Kantar forecasts ten marketing trends for 2026 strategic planning

Research firm Kantar identified ten marketing trends that will shape brand strategy and advertising investments during 2026, according to analysis released this fall. The trends span AI-powered purchasing agents, retail media expansion, creator effectiveness measurement, and synthetic data implementation.

The research covers both emerging and established patterns across digital transformation, media effectiveness, and consumer behavior. Each trend includes specific data points drawn from Kantar's proprietary research databases covering brand equity, advertising effectiveness, and consumer attitudes.

AI agents mediate purchase decisions at scale

Kantar projects AI agents will fundamentally alter how brands reach consumers during 2026. According to the report, 24% of AI users already employ AI shopping assistants, signaling widespread adoption of delegated purchase support. The shift moves marketing focus from capturing human attention to predisposing autonomous agents that execute transactions.

OpenAI's announcement of browser integration for AI agents demonstrates how purchasing behavior patterns are shifting. Brands must service both human consumers through traditional attention-seeking channels and non-human agents through structured, machine-legible content. Product features, service details, guides, experiences, and content require wide discoverability.

Three-quarters of AI assistant users regularly seek AI-driven recommendations, according to Kantar research. This creates demand for Generative Engine Optimization, which positions brands within large language model responses. The strongest brands will shape narratives told by AI systems. Brands lacking differentiation risk algorithmic exclusion from recommendations.

Retail media networks deliver superior performance

Retail media networks have grown to more than 200 platforms, positioning the channel as central for reaching shoppers online and in-store. Performance data shows RMNs deliver 1.8 times better results than digital ads, with nearly 3 times better purchase intent outcomes, according to Kantar LIFT data.

The networked approach grants media owners unprecedented control over purchase decisions across multiple stages. A net 38% of marketers plan to increase RMN investment in 2026, according to Kantar's Media Reactions survey. This should pressure media owners to provide advertisers with greater transparency and straightforward ROI measurement.

Shoppable ads on connected television and streaming services will reach mainstream adoption next year, representing a major shift in how people discover, interact with, and purchase products. Several major platforms have integrated retail advertising technology to enable unified campaign management. Success depends on close collaboration between brands and retailers to create consumer-focused advertising, with data integration from different retail touchpoints determining effectiveness.

Creator content requires effectiveness metrics

Investment in creator content will increase substantially, with a net 61% of marketers planning budget expansion for 2026, according to Kantar research. This growth intensifies pressure to demonstrate impact beyond engagement metrics like likes and views.

ROI and brand-building metrics will become the important benchmarks for creator campaigns during 2026. Coherent, cross-channel ideas are 2.5 times more important to campaign success compared to a decade ago, according to Kantar's LIFT+ database. However, only 27% of creator content ties strongly to the brand.

The solution requires structural change from isolated creator executions toward long-term creative platforms that align brand and creator-led content. Brands should establish clear guardrails for creator content, share success metrics, then allow creators to operate independently within those parameters. Over-direction diminishes authenticity, while under-briefing risks brand disappearance.

The creator economy has shifted toward in-person experiences, with 41% of social media users attending influencer events in 2025. This reflects broader changes in how audiences engage with creator content across multiple touchpoints.

Synthetic data augments marketing insights

Augmenting audiences with AI will deepen marketers' understanding for more effective strategy development. Synthetic data use requires balance between speed, scale, and accuracy. Algorithms vary significantly depending on dataset and scenario. Kantar's own synthetic data boosting delivers 94-95% accuracy versus ground truth.

Technologies like digital twins will evolve with clearer guardrails and use cases. Rapid integration of text, voice, image, and virtual reality will enhance how marketers visualize insights and integrate with large language model search capabilities.

The industry faces readiness challenges. Responsible data, rigorous testing, new skills, and technology infrastructure for scaling remain essential requirements. Marketers are moving beyond synthetic hype toward practical execution in 2026. Brands will need to develop internal capabilities, make informed trade-offs, and work with trusted data partners.

