100 líderes publicitarios predicen 2026 tendencias de marketing: qué sigue para la IA, las agencias, la creatividad, los medios y más

This story is part of Ad Age’s 2026 Business Forecast, showcasing industry outlooks, predictions and trends to watch as the year unfolds. These stories are available to Ad Age All Access subscribers.

’Tis the season for Ad Age’s annual roundup of industry predictions.

“Predictions are a notoriously tricky business, especially in the current environment: inevitably you end up predicting some things that look obvious in hindsight, and others that look a bit outlandish,” IAB CEO David Cohen said.

Nonetheless, 100 advertising and marketing leaders including Cohen took a stab at the assignment and offered up what they see will be the biggest industry shifts and evolutions in 2026.

Beyond the expected technological advancements, these leaders describe a fundamental rewriting of the industry's operating manual. Some see a final end to the "billable hour" and traditional search bar, replaced by outcomes-based agency compensation models and AI agents that act as gatekeepers to the consumer. Others predict the a continued boom in the creator economy, with influencers demanding equity rather than just fees. The predictions for 2026 signal that the very infrastructure of marketing is being dismantled and rebuilt to value specialized craft and verified outcomes over scale and noise.

While no one holds a crystal ball to the future, these predictions give a taste of what likely lies ahead, and provide practical guidance for preparing your strategies for 2026.

They range widely—from all the changes that are sure to come with AI, to how PR and social will better align, to how brands will build out campaigns, to how the agency landscape will shift in the wake of mega-mergers and layoffs, and much more.

Presented below are those predictions, lightly edited for length and clarity, arranged by topic.

How AI will reshape marketing data, targeting and measurement

Key takeaway: Executives predict AI will move from a visible tool to an invisible engine embedded across marketing operations, from creative scaling to contract negotiations. The emphasis shifts to synthetic data, unified tech systems and "creative diagnostics" that explain why work resonates, not just reach.

Mark Penn, chairman and CEO, Stagwell

Winners will not only have found ways to deploy AI across every discipline but will use it to push boundaries in everything from creative and media to experiential. AI will also allow marketers to finally build the holy grail of marketing: a platform that lets brands truly harness the power of data to target consumers, deploy campaigns, create AI agents and unlock unlimited ROI.

Stefanie Beach, founder and CEO, The Marketeer Group

AI is quickly becoming the engine that runs everything. Campaigns will be built, launched and optimized from start to finish by intelligent systems that never sleep. They will run with unprecedented efficiency as algorithms create, test and optimize thousands of ad variations in real time.

Katherine Chan, senior director of brand marketing, Duolingo

A big part of 2026 will be about knowing how to use AI to scale effectively. For brand teams, that means folding it into the everyday, from negotiations and comps to creative ideation and prototyping. AI should act as the creative sidekick, helping spark smarter questions and sharper ideas. The teams that stand out will be the ones that use it responsibly and effectively to scale their impact, not just their output.

Ray Kong, chief marketing officer, Arima

In 2026, the rise of synthetic data sources-data that is algorithmically generated to mirror real-world patterns without jeopardizing privacy-will collide with a proliferation of intuitive, accessible marketing analytics platforms. This combination will dramatically lower the barriers to sophisticated analysis. Marketers, who once relied on instinct or limited dashboards, will now be able to model scenarios, test assumptions, predict outcomes and personalize messaging with unprecedented speed and precision.

Leeann Leahy, CEO, Via

In 2026, AI stops being the shiny object and becomes the silent engine quietly rewiring how brands create, target and transact. In CPG and QSR, it will finally connect the dots between demand signals and real-time personalization, turning mass marketing into "mass one-to-one" without breaking operational seams. Hopefully, 2026 will be the year we all find more joy in our communities and our communications.

Suraj Gandhi, managing director and global head of content and studio, PMG

The atomization of creative and placement is already happening, thanks in part to agentic AI, but in 2026, brands are going to be getting a lot more serious about measurement and results beyond efficiency. This will naturally push agencies to do more, and firms that build unified technology systems in-house-minimizing gaps across the value chain-are going to be much better positioned to deliver.

Alex Buxton, director of global partnerships, Thinkingbox

As AI and automation make it easier than ever to generate data, the challenge for brands in 2026 won't be collecting it, it'll be interpreting it. Success will favor a more refined set of metrics that deepens the links to outcomes, like memory, brand salience and authenticity. The job of analysis will shift from reporting to creative diagnostics that can explain why a piece of work moved people, not just how far it traveled.

Joey Chowaiki, chief operating officer and co-founder, Open Influence

AI isn't just a tool in 2026-it's fully integrated into the marketing workflow, helping with content creation, personalization, trend analysis and even campaign strategy. Marketing will increasingly shift from simply automating tasks to using AI as a "creative collaborator."

