How CMOs should respond to the five major trends reshaping marketing
Marketing, as we know it, is over. The combined impact of artificial intelligence (AI), economic pressures and changing consumer behaviour means that tried and tested marketing strategies will no longer work.
In an uncertain and volatile world, what people value, how they make decisions, and who they are influenced by, are all in flux. Technology is accelerating these changes, compressing decision cycles and raising expectations simultaneously. At the same time, the proliferation of fake digital content has placed a premium on trust and authenticity.
In the Marketing Trends of 2026, we outline how marketing teams need to change to keep pace with the five big trends that are completely reshaping this long-standing discipline.
60
%
of consumers say social content, recommendations, or communities influence how they discover new brands, with search increasingly used for subsequent validation.
40
%
of consumers report cutting back on discretionary categories, such as personal and home care.
43
%
of brand interactions are perceived as personalised,
potentially highlighting a gap between effort and perceived value.
From AI-native operations to measurable impact, here are five shifts redefining how brands grow, compete, and create value. For a full deepdive, download the 5 Marketing Trends of 2026 via the button below.
01
AI becomes the operating system of marketing
Generative AI tools now produce output good enough for real customer-facing use, meaning it is time for marketers to move from experimentation to broad adoption. As AI creates content, informs decisions and shapes customer experiences, CMOs must architect systems where human creativity and machine intelligence work in tandem.
To free marketers to focus on growth strategy and prioritisation, we recommend CMOs select workflows that can be automated end-to-end, such as developing email copy and versioning, or paid ad creative testing. The goal in each case should be to eliminate manual steps entirely, not partially, while reserving human approval only for clearly defined risk points, such as final client-facing copy and regulatory claims.
01
AI becomes the operating system of marketing
Generative AI tools now produce output good enough for real customer-facing use, meaning it is time for marketers to move from experimentation to broad adoption. As AI creates content, informs decisions and shapes customer experiences, CMOs must architect systems where human creativity and machine intelligence work in tandem.
To free marketers to focus on growth strategy and prioritisation, we recommend CMOs select workflows that can be automated end-to-end, such as developing email copy and versioning, or paid ad creative testing. The goal in each case should be to eliminate manual steps entirely, not partially, while reserving human approval only for clearly defined risk points, such as final client-facing copy and regulatory claims.
02
Performance, ROI and the end of “blind” marketing spend
As Europe’s economy falters and consumers’ purchasing power weakens, enterprise budgets are under pressure. CFOs are placing marketing under greater scrutiny, demanding a measurable ROI on all investments. In this highly constrained environment, marketers must justify every euro they spend. CMOs who speak the financial language of ROI, customer value, and revenue attribution will gain influence and funding.
As consistency matters more than precision, we suggest marketing teams align on a single ROI model, endorsed by the CFO, even if it is imperfect for some use cases. Every quarter, the CMO should seek to kill or fix the bottom 20% of spend, while making this reallocation visible to the rest of the leadership team to demonstrate discipline.
02
Performance, ROI and the end of “blind” marketing spend
As Europe’s economy falters and consumers’ purchasing power weakens, enterprise budgets are under pressure. CFOs are placing marketing under greater scrutiny, demanding a measurable ROI on all investments. In this highly constrained environment, marketers must justify every euro they spend. CMOs who speak the financial language of ROI, customer value, and revenue attribution will gain influence and funding.
As consistency matters more than precision, we suggest marketing teams align on a single ROI model, endorsed by the CFO, even if it is imperfect for some use cases. Every quarter, the CMO should seek to kill or fix the bottom 20% of spend, while making this reallocation visible to the rest of the leadership team to demonstrate discipline.
03
Trust, brand and purpose become economic assets
In a world saturated with AI-generated content, deepfakes, misinformation, and privacy concerns are eroding digital trust. As a result, authenticity is becoming more and more important. Brands that can concretely deliver (rather than just promise) on their purpose will command loyalty and premium pricing, and will build resilience. To that end, brand purpose should be expressed in measurable commitments, such as “reduce packaging plastic by 20% by 2027”, rather than vague language, such as “protect the environment”.