Privacy-enhancing technologies enable sophisticated data processing while maintaining confidentiality standards. These systems allow analysis of sensitive information without compromising individual privacy through techniques including data obfuscation, encrypted processing, and federated learning.

Creative testing accelerates with AI

Seventy-five percent of global marketers express excitement about Generative AI possibilities, according to Kantar's Media Reactions survey. The next step involves applying AI where it delivers maximum value. For creative content, this means systematically adopting AI-powered evaluation techniques to predict which ads will capture attention, stir emotions, and affect purchase intent and long-term brand equity.

AI-assisted testing will become faster, more accurate, and widely adopted, enabling real-time ad testing. In 2026, agentic optimization recommendations will give marketers power to fine-tune campaigns dynamically based on historical performance, current trends, and audience responses. Human insight remains essential to tell brand stories authentically.

Focus will center on training dataset quality for AI-based tools making automated decisions, ensuring insights are robust and trustworthy. CMOs need to test and learn now to ensure creative effectiveness drives brand growth rather than chasing technology trends.

Treatonomics reshapes consumer spending

Treatonomics, also called little treat culture, has emerged as an antidote to economic volatility and fundamental changes in life milestones. With marriage, parenthood, and home ownership increasingly out of reach or undesirable, treatonomics injects optimism and control through small pleasures.

Thirty-six percent of consumers are prepared to go into short-term debt to spend on things they enjoy, according to Kantar's Global MONITOR. People now mark "inchstones" just to have something to celebrate. It's the lipstick effect on steroids.

Social media's pivot to commerce, where demand is created and fulfilled in seconds, keeps treatonomics alive. With economic uncertainty ongoing, the trend will likely persist into 2026. However, trends are moving faster and fragmenting by geographical and cultural niches, requiring brands to work hard staying at the front of the race.

CMOs need to determine if their brands meet consumers where they are by creating joy in everyday experiences. This requires understanding how economic pressures and shifting life priorities affect purchasing decisions across different demographic segments.

Innovation demands experimentation culture

Innovation is a proven multiplier. Over the past 20 years, brands willing to disrupt themselves or their category created $6.6 trillion in value, according to Kantar's BrandZ database. Examples include Apple, Amazon, and Google.

Yet many businesses stumble when taking risks. With disruption all around, playing safe can feel tempting despite sacrificing future growth. In 2026, short-termism won't be enough. Brands that make experimentation their default will grow and shape the future.

Smart risk-taking thrives in cultures where teams have permission to push boundaries, exploration is structured, and experimentation is rewarded. Innovation must be brand-led, not tech-led, rooted in what a brand stands for and in consumer motivations and tensions.

With widely used AI tools, CMOs face a new imperative: ensure innovation brings a brand's meaningful difference to life rather than chasing technology. The biggest risk is still not taking one.

Inclusive marketing drives brand growth

Inclusive marketing is expansive marketing. It's how brands grow by reaching out and meaningfully engaging high-growth populations who've long been underserved or under-represented.

Despite recent efforts to undermine diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, future-forward brands in 2026 will leave behind performative messages and strive for more effective solutions to consumer needs for access to products and services, as well as representation within businesses and external messaging.

Nearly two-thirds of people (65%) value companies who promote diversity and inclusion, up from 59% in 2021, according to Kantar's Global MONITOR. Predisposing more people pays off in growth. However, in a climate of backlash, brands must lead with certainty, being clear about values they stand for and showing action.

Marketers should double down on inclusive innovation, culturally fluent programmes, and authentic representation on both sides of the camera during 2026. This approach expands addressable markets while strengthening connections with existing customers.

Micro-communities gain marketing relevance

Algorithmic feeds reward generic, sales-heavy content. Organic reach for branded pages keeps sliding, making broad engagement less effective and more expensive. Faced with crowded and impersonal spaces, people are moving toward micro-communities where they talk and belong in more meaningful ways.

Here, authenticity and relevance drive more engagement than reach. Brands win by showing up with tangible value (not promotion) and consistently engaging with people's interests. It's about building with audiences, often by collaborating with credible creators.