"The internet will split between humans and agents, and humans will be wildly outnumbered."

David Cohen, IAB

Kenny Tomlin, founder and partner, CourtAvenue

Let AI handle one customer-visible workflow-such as answering a question, starting a return or routing an offer-measure the lift, then copy it across channels so it ladders up to a more cohesive strategy. We'll see less moonshot, more repeatable proof.

Troy Hitch, chief creative officer, Rapp Global

Ahead of that next-gen paid media battleground, brands will push the limits of model context protocol-served tools populated with highly structured and easily queried data as the new value exchange: value exchanged between LLMs, brands, partners and the consumers themselves. Rudimentary request data will be valuable, but will quickly evolve into more useful handshakes. All of which will contribute to brand authority and better positioning for when the ad spigot turns on.

Asha Shivaji, CEO and co-founder, SeeMe Index

Marketers will quickly move from beginner to fluent in the language of AI: Our industry will have a deep understanding of the suite of AI tools and how to use each one to drive marketing impact. No longer will people furrow their brows when the topic of AI arises, and just like we mastered digital technologies, there will be massive adoption so that by the end of 2026 we won't know how we lived without it.

How AI agents will change search, discovery and brand visibility

The traditional search bar is being replaced by AI agents and large language models (LLMs). Marketers must now optimize for "answer engines" (AEO) and "generative engines" (GEO), treating AI models as a primary audience that decides which brands are visible to consumers.

David Cohen, CEO, IAB

The internet will split between humans and agents, and humans will be wildly outnumbered. Two-thirds of global internet traffic will be bots. Good bots, bad bots, wonderful AI agents, rogue AI agents-whatever you want to call them-that's what will be showing up at your website or app. We're used to marketing to humans, but increasingly agents will be making the decisions. Brands have invested billions to learn how to get great at persuading humans. But what does our industry really know about persuading LLM models? There's a lot we all need to learn.

Justin Inman, CEO and founder, Emberos

With nearly two-thirds of shoppers already asking AI models for product research instead of searching, the era of agentic shopping, where AI decides which brands deserve trust and attention, will be fully mainstream by Black Friday 2026. This shift means the models, not traditional search, are now controlling the crucial first step of the buying journey.

Elspeth Rollert, CEO, The Marketing Cloud

For years, marketers crafted strategies to please Google's algorithms and rank high on search pages. The new pivot is toward treating LLMs as a key audience, a primary channel through which everyone from prospective clients and employees to shareholders learns about your organization. Presence (or absence) inside AI-driven search engines responses will increasingly become a major way that brands are defined.

Mary Beech, chief growth officer, Thorne

As traditional web analytics are no longer enough to measure influence or reach, AEO will become a critical tool in meeting consumers where they are. In this new landscape, the real challenge will be helping consumers cut through the noise and identify credible, evidence-based insights amid the growing wave of AI-generated misinformation.

Robert Langenback, president, Eight Oh Two Marketing

As LLMs become a major gateway to information, brands that provide consistent, trustworthy and well-structured insights will earn greater visibility in model-generated answers.

Fintan Gillespie, global director of ad partnerships, Snap

Conversational ads are poised for real scale in 2026. We've seen platforms invest in this format more and more over the years, and while brands have shown interest, there's been some skepticism. But now the audience is ready too: a recent study shows 86 % of U.S. social media users are open to messages from brands on apps like Snapchat, Messenger and others. That's a signal that people want meaningful, two-way interactions, not just passive impressions.

How generative AI will change creative production in 2026

Key takeaway: Production pipelines are accelerating as AI enables visual ideas to be shaped in real time. Leaders, however, warn that this speed must be balanced with distinctiveness; otherwise, brands risk drowning in a sea of "sameness" generated by models trained on past data.

Judith Carr-Rodriguez, partner and CEO, FIG

2026 is the year creative effectiveness becomes the industry's new operating system. Agencies that fuse creative and media data in real time will pull ahead of the pack, while those staying in older, traditional models will quickly be left behind. This also means creative data will stop being just a buzzword and will become a competitive set.

Rupert Cresswell, co-founder and chief creative officer, Elevado

AI will sit at the center of modern production pipelines, unifying creative development, VFX, design, live action and post into a single continuous process. As expectations shift toward faster iteration, more ambitious world-building and scalable personalization, brands will turn to studios built to operate this way.

Doug Guttenberg, executive VP and director of integrated studios, Doner

In 2026, creative teams evolve as the early stages of making become faster and more expressive. Visual ideas can be shaped with intention in the moment, not handed off and returned days later. This shift makes concepting more fluid and collaborative, and it leads to stronger work because teams can see where ideas want to go.

