Last week, I had the pleasure of attending Campaign’s Year Ahead Breakfast Briefing – a morning full of frank conversation regarding where the industry is headed, what audiences are coming to expect, and the cultural trends shaping the creative landscape for 2026.
There was, unsurprisingly, a lot of talk about AI. And while I agree that 2026 is the year to start truly embracing the tech as a colleague instead of viewing it as the competition, the bits that really stuck with me were intensely human.
The emotional currents.
The behavioural shifts.
The little cracks where creative opportunities are starting to appear.
Here are the 6 key signals that stood out – and why they matter for brands and agencies right now.
Geopolitical instability is reshaping priorities. When uncertainty rises, people instinctively pull inward. This self‑protective mindset isn’t cynical or selfish – it’s emotional self‑preservation. For brands, this doesn’t mean abandoning the big picture thinking, it just means leading with something consumers have the emotional bandwidth for.
With institutional trust eroding, scepticism has become the new norm. Audiences are looking for brands that feel stable, consistent and genuinely useful. But that doesn’t always mean offering the lowest price, it also means offering dependable experiences, thoughtful craft, and promises that hold.
Doomscroll fatigue is very real. After years of digital overwhelm, people are craving things that pull them out of their heads and back into their bodies – live moments, tactile experiences, anything that feels grounding and real. But at the same time, escapism has become a genuine emotional need. For brands, this means giving people something real to hold onto or a moment to drift.
Fandom is a major driver of connection. People want all the extras: behind‑the‑scenes access, world‑building details, the list goes on. At the same time, ‘shared‑but‑separate’ moments have taken over. People might not watch together, but they react together. From The Summer I Turned Pretty to my current obsession (#ConformityGate) episodic drops have basically become digital parties. For brands, this becomes a cultural playground — the chance to add to the world, not interrupt it.
Human beings naturally place a higher value on things that feel like they took effort. We distrust things that look too easy. So yes, AI can speed the boring bits up – but if the output feels low‑effort, audiences might sense the shortcut. The opportunity for brands in 2026 is to be more deliberate about where speed adds value and where it compromises the very things audiences care about.
The tools may have shifted, but the things people respond to haven’t. Work that feels intentionally human will always resonate more deeply. And it’s often the constraints – the deadlines, the guidelines, the channels – that force sharper thinking. Ultimately, friction creates better creative.
And at Splendid, we’re excited to see where this takes us. Watch this space – we’re just getting started.
Here’s to a year of human insight, creative courage and ideas that earn their place in culture.