In China, where many social trends originate, brands using knowledge-sharing micro-community platforms achieved 25% higher marketing ROI, according to Kantar's LIFT ROI database. Nearly 40% of consumers trust micro-community recommendations as much as personal ones, a strong sign of these networks' peer-to-peer credibility.

Marketers will need to pay close attention to ROI through authentic engagement and organic advocacy in micro-communities during 2026. This requires understanding specific community dynamics and developing long-term relationships rather than treating communities as another advertising channel.

Brand building in algorithmic environments

Purchase decisions will be increasingly mediated by Generative AI and agents who recommend brands and their content during the coming year. However, technology doesn't buy things—people do. The CMO's job is to build brands that people love and to be more present so models prioritize their brands.

Salience alone won't make brands algorithmically preferred. AI search patterns affect how brands appear in recommendations. Brands must prepare to create clear, structured, machine-legible, and relevant content. Models must be primed with brand meaning and what brands offer.

The strongest brands will be those that shape the story AI is telling. Brands that fail to differentiate risk being lost in sameness. If a brand isn't the default recommendation, it will be optimized out of consideration sets.

Timeline

• 2021: Kantar Global MONITOR records 59% of consumers valuing companies promoting diversity and inclusion
• Past 20 years: Brands willing to disrupt themselves created $6.6 trillion in value, according to Kantar BrandZ
• 2024: Kantar research shows coherent, cross-channel ideas become 2.5 times more important to campaign success compared to a decade prior
• 2025: AI shopping agents face skepticism despite platform launches
• 2025: Kantar Global MONITOR shows 65% of consumers value companies promoting diversity and inclusion, up from 59% in 2021
• 2025: Amazon deploys generative AI across shopping platform with more than 250 million Rufus users
• 2025: Google launches agentic checkout features for holiday shopping season
• 2025: Creator economy shifts toward in-person experiences with 41% of social media users attending events
• 2025: Retail media and CTV converge as shopping patterns shift to streaming platforms
• Fall 2025: Kantar releases Marketing Trends 2026 report
• 2026 projection: 24% of AI users already use AI shopping assistants, according to Kantar's Connecting with the AI consumer report
• 2026 projection: Net 61% of marketers plan to increase creator content investment, according to Kantar Media Reactions
• 2026 projection: Net 38% of marketers plan to increase retail media network investment, according to Kantar Media Reactions

Summary

Who: Kantar, a global marketing data and analytics firm, released the Marketing Trends 2026 report. The research involved contributions from Jane Ostler (Chief Insights Officer), Mary Kyriakidi (Global Thought Leader, Brand), Cynthia Vega (Global AI & Analytics Director), Duncan Southgate (Global Creative and Media Lead), Bia Bezamat (Associate Director, Consulting), Dr. Nicki Morley (Global Innovation Lead), Valeria Piaggio (Global Leader, Kantar Inclusive Growth), Nicole Jones (Chief Media Commercial Lead), Věra Šídlová (Global Thought Leader, Creative), and Chirantan Ray (Chief Operating Officer, Greater China).

What: The report identifies ten marketing trends for 2026, including AI agents mediating purchase decisions, brand building in algorithmic environments, synthetic data adoption, AI-powered creative optimization, treatonomics consumer behavior, innovation culture necessity, inclusive marketing effectiveness, retail media network performance, creator content measurement, and micro-community engagement strategies.

When: Kantar released the Marketing Trends 2026 report during fall 2025. The trends cover developments expected to shape marketing strategy and brand investments throughout 2026.

Where: The research applies to global marketing operations, with specific regional examples from China, the United States, and Europe. The trends affect digital advertising platforms, retail environments, social media networks, streaming services, and AI-powered systems worldwide.

Why: Marketers face rapid technological change, shifting consumer behaviors, economic uncertainty, and platform consolidation that require strategic adaptation. The report aims to help CMOs plan for brand growth with confidence by cutting through noise and prioritizing what matters. According to Kantar, 2025 proved that Generative AI is about more than speed and efficiency—when used wisely, it can help brands understand people better and make smarter decisions. Any digital transformation will need to be harnessed to drive brand growth and brand value.