David Dweck, president, Go Fish Digital

Digital platforms are uniting hyper-personalization and AI-driven creative production to transform how brands connect with consumers. Vector embeddings power individualized content and ad delivery while generative AI now produces agency-level creative at scale, enabling thousands of tailored assets that match each user's intent and journey. The ability to churn out thousands of iterations of a given ad, with quality, is here.

Lyle Jenks, executive creative director, BondX

In 2026, the biggest creative advantage won't be just using data for analytics, it will be using data to shape the actual ideas in real time. When AI and human judgment come together to turn mountains of data, real-time behavior and predictive insight into creative direction, brands shift from reacting to the market to designing it.

Read more: Bot-generated fake brand outrage is a rising problem—what marketers need to know

Chris Moreno, managing director, Samsung Ads

AI is redefining the advertising workflow. Tasks that once took weeks-creative development, targeting, distribution, measurement-can now be generated in seconds. That efficiency matters in an uncertain economy where over half of marketers are under pressure to do more with less ... But in 2026, the real impact of AI won't only be faster production-it will be sharper strategy. AI is now shaping which stories brands tell, which formats resonate and how messaging moves across the funnel.

Maria D’Amato, executive creative director, GSD&M

Most brand design systems can't handle the firehose of AI content generation that 2026 will require. If your guidelines can't instruct AI on how to be distinct and memorable, you'll get sameness at scale. Now is the time to upgrade design systems with more nuanced inputs so that the outputs become magnetic.

Amanda Feve, partner and chief strategy officer, Anomaly L.A.

We have to recognize that in many ways, AI can be a conservative force. It's trained on what has come before, effectively making familiar ideas newly available. The best way to cut through the clutter of the familiar is with work that slaps because it's like nothing we've ever seen before.

Robin Forbes, global CEO, R/GA

We’re going to see AI-driven technologies like Gemini, ChatGPT drive a fundamental evolution by ushering in a shift from static digital experiences to dynamic, intelligent ones—where communications will become more personalized and brand ecosystems more expansive and generative than ever before.

Why authenticity and human creativity will matter more in 2026

Key takeaway: Executives predict a divide between machine-driven efficiency and human-led creativity. As AI saturates the market with synthetic content, authenticity and "human-made" work will become premium differentiators, leading brands to focus on emotional resonance and cultural truth.

Kern Schireson, CEO and chairman, Known

AI will move from novelty into ubiquity, theory into practice with fully hybrid models, and we'll get to stop pontificating like we did the first time we used computers or cellphones or the internet. Full integration means we can return to focusing on the work, the vision, the creativity and high craft. Our clients are counting on it.

"2026 will be the year of exponential acceleration in creativity … qual will emerge as the industry’s superpower."

Rick Milenthal, The Shipyard

Josh Braithwaite, managing director of creative, Gale

Marketing will split into two distinct systems: one built for humans, one built for machines. On the human side, there will be a creative renaissance where stories, worlds and cultural invention surge, because the only things that still spread among people are the ones that feel emotional and irresistibly magnetic. On the machine side, the mid and lower funnel as we know it will collapse … The only survivors will be the ones sharp enough to master both systems with equal precision.

Deepa Patel, managing director of North America, Virtue Worldwide

With AI pumping out more content than audiences can absorb, 2026 will challenge us to rethink what quality really is. Those who resist the pressure to mass-produce and instead choose ideas that feel distinct, thoughtful and human will set the pace. Authenticity will become a strategic advantage.

Eric Tsytsylin, partner, brand strategy, Lippincott

We're already seeing the public vandalize dystopian AI ads and celebrate the ability to toggle off AI content on platforms like Pinterest, suggesting an outright boycott is not far off. The upside of AI ostracization? In 2026 "human-made" will resurface as a badge of honor, and a driver of price premiums for knowledge workers and craftspeople alike.

Tyler Turnbull, global CEO, McCann

Right now, we're drowning in "invisible" content that's never been easier to ignore. As a result, brands across categories are struggling to grow market share and demonstrate real results. In 2026, the top marketers will realize that when everyone relies on the same formulas or machines, nothing stands out, drives differentiation or creates an exponential impact on growth. The most successful work goes beyond filling a channel to challenge expectations, surprise audiences and genuinely build a brand.

Rick Milenthal, chairman and CEO, The Shipyard

2026 will be the year of exponential acceleration in creativity and storytelling, driven by a hungry AI-fueled ecosystem that will demand more from all of us. And as access to information becomes universal, qual will emerge as the industry's superpower because real human connection will be the only path to creating something genuinely new.

Fergus McCallum, CEO, TBWA\MCR

As AI saturates culture, a counter-trend is emerging, brands that resist synthetic sameness are winning hearts. From Polaroid to Aerie, anti-AI sentiment is rising, while Coca-Cola’s AI-heavy holiday backlash proves the risk. The smartest strategy for brands next year: stay unmistakably human.

