet, but of the people who find themselves aware of them, they’ve just incredible momentum. They’re personally relevant, culturally relevant. They’re really kind of poised to take off,” said Jennifer Musil, global president of research at The Harris Poll.
Maker’s Mark is the official spirits partner of Unrivaled.
Courtesy of Maker’s Mark
Women’s sports will proceed to achieve momentum in 2026, especially as more area of interest sports and leagues change into more popular. For example, upstart women’s basketball league Unrivaled signed Maker’s Mark, a Beam Suntory Brand, as its first-ever official spirits partner in December. Women’s sports leagues give small and enormous brands alike a possibility to get in early as audiences proceed to grow.
“Seven of the highest 10 leagues within the last data set we checked out from a momentum perspective, are female leagues. So women’s sports still has a ton of momentum behind it. It’s not done growing yet,” said Musil.
Tariffs will proceed to be costly
Tariffs chaos and confusion is not going to be left behind in 2025, but will proceed to cause issues for marketers and consumers alike in 2026. Economic concerns, such as increased cost of living and inflation, may only exacerbate the difficulty.
While the promoting industry has remained remarkably resilient within the face of tariffs and global ad revenue is predicted to climb 8.8% in 2026, the Trump administration’s approach to international trade is predicted to still create stress for adland. The on-and-off-again nature of tariffs and the regular rise in prices of imported goods makes it difficult for consumers to create and follow a budget, which can translate to less discretionary spending.
“CMOs are marketing to the top consumer. What is happening with tariffs is exceptionally chaotic since it makes it not possible for consumers to have the option to plan their very own budgets…because there’s complete turbulence as it pertains to tariffs,” said Mike Proulx, vice chairman, research director, Forrester.
Ultimately, marketers may have to adapt their strategies to raised handle uncertainty. This could mean shorter campaigns and quicker turnaround times and an increased give attention to value. As consumers tighten their purse strings, putting an emphasis on value and deals could help mitigate a number of the chaos of the present economic landscape. This was already a significant focus for advertisers in 2025 and will proceed to be a viable strategy for 2026.
“Over the last couple of years, marketers have gotten used to planning in an environment of considerable volatility. In reality, you’ll be able to’t plan for anything, yet you might have to plan,” said Dipanjan Chatterjee, vice chairman, principal analyst, Forrester. “It’s not like marketing was ever a straightforward job. It just became even tougher.”
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