Posted In: Strategy by
Jenn Ferrier,
November 25, 2025
We asked a selection of our team to predict the biggest marketing wins brands can embrace for 2026, from the continuing rise of AI to the return of brand, get stuck in and see what resonates with you.
JENN FERRIER, HEAD OF GROWTH
In spite of the backdrop, brands will continue to grow confidence in THEIR brand and business, grounded in a belief that growth is coming. They will begin to release the handcuffs, make some solid decisions and take control of their own destiny (with a healthy drop of realism).
This is echoed in the results of our most recent survey (of senior leaders within the H&G sector) where 80% were confident their businesses would grow compared to a stark 0% who were positive about the future of the UK (62% were unsure and 38% were pessimistic).
The core message: start making the decisions and taking the actions needed to grow your businesses or you are going to be left behind.
Fav festive treat – Mince pies, warmed with cream
Brands will start to get a lot more careful about what they put out creatively in 2026 – and for good reason. After a year of high-profile blunders like American Eagle’s ‘Great Jeans’ campaign and a massive wave of flat, AI-generated ads failing to make an impact, marketers are realising that skipping the groundwork is risky. We’ll see more focus on testing – like consumer concept pre-testing and through platforms like System1 – with more brands putting in the groundwork to understand what really resonates. Whilst it’s still often seen as a cost, there’ll be a shift towards treating it as an investment that brands can’t afford not to make.
Smart brands will go back to basics: understanding the market, diagnosing real consumer needs, building clear strategy based on facts and not assumptions, then moving into creative. The ones who slow down at the start will end up moving faster – and will make work that actually lands.
Fav festive treat – Red wine by the pint
WPP’s decline will accelerate, and with Omnicom absorbing IPG, cutting thousands of roles and shuttering heritage agency brand, we’re not witnessing the end of the storm, but the eye of it. The networks will keep reinventing themselves into something increasingly distant from the traditional agency model, leaving indies to fill the growing gap.
AI won’t disrupt agencies; it will weaponize them, amplifying value rather than eroding it. The negative narrative of predicting the death of service areas of business due to AI is tiresome. Agencies will use AI to make client work better
And as inflation settles and interest rates fall, UK consumers – currently standing on a hosepipe of pent-up cash – will finally release the pressure. Confidence will return, spending will rise, and clients will see a stronger 2026 than they expect.
Fav festive treat – Plenty of Baileys
AI will dominate every marketing conversation in 2026. Boards will ask for “an AI strategy” and teams will scramble to create one. The truth is, while there’s work to do to shape how AI perceives and surfaces your brand, the biggest levers remain the fundamentals of good marketing. The brands that win will invest in relevance and reach – strong PR, credible content, and clear positioning that connects human stories with machine understanding. PR cynics and those hooked on the short-term hit of performance marketing will need to rethink their balance. It will also spark uncomfortable conversations with those holding the purse strings, as the real cost of building a brand becomes clear to those used to chasing only ROI and efficiency. Those who don’t invest will quietly disappear as the algorithms move on without them.
Fav festive treat – Lots and lots of Baileys
2026 will mark a major shift in the media landscape as the boundaries between linear TV, streaming, and video dissolve. With UK broadcasters collaborating to rival big tech through a joint streaming-ad marketplace, TV will evolve into a dynamic, data-driven ecosystem. Linear TV will become fully addressable, enabling advertisers to target traditional audiences with digital-level precision, while the rapid rise of streaming and CTV continues to redefine how brands connect with viewers.
As brands reposition, spend will move away from declining formats like digital display toward channels offering innovation and measurable growth. Against a backdrop of tightening budgets and economic pressure, the industry must beware the trap of efficiency over effectiveness. The winners of 2026 will balance automation with impact – combining smart investment with the creativity and context that keep audiences truly engaged.
Fav festive treat – White chocolate After Eight
2026 is the year that storytelling gets taken seriously.
Brands that win will build consistent and engaging narratives, that connect with their consumers. On and offline.
IRL moments will be the crescendo of well-thought-out comms that build anticipation and engagement ahead of activations.
Activations will be amplified, through content, through connection, that lives long beyond the activity itself.
Content will be central. By brands and media and creators. As the connective tissue weaving the message through the buying cycle.
Connections are crucial and advocacy feeds discoverability, meaning brands can go beyond being seen to being chosen.
Fav festive treat – Red wine and a cheese board (I’m basic!!)
I think Meta is going to get a lot stricter in the coming year when it comes to advertisers running creatives that look too similar. We’re already seeing hints of this, but I expect a much bigger push. Meta doesn’t want feeds cluttered with the same recycled formats, so I imagine they’ll roll out more penalties- lower delivery scores, higher CPMs, or even limited reach – for ads that feel repetitive or overly templated. Basically, if your creatives all look like slight variations of each other, Meta’s systems won’t reward it anymore.
Because of this, I could see Meta shifting the ad account interface to focus more on creativity rather than just campaign structure. They might highlight creative diversity, provide stronger alerts about repetitive ads, or even reorganise the UI around creative performance instead of just campaigns and ad sets. Overall, it feels like a big push toward fresher, more varied content.
Fav festive treat – Terrys Chocolate Orange
YouTube ads are going to be big in 2026. The rise in viewership as well as developments to the ad offering will make this a channel Brands need to be on next year. AI will make it more accessible to run ads, with video creation or editing available to all. Google’s user data will allow YouTube ads to amplify the right message throughout the path to purchase tying in well with Search ads. It will likely be part of a bigger shift away from a solely performance focused Google eco-system towards playing a larger role in brand building.
Fav festive treat – Yule Log
AI visibility is going to be increasingly valued in the world of SEO next year. In the US, LLMs are rolling out agentic commerce, making them able to purchase a product on your behalf – a service that will likely be rolled out worldwide.. I think it’ll go further than just purchasing products, you’ll be able to enquire for a new kitchen, book student accommodation, without even leaving the LLM. As AI tools start to progress out of their infancy, usage will start to rocket – and brands that are visible sooner will win.
Fav festive treat – After Eights
Want to dig in a bit deeper? Drop us a line and we’ll get the kettle on hello@weareboutique.co.uk
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