Sydney Walz, head of marketing, Revry

We're at an inflection point in digital media that will fundamentally reshape advertising and media in 2026, and in not about AI getting better. It's about audiences saying "enough." With "AI slop" reaching a fever pitch across social platforms, streaming services and editorial content, we're witnessing something unprecedented: active consumer resistance to algorithmically-generated media.

Kamran Asghar, global CEO and co-founder, Crossmedia

As AI becomes more embedded in the day-to-day mechanics of media and marketing, from automation and optimization to content generation, the true differentiator will shift back to human judgment, creativity and empathy. Top decision-makers will increasingly turn to people who can interpret nuance, understand context and bring original thinking to complex business challenges that machines aren't yet equipped to solve.

Andy Berkenfield, CEO and partner, Duncan Channon

The rise of AI will trigger a feverish demand for authenticity. Humans want real connections and agencies have always had the job of designing authentic ways for their client brands to show up. In a world overrun by robot output-no matter how unusual or funny-hollow feelings will spark a frantic search for all things real.

Thomas Ranese, global chief marketing officer, Intuit

AI is for the "what," humans are for the "so what." By 2026, the CMO's core challenge will be managing the balance of AI (the what) and human intelligence (the so what). Agents will have industrialized the marketing process... This industrialization forces the marketer to evolve from an executor to an original insight generator. The new competitive advantage is not in efficiency, but in the depth of human curiosity, creativity and judgment that creates the emotional, strategic and cultural difference that AI cannot replicate.

Tiffany Holland, head of marketing strategy, Consiglieri

As brands deploy more AI agents, they will need to think about how they not only engage consumers, but the autonomous AI agents that will be acting on their behalf. This will require an evolved customer-centric strategy that includes both emotional storytelling that resonates with people, and structured, trustworthy signals that AI agents can easily parse and favor on their behalf.

How agency business models and pitching will change in 2026

Key takeaway: The traditional billable hour and complex pitch processes are becoming obsolete, leaders say. 2026 will see a surge in independent, senior-led shops, project-based work and outcome-based pricing, forcing agencies to move upstream as business partners or risk being replaced by in-house automation.

Justin Thomas-Copeland, CEO, 4As

I anticipate a double shift in the market in the year ahead, with many agencies moving far more upstream, focused on business partnering and driving measurable contribution to the client's P&L through their specialism. And, at the same time, clients will continue to invest in data-driven, content-rich operational marketing. Both shifts will bring more focus toward outcomes-based agreements and other models that reward true contribution, not just time spent.

Ashley Walters, partner and chief marketing officer, Curiosity

My hot take? The agency hierarchy will collapse into a single, open field. Boutiques will punch up, hold cos will play down, and those who create real value will own an outsized share of growth. The competition we faced in the past is not who we will face in 2026. Heck, even AI is telling clients which agencies to call. Agency leaders must figure out who they are and who they are fighting for, because the floodgates are opening.

Jason Harris, co-founder and CEO, Mekanism

In 2026, AI will really start to challenge traditional advertising agency staffing and pricing models, as we begin to see agents supplement everything from strategy to execution. Bloated creative departments and account management hierarchies will be expensive relics. This will be the real start of a longer-term shift to lean tech-enabled human teams.

Peter Krivkovich, chairman and CEO, Cramer-Krasselt

In 2026, long-term branding will face further compression as marketers prioritize opportunistic moments, "always-on" messaging and reactive content... This expectation for fresh, rapid content will diminish the traditional agency model with the growing multitude of freelance content providers or in-house AI-driven resources that are easy, efficient and controllable. As project-based work accelerates, many agencies will struggle to maintain high-quality output, breadth of services and fixed overhead costs.

John Geletka, founder, Geletka+

The new pitch is don't. Clients are sick of 40 slides and buzzwords. They want to see the work happen. Pull it up, build it live, figure it out together. The shops that move fast and stay open are the ones that win, because speed is respect for everyone's time.

Peyton Sutton, partner and president, Terri & Sandy

The best talent is going indie. Not because of money, but because they can have real impact and a belief in what they're building. The most amazing creative minds in our biz are searching for purpose and freedom and the ability to be a part of creating something weird and great.

Daisy Expósito-Ulla, chairwoman and CEO, expósito & Partners

After the wave of mega-mergers, and their seismic effects on the industry, including the painful reality of talented people being left without work, I believe we’ll see a perfect storm that will fuel a new generation of bold, independent leaders.

Marshall Ball, senior VP of marketing, Grow Therapy

As agency networks consolidate, marketers will flock to small, senior-led shops for direct access to the talent that actually does the work. In 2026, brands will choose partners who can get to breakthrough ideas fast, without the bloat.