03
Trust, brand and purpose become economic assets
In a world saturated with AI-generated content, deepfakes, misinformation, and privacy concerns are eroding digital trust. As a result, authenticity is becoming more and more important. Brands that can concretely deliver (rather than just promise) on their purpose will command loyalty and premium pricing, and will build resilience. To that end, brand purpose should be expressed in measurable commitments, such as “reduce packaging plastic by 20% by 2027”, rather than vague language, such as “protect the environment”.
04
Attention fragments and discovery becomes algorithmic
For marketers, reaching a mass audience through one channel is increasingly unachievable as consumers’ attention becomes fragmented across AI-driven search, retail media, creator ecosystems and niche communities. Therefore, brands must orchestrate many small, culturally-relevant touchpoints, instead of single broad campaigns. Success will hinge on creative agility, authentic platform-native formats and measurement of micro-conversions.
To navigate this new landscape as efficiently as possible, we recommend brands identify and focus on three “must win” channels per audience segment, and then create a single narrative that is adapted, rather than reinvented, for each platform.
04
Attention fragments and discovery becomes algorithmic
For marketers, reaching a mass audience through one channel is increasingly unachievable as consumers’ attention becomes fragmented across AI-driven search, retail media, creator ecosystems and niche communities. Therefore, brands must orchestrate many small, culturally-relevant touchpoints, instead of single broad campaigns. Success will hinge on creative agility, authentic platform-native formats and measurement of micro-conversions.
To navigate this new landscape as efficiently as possible, we recommend brands identify and focus on three “must win” channels per audience segment, and then create a single narrative that is adapted, rather than reinvented, for each platform.
05
The marketing organisation is being rebuilt
A new marketing world requires a new marketing organisation. Traditional departments need to be replaced with fluid teams, embedded tech, and AI-augmented workflows. In general, teams need to be orientated around outcomes, rather than functions. This structure will help to build organisational agility, which is essential for both speed and control.
To address talent gaps and tech overload, we recommend that CMOs start by educating their teams on agentic AI opportunities and risks, before identifying the marketing processes best-suited for agentic AI implementation. As demand for data, AI and automation skills exceeds supply, CMOs will often need to reskill their existing teams.
05
The marketing organisation is being rebuilt
A new marketing world requires a new marketing organisation. Traditional departments need to be replaced with fluid teams, embedded tech, and AI-augmented workflows. In general, teams need to be orientated around outcomes, rather than functions. This structure will help to build organisational agility, which is essential for both speed and control.
To address talent gaps and tech overload, we recommend that CMOs start by educating their teams on agentic AI opportunities and risks, before identifying the marketing processes best-suited for agentic AI implementation. As demand for data, AI and automation skills exceeds supply, CMOs will often need to reskill their existing teams.
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Nicholas Pinfold
Nicholas is a Digital Strategy Consultant within the Customer practice in The Netherlands. He is an experienced consultant and has a deep understanding of omnichannel, loyalty and marketing. Nicholas has extensive experience within the retail and consumer products industry, helping clients on a range of topics such as channel strategy, market roll-out, customer experience and operating model. Nicholas is passionate about supporting clients such as Nike on customer-driven transformation initiatives specifically focused on driving growth from within the organisation. Nicholas has a passion for sport, innovation, and all things digital. Originally from New Zealand, Nicholas now lives in Amsterdam.
Matthieu Raverdy
Senior marketing leader with over 15 years of experience building digital marketing and ecommerce strategy, leading cross-functional teams, and scaling marketing operations across EMEA, NORAM and APAC. He helps brands bridge marketing strategy and execution — turning complex, multi-market challenges into simple, effective operations. He has led multiple marketing transformation projects in retail, consumer business and healthcare industries.
Kasia Blicharz
Kasia is a partner in Advertising, Marketing and Commerce practice with focus on Consumer and Retail. She has 20 years experience in digital, data and marketing. She has worked with some of the leading FMCGs around embedding tech, making sense of data, instilling digital first culture and helping to create robust marketing organizations. Her passion is helping to translate and elevate human experiences into daily work of organizations. Her leading role in AM&C is helping clients to elevate their customer experiences through defining and building digital capabilities and way of working to execute on this. Typically this involves new digital and marketing strategies, technology (customer data, marketing automation, ecommerce tooling), content (brand strategy, UX/UI design, campaign content) and operating model components (governance set-up, make/buy/partner decisions, skill building and organization restructuring).