2026 is the moment when marketing stops being solely a conversation with a human — and becomes an equally intense conversation with an algorithm. The latest reports from Kantar, McKinsey and Capgemini point to eight breakthrough trends that will redefine how brands build reach, relationships and revenue. From autonomous shopping agents, through synthetic data, to the return of emotion and offline — here is the trend map without which no marketing strategy for this year should be created.

Turning point: marketing enters the era of agentic AI


Just two years ago, artificial intelligence in marketing played the role of an efficient assistant — it sped up copywriting, suggested keywords, automated simple campaigns. 2026 has closed that chapter. Today AI doesn't just support decisions — it increasingly makes them. And it does so on behalf of consumers.

According to Kantar's 'Marketing Trends 2026' report published in November 2025, we are entering an era in which AI agents — autonomous shopping and advisory systems — are becoming a new type of consumer with whom brands must learn to communicate. Already 24% of AI users rely on AI-powered shopping assistants, and that number is growing rapidly.

For marketing departments, this means a fundamental shift: campaigns must be designed not only for the human recipient but also for the algorithm that makes the decision on their behalf.

"When we all start speaking the language of AI, brands will have to build relationships based on trust and authenticity even more strongly." – Jane Ostler, Chief Insights Officer at Kantar.


This is not the distant future — it's the current quarter. OpenAI is already integrating agents with browsers and introducing shopping links and product comparison tools into ChatGPT. Brands that fail to ensure they are present in the training data of AI models and perform well in algorithmic comparisons will simply cease to exist in the minds of the new generation of 'buyers'.


GEO instead of SEO — how to win visibility in the era of generative search engines


For over two decades, the foundation of content strategy was SEO — optimization for Google search engines. In 2026, a new concept joins every CMO's arsenal: Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). The rule is brutal: if a language model doesn't know you, it won't recommend you to the user.

The CMO's task in 2026 is to ensure the brand is present in the content on which AI models learn — so that when someone asks for a recipe, guide or review recommendation, the right brand appears. This requires a completely new approach to content marketing: creating high-quality, structured content that AI can easily index, understand and cite.

At the same time, McKinsey indicates that in 2026 'building trust' becomes the number one priority for CMOs, ahead of even efficiency and scaling of activities. Brand trust is not just an image issue — it is a prerequisite for even making it onto the list of AI-generated recommendations.

Synthetic data and the 'augmented audience' — the new frontier of insights


First-party data has always been a valuable asset. But what happens when the sample is too small, the segment too niche, or legal regulations limit data collection? The industry's answer for 2026 is synthetic data — AI-generated replicas of consumer behaviour, built on the basis of real patterns.

The synthetic data augmentation developed by Kantar achieves accuracy at the level of 94–95% relative to real source data. Digital twin technologies make it possible to model the reactions of segments that have so far been under-represented in standard research — and to test strategies without violating user privacy.

However, this is a double-edged tool. Success depends on data quality — organizations must develop solid competencies, set clear ethical rules and work with trusted technology partners. Companies that implement synthetic data hastily or irresponsibly risk deepening existing algorithmic biases and losing reputation.

AI-assisted creativity: from scaling to intelligence


Generative AI in advertising creative has ceased to be a curiosity — it has become an operational standard. But beware: scaling creative production alone is not enough. 2026 brings a clear shift from 'AI as a content multiplication machine' towards 'AI as a tool for testing and optimizing quality'.

As many as 74% of marketers declare enthusiasm for GenAI — the next step, however, is to apply it where it matters most: in creating and testing ads. This is about systems capable of assessing whether a given creative will actually attract attention, evoke emotion and translate into purchase intent — in real time, before the campaign even launches.


"In 2025 it turned out that generative AI is something more than speed and efficiency. Used wisely, it can help brands better understand people and make better decisions." – from Kantar's 'Marketing Trends 2026' report, November 2025.

What remains key, however, is preserving the human element.

McKinsey's 'State of Marketing Europe 2026' report strongly emphasizes that technical excellence alone is not enough — brands must tell the story of why the customer chose a given technology and how it helped them realize their ambitions. AI generates variants, but humans still decide which story is true.


Micro-communities versus crowded feeds


Algorithmic social platforms have become spaces full of generic, sales-driven content. The result? Users are migrating en masse to smaller, thematic micro-communities — groups where authenticity and shared interests are worth more than reach.

Kantar research from the Chinese market shows that brands actively participating in knowledge-sharing micro-community platforms achieve 25% higher ROI from marketing. Nearly 40% of consumers trust recommendations from micro-communities just as much as personal recommendations from friends.