"The CMO title as we know is disappearing."

Keisha Taylor Starr, The E.W. Scripps Co.

Josh Golden, president and chief creative officer, Yes&

Briefs will evolve as fast as the ideas inside them. Real-time data will turn them into living documents that adapt as campaigns perform. The best client-agency relationships will be conversational, building better ideas together in motion.

Genna Franconi, CEO, 22squared and Trade School

The rapidly changing industry favors smaller, independent agencies, with agility built into our DNA. What we need to consider heading into 2026 is not a single prediction, but the mindset required to navigate whatever comes our way. Variables will change quickly, and the companies that thrive will be the ones that remain flexible, nimble and ready to adapt in real time.

Keisha Taylor Starr, CMO, The E.W. Scripps Co.

The CMO title as we know is disappearing. By 2026, the role won't just oversee marketing-it will oversee the business itself. CMOs are evolving into leaders who drive revenue, operations and strategy across the organization. Don't mistake the decline in CMO titles for irrelevance; it signals a transformation.

Lori Murphree, founder and managing partner, Evalla Advisors

We anticipate continued headline-making acquisitions as large and mid-sized holding companies seek to adapt to the evolving landscape, characterized by AI adoption, productized service models and higher client expectations for solutions-based offerings rather than purely agency labor.

Emily Siegel, managing partner and president, Lafayette American

We'll continue to see marketing budgets tighten as decision makers seek efficiencies with AI and as politics-the midterms and the economy-drive uncertainty. Agencies would probably be wise to forecast more project-based assignments than long-term partnerships.

How connected TV and streaming ads will evolve in 2026

Key takeaway: CTV is maturing into a performance engine. Predictions highlight the role of sports as a scalable anchor, the rise of AI-driven measurement and the shift from passive viewing to interactive commerce where advertisers prioritize interoperability and outcomes over mere reach.

Ben Kartzman, president and chief operating officer, Attain

The live sports boom in streaming is still in its early innings. Amazon's rapid acquisition of rights across nearly every major sport has made it clear that sports remain the best anchor for CTV scale. The real question for 2026 is how other players will compete when they can't afford those same rights. Expect experiments with adjacent content, sports-adjacent programming and more creative approaches to premium inventory.

Cameron Miille, chief revenue officer, Publica by Integral Ad Science

The dominant theme of 2026 will be interoperability, a foundational shift that will unlock the next wave of growth and solidify CTV's importance for advertisers, OEMs and publishers alike. There is still work to connect the disparate systems and siloed data but we will see significant progress on creating a more cohesive and efficient ecosystem.

Jordan Bortolotti, president, Salt Media

The 2026 media landscape will be reshaped by streaming consolidation and the rise of ad-supported LLMs and AI browsers. An explosion of low-cost AI content will pressure studios and streamers, driving M&A activity, particularly Walmart, Amazon, Disney and Netflix, as they fight for ad budgets, scale and stay competitive.

Christopher Hogg, chief revenue officer, Lotame

The maturation of secure, privacy-compliant data clean room technologies will enable parties that once sat at opposite ends of the supply chain—such as media companies and retailers—to link ad exposure directly to the point of sale through first-party data aggregation.

Brian Norris, chief revenue officer, The E.W. Scripps Co.

In 2026, the long-held belief that national TV is the ultimate prize will give way to a more modern truth: local sports and news are where real community connection lives. Sophisticated CMOs-especially at small and mid-size brands-are recalibrating their playbooks, using local sports and CTV to complement national linear rather than chase increasingly expensive, one-size-fits-all national sports buys.

Frans Vermeulen, president, Swivel

This is the year when people finally start giving agents real work rather than just testing them on the side. Trust grows as agents handle low-risk, repetitive tasks reliably while humans stay in the loop on critical decisions. CTV moves first and shows the rest of the market that agentic selling is ready for real scale and real revenue impact.

The digital media and ad tech shifts shaping 2026

Quality is overtaking scale as the primary metric in programmatic. Executives forecast a decline in "attention" as a universal KPI, a crackdown on "Made for Advertising" (MFA) content and the transformation of publishers into Data-as-a-Service companies.

Tyler Romasco, executive VP, OpenX

Heading into 2026, the programmatic ecosystem can no longer prioritize scale over quality. There's a finite amount of premium inventory, so MFA content, multi-hop reselling and request duplication are all gamification tactics that ultimately erode trust. Bigger doesn't always mean better-instead, advertisers will find success in intentional curation, direct supply paths and robust media quality controls.

