• by Jordan Bortolotti , December 29, 2025

For years we’ve talked about disruption being on the horizon, from the rise of “internet of things” to proliferation of consumer data to AI upending all aspects of marketing. But as we read the tea leaves for 2026, I believe the new year will bring seismic shifts across the media and content ecosystem. 

Specifically, I’m betting on four key shifts that will redefine the role of agencies, how brands future-proof themselves and, ultimately, what consumers will pay attention to. Here they are:

Streaming consolidation is coming, and it will reshape the media map. Let’s start with the obvious: there are too many platforms and streamers chasing too little attention. As AI accelerates the production of low-cost, throwaway content, studios and streaming investments will continue to face shrinking margins and rising competition for ad dollars. You can’t win that game with volume anymore. You win it with scale. 

Netflix acquiring Warner Bros. is just the start. In 2026, consolidation becomes unavoidable. This shift won’t just change where money flows, it will fundamentally alter how we think about planning, buying, and measuring media. Agencies who understand platform economics will thrive.

Marketing moves from influencing human behavior to influencing AI. 2026 will redefine the digital customer journey. AI browsers and ad-supported large language models (LLMs) will become the new gatekeepers of discovery, comparison, and decision-making. Consumers won’t just search for products, they’ll delegate the entire process to their AI agents. Auction dynamics, search and CX will all change. The incumbent biddable players and search giants will be forced to adapt and play ball.

Brands will need model context protocols the same way they once needed SEO strategies. If your product isn’t easily understandable, verifiable, and optimizable for an AI agent’s decision logic, you won’t even make it into the consideration set. 

Whitespace for human-led creative in an AI world.  The next era of agencies won’t be defined by project management, production scale, or the ability to deliver work fast. Those functions are already being automated. The next crop of great agencies will be the ones that monetize strategy, intellectual property, and cultural insight. They’ll scale their best thinkers with AI -- not to do more work, but to focus on deeper, more meaningful brand problems.

Human-led creative rooted in human insights, lived experience and emotional nuance that no model or AI could emulate will become a premium offering. 

The real world makes a comeback. Consumers have been slowly gravitating back toward real human interaction. We see this trend reflected in ticket sales, retail foot traffic, and community events. People are tired of scrolling. They want connection.

In 2026, experiential marketing will surge as a strategic engine for influence. Everyday people will become the new creators, driving user-generated content from authentic, unscripted moments. Brands will start measuring ROI around “people as media,” valuing the impact of thousands of imperfect but credible creators over a handful of polished influencers.

Venues, sponsorship opportunities, and brands participating IRL will be critical to winning the ground war for attention.

These shifts share a single truth: Automation has commoditized everything except human ingenuity. In 2026, the marketers that succeed won’t just adopt AI, they’ll pair it with the kind of human insights no model can replicate.