Marketing 2026: trends every CMO must know

For marketing strategists, this is a signal for a fundamental change in approach. It's no longer about maximizing reach, but about building value in specific, trusted environments. Brands that appear in a micro-community with authentic substantive contribution — rather than with advertising — gain loyalty that no media plan can buy.

Content creators: from one-off sponsorships to long-term platforms


Influencer marketing is maturing. The era of one-off sponsored posts is slowly fading into the past — replaced by long-term creative partnerships built on shared values and consistent brand narrative.

According to Kantar research, as many as 61% net of marketers plan to increase investment in creator content in 2026. The problem, however, is that only 27% of current creator content is strongly linked to brand identity. This gap between the scale of investment and the quality of integration is the biggest challenge of the influencer marketing channel.

Consistent, multi-channel creative concepts are today 2.5 times more important for campaign success than a decade ago — and yet the vast majority of brands still commission isolated activations from creators without connection to a broader narrative. The solution is building creative platforms in which creators have artistic freedom but operate within clearly defined brand frameworks.

Retail media, ambient and the return of offline


Retail Media Networks have become one of the fastest-growing performance channels in the history of digital marketing. More than 200 active RMN networks already operate on the global market; Kantar LIFT data shows that ads in these networks generate 1.8x better results than standard digital ads and nearly 3x higher purchase intent rates.

At the same time — and seemingly paradoxically — the industry is seeing a renaissance of offline activities. Ambient, events, spatial installations and activations with a physical dimension are returning as a driver of virality in social media.

Campaigns designed 'virally-native' — where the emotion is born in the real world and only then scales online — achieve significantly better organic memorability than content created from the outset for digital media.

"Securing growth in 2026 requires something more than tracking trends — it requires bold experimentation and building a brand that is truly differentiating.

" – Jeff Greenspoon, CEO Americas at Kantar.


Treatonomics, transparency and the human side of the brand


Against the backdrop of technological acceleration, a surprising counter-trend emerges: consumers long for small, human pleasures. Kantar has named this phenomenon treatonomics — the culture of 'small pleasures' that is becoming a response to economic uncertainty and changing life priorities.

As many as 36% of consumers are willing to take out a short-term loan to afford a small pleasure. People today celebrate 'inchstones' — small successes — instead of big milestones. Social commerce fuels impulsive purchases and micro-celebrations. For brands, this is a clear signal: value doesn't have to be big — it has to be immediate and emotional.

At the same time, pressure for transparency is growing. The AMA report indicates that 81% of consumers are concerned about how companies use their personal data, and nearly half of them are willing to stop using an app for that reason alone. Trust has ceased to be a 'soft' value — it is a condition for conversion.

Brands that show how they really operate, what mistakes they make and how they fix them, will build more lasting loyalty than those that invest solely in perfectly polished 'hero content'.

Performance Branding — the end of the split between image and sales


For years, marketing was divided into two camps: branding (long-term, image-focused) and performance (immediate, sales-focused).

2026 has officially closed this debate. Research firms indicate that organizations today require Performance Branding — and evidence that investment in image translates into hard revenue in the long term. McKinsey reports that the main goal of marketing in Europe for the coming years is 'profitable growth', indicated by 60% of CMOs.

As many as 71% of European marketing leaders are now implementing 'full-funnel' campaigns, combining brand building with sales activation. These programmes replace isolated campaigns and synchronize marketing activities with sales around shared business goals. This is the end of the silo era — and the beginning of marketing that must prove its value at every level of the organization.

What does this mean for Polish marketers?


Global trends are reaching Poland with increasingly shorter delays. Polish companies that already invest in building an internal AI stack, develop competencies in synthetic data and rebuild relationships with content creators towards long-term partnerships are gaining an advantage that cannot be quickly caught up with.

Key questions every CMO should ask themselves this quarter: Is my brand present in the content on which language models learn? Does my content plan include a 'control track' — content showing behind the scenes, mistakes and real customer opinions? Are my campaigns designed as coherent platforms, not one-off activations? And finally: where in my budget is there room for a bold experiment that could generate unexpected organic reach?

According to Kantar data, brands that boldly experiment have generated as much as $6.6 trillion in value over the past 20 years. Innovation, however, must be rooted in what the brand represents — not in technology for technology's sake.

Marketing 2026 is not an arms race of technology. It is an equation in which AI and data create efficiency, but trust, authenticity and human emotions still determine whether a brand will be remembered.

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