Stan Grabowski, VP of marketing, Adlook

Attention will stop being used as a universal KPI. Advertisers will demand category-specific attention models that reflect real consumer behavior and real decision-making. A mortgage and a candy bar do not require the same type of attention, and marketers will penalize systems that optimize for attention that has no cognitive value. The industry moves from chasing attention volume to understanding which attention actually shifts outcomes.

Jaime Schultheis, head of global data partnerships, Bombora

Publishers will fully embrace their evolution into full-fledged Data-as-a-Service companies in 2026. The rise of AI-driven search and generative content has triggered a dramatic collapse in site traffic, eroding the value of traditional ad models and forcing publishers to reimagine their business foundations.

Phil Duffield, VP of Northern Europe, The Trade Desk

Scrutiny on advertising budgets won't go anywhere in 2026, meaning the drive toward a more efficient supply chain that improves ROI will only accelerate. As a result, we can expect to see more pressure on resellers swimming in murky waters. The ad tech sector has made progress in recent years, but the industry still feels the impact of the "walled garden" approach.

Sharon Taylor, chief revenue officer, Triton Digital

As with other programmatic channels, programmatic audio has evolved from content and audience-based automation to intention-based optimization. In 2026, the most successful buyers will focus on curated supply that both reflects their brand identity and audience targets. Scale matters, but quality and alignment matter more.

Garrett Dale, co-founder, Kepler Group

With the last mile of consumer decisions seeing an influx of interest from AI companies with automated checkout options, we will see brands find more ways to use retail media data beyond the marketplace. The data will be used in the latest AI models to develop attention-grabbing creative fast, in concert with media plans that go beyond the retailer sites, across all screens, while using those insights to produce highly relevant in-person experiences.

Gabrielle Heyman, VP of global brand sales, Zynga

Today's consumer dual-screen behavior gives marketers 2x the opportunity to connect with their audiences. Instead of viewing their consumption habits-watching TV and being on their phones simultaneously-as a negative, look at the opportunity it provides. Mobile games are the perfect complement to CTV.

How the creator economy and influencer marketing will evolve

Key takeaway: Creators are evolving into full-fledged businesses, demanding equity and strategic roles rather than just brand deals. Livestreaming is emerging as a primary signal of trust, and creator-led commerce is poised to fill the gaps left by traditional agencies.

Ruth Mortimer, global president, Advertising Week

As traditional agencies falter and contract, 2026 will be a year of creator-led enterprise commerce. The creator economy is no longer about influencing; it's about being the media channel, the creative agency and the entertainment franchise all in one. As AI and automation is on the rise, 2026 will see these human-fronted ventures move in to fill the gap left by traditional creative and media agencies.

"Social-first isn’t a slogan anymore—it’s an org chart."

Evan Horowitz, Movers+Shakers

Shannae Ingleton Smith, CEO, Kensington Grey

Livestreaming is going to dominate the digital landscape in 2026. With celebrities like Justin Bieber joining Twitch, and brands like e.l.f. successfully selling products through livestreams, it's clear that going live is becoming the new standard of authenticity. Unlike pre-recorded and heavily edited content, which can often feel performative and read as inauthentic, livestreaming offers a level of intimacy and real-time connection.

John Doyle, chief strategy officer, Colle McVoy

The timestamp becomes the new trust signal in 2026. Live becomes a feature of brand behavior, not just content. Brands will experiment with live product development, letting audiences watch designers iterate in real time and even shape tiny decisions. We will see real-time flash offers that adjust as communities react.

Brian Salzman, founder and CEO, RQ

Creators will finally be treated as extensions of brand teams, contributing to strategy, not just distribution. As algorithms shift, speed and cultural fluency will decide who breaks through.

Takashi Nakano, VP of content, Samsung TV Plus

We expect creators to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Hollywood as the new stars of television and streaming. Creator-led series will not only rival studio productions in audience hours but also earn prestigious industry recognition.

Sol Betesh, CEO, Fallen Media

In 2026, you'll see the gap between advertising and entertainment finally come together. Brands like Dick's Sporting Goods have already opened up content studios in-house. You'll see brands really lean into creators and give them the space to do what they want with the messaging.

Maggie Walsh, head of strategy, Glow

I don't think it's a coincidence that the same year AI exploded its sloppy insides all over the internet, we're seeing the creator economy hit a new peak. In this new era, people are going to be more drawn to the stuff that feels like it was made by human hands. As a result, I predict more money that went to making ads will go straight to creators.

Evan Horowitz, CEO, Movers+Shakers

Social-first isn't a slogan anymore-it's an org chart. The brands that win will centralize creators, community and rapid production with a direct line to the CMO. Speed and coherence become structural advantages. Social has evolved from a channel to an operating system. The smartest brands test TikToks, not TVCs.

Courtney Brown Warren, CMO, Kickstarter

In 2026, we'll see creators move strategically beyond monetizing attention toward monetizing ownership. Instead of one-off brand deals, creators will increasingly pursue equity stakes, revenue-sharing models and long-term roles as true strategic partners.

Adam Brotman, co-CEO, Forum3

In 2026, marketing becomes even more deeply shaped by the attention economy and the growing influence of video-native creators/influencers. Consumers now get their cultural fluency, product discovery and even news primarily through short-form video, longer-form creator channels and podcasts, a shift that's accelerating across Gen Z, millennials and now even Gen Xers like myself.

Jessica Shapiro, CMO, LiveRamp

Trends show independent and influential creators are on track to capture nearly a quarter of ad spend that once went to traditional publishers, complicating the picture. Audiences are scattered, platforms are evolving daily and creators are moving fast. This is where data collaboration becomes essential, giving brands and platforms a shared foundation of data.

Courtney Hirsch, CEO, Jomboy Media

In 2026, depth beats scale. Brands are finally realizing that a tight, engaged audience outperforms a giant passive one. Fans want to be part of something, not just watch it, and creator-driven sports give them that seat at the table.

Daniel Daks, co-founder and CEO, Palette Media

As the creator economy continues to evolve, brands and organizations will begin to form more complex partnerships with creators and understand that creators can solve more complex objectives than just product marketing. We've begun to see the early onset of creators as operators and equity partners in consumer brands, but this will continue to evolve into a broader redefinition of what creators are capable of inside an organization.

Why experiential marketing and brand communities will grow in 2026

Key takeaway: As the digital world becomes saturated and fragmented, brands are shifting investments to IRL (in real life) experiences and world-building. Success will be defined by creating participatory moments-whether in physical spaces or micro-communities-rather than just broadcasting messages.

"We’re entering an era where brands no longer speak at people, but create worlds for people to enter."

Luis Miguel Messianu, MEL

Ivan Kayser, CEO, Redscout

After years of frictionless shopping and endless scrolling, the pendulum is swinging back toward presence. As post-COVID e-commerce growth flattens, brands are rediscovering the power of place-spaces that inspire, immerse and connect. We're seeing the early signals everywhere.

Scott Harkey, CEO, The Harkey Group

Marketers will invest heavily in IRL experiences that generate emotional responses. In a world saturated with content, meaningful experiences have become the filter for brand authenticity-and the fastest path to consumer loyalty. The agencies that understand how to engineer shareable moments at scale will garner the most success.

David Hughes, president, Callen

Our clients and our teams are thinking more like entertainment franchises, building universes rather than isolated campaigns. We're seeing creative brand work becoming experiential by default, shifting from passive formats to participatory storytelling - like interactive video, shoppable entertainment, real-world activations with digital layers and branded content IP that evolves season after season.

Bre Rossetti, chief strategy officer, Arnold

As the environment becomes even more fragmented (and as the AI conversation dominates), campaigns will feel short-lived and small. Brands will actively pursue longer-term narratives in worlds that they can build and own. Brand voice will become more important than ever.

Luis Miguel Messianu, president and chief creative officer, MEL

We're entering an era where brands no longer speak at people, but create worlds for people to enter-from AR and VR, to stories you can touch and feel. The next frontier is multi-sensory-where every campaign becomes an immersive invitation to participate, to belong and to co-create culture.

Paul Greenwood, global head of research, We Are Social

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-centered communities. Although brands may struggle to get a read on these online communities, there is the scope to develop deeper connections.

Kelsey Cross, president, Tower 28

In 2026, we'll see a continued rise in cultural amplification briefs layered onto existing global campaign platforms as brands push to appear more "international." Think Lunar New Year, Carnival, Diwali, Bastille Day-key cultural moments increasingly being used as plug-in opportunities for global work.

Ryan Laul, CEO, Talon North American

Looking ahead to 2026 events that include the Winter Olympics, FIFA World Cup, America's 250th celebration and midterm elections, we will see more of an emphasis on marketing tactics such as OOH and experiential marketing. These IRL moments will deliver real-world presence and meaningful impact without disruption. Brands will lean in and embrace authenticity to build bonds with consumers in an increasingly artificial world.

Michelle Edelman, CEO and chief strategy officer, Petermayer

With consumer sentiment falling, 2026 will have two distinct themes that brand marketers should pay attention to: AI skepticism and maxing out fandoms. On one daunting end, AI is consuming social media and the consumer experience, causing audiences to deeply question the authenticity of their interactions with brands. On the other more exciting end, there is a consistent flow of sporting events for the U.S. in 2026 … These moments give brands an opportunity to reject the inauthenticity of AI, and instead celebrate the joy and positivity of our real-life fan communities.

Christy Hiler, CEO and owner, Cornett

As the motivations behind some of the largest industry communities and community events are questioned, we've seen a surge of new micro-communities pop up. But there's only so much time and energy we can give to all of these communities. I think we will see a weeding out of communities and events, with those that are most genuine in their celebration of the people and work, and adding value, rising to the top.

How brand strategy will shift across culture and generations

Key takeaway: Successful brands in 2026 will operate like software, constantly updating and evolving. Executives predict a focus on "unfiltered" brand stances, a rise in diverse media investment and specific strategies for Gen Z, Gen Alpha and the GLP-1 consumer.

Kwame Taylor-Hayford, co-founder, Kin

Every year—and sometimes several times a year—your phone, EV or smart speaker updates itself … I expect brands will start moving in a similar direction: seeing themselves as dynamic systems rather than static ones.

Kristin Van Note, head of strategy, Joan

Branding has officially entered its unfiltered era. For years, our industry tiptoed around controversy, terrified it would cost us customers, but 2025 proved the opposite. Brands that took sides, even spicy ones, didn't suffer. In fact, they surged. In 2026, the brands that stand their ground will win.

Samantha Maltin, chief marketing and brand officer, ALSAC/St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

In 2026, brands that lead with authenticity and emotional resonance will win, and trust will be a defining metric. AI will continue to revolutionize how we create, deliver and measure marketing, but it will also raise the stakes. As automation accelerates personalization and content at scale, audiences will demand greater transparency and authenticity.

Sophie Ozoux, co-founder, Kin

Brands that still treat purpose as an add-on risk losing credibility. Instead, purpose will need to embed into IP, community experiences and operational narratives. That means marketing campaigns alone won't satisfy; what counts will be how a brand's original IP (digital magazine, live festival, community platform) lives purpose daily.

DéVon Christopher Johnson, co-founder, BOMESI

Forward-thinking brands will discover that systematically investing in diverse-owned publisher infrastructure—not just buying ads from them—unlocks guaranteed incremental audiences while building sustainable media ecosystems that deliver competitive advantage.

Tara DeVeaux, CEO, Burrell Communications Group

The backlash to the anti-DEI movement will force brands to recognize that they can't reach younger consumers without re-embracing a truly multicultural worldview-because that is the realistic worldview. Black and Brown communities are driving culture, and brands will need to acknowledge this to reach the masses.

Myles Worthington, CEO and founder, Worthi

Latino audiences are central to shaping our culture and 2025 cemented that more than ever. In 2026, however, this audience should be top of mind for all marketers who care about growing their brand, and authentically attaching it to culture. We'll see Bad Bunny taking on the Super Bowl halftime show stage … These moments aren't coincidental but an example of how their influence continues to transcend categories.

Misha Williams, chief operating officer, GWI

In 2026, Gen Alpha hits 16-and hits reset on generational marketing. This isn't Gen Z 2.0. They're collaborative, creative and co-purchasing. They want empowerment, not pandering. Brands that treat them like passive consumers will lose. The ones that include them in creation will win. They don't just consume culture-they code it.

Joe Ferencz, founder and CEO, Gamefam

Roblox is the next media frontier, it's already here and it's only growing. In the same way TV obsoleted print advertising and internet then obsoleted TV advertising, the rise of Roblox will show up in a big way for immersive marketing strategies in 2026 with major brands spanning from fashion and apparel to sports and entertainment to financial services.

Anthony Romano, CEO, Laughlin Constable

2026 will mark the "premium turn" on TikTok. After years of ceding the platform to retail and DTC, a wave of higher-end brands will recognize its power as a modern brand stage, shifting more meaningful dollars into upper-funnel storytelling. Expect more creator-led narratives designed to shape identity and build brand equity, not just drive lower-funnel conversion.

Ali Cox, founder and CEO, Noble West

Retailers will expect brands to be insight-driven partners. Retail environments are increasingly demanding more support from brands: clearer consumer insights, packaging that communicates value instantly and marketing that helps improve velocity. The winners will be the brands that understand the retailer's customer as well as their own.

Anson Sowby, CEO and co-founder, Battery

This is the year we get over our obsession with the Super Bowl and admit it's a waste of money for most brands. Smaller but more audience-dense events like The Game Awards (153 million livestream views) or the Met Gala (53 million livestream views) will become much more important in media plans.

Ruth Bernstein, CEO and founder, Yard NYC

Consumers are going to take back control in a more forceful way. The impact of GLP-1 drugs is one clear example of how consumer behavior is changing the traditional "dopamine" impulses of the past. Advertising and marketing will need to redefine what it means to create desire when the consumer's impulse-following and FOMO habits are curtailed.

This story is part of Ad Age’s 2026 Business Forecast, showcasing industry outlooks, predictions and trends to watch as the year unfolds. These stories are available to Ad Age All Access subscribers.