Latest Marketing & Advertising News
Chinaâs digital ad rebound remains narrow and performance-focused
Chinaâs ad market recovery has stabilized but is concentrated in lowârisk, **performance-driven channels**, signaling cautious marketer sentiment going into 2026. Brand-building and experimental budgets remain constrained, pushing platforms and advertisers to prove measurable ROI and shortâterm outcomes before expanding spend.
Teads appoints former Innovid CMO Dani Cushion to drive omnichannel growth
Omnichannel ad platform **Teads** named Dani Cushion as Chief Marketing Officer, effective January 6, 2026, to lead global brand, communications, and goâtoâmarket strategy. Cushion brings IPO and adtech experience from Innovid and Cardlytics as Teads leans into outcomeâbased CTV and openâinternet advertising amid tightening privacy rules and rising retail media competition.
Influencer marketing in 2026 becomes a core performance and commerce channel
Influencer marketing has shifted from a side tactic to a **central pillar** of brand communication and revenue generation in 2026. Brands are prioritizing microâ and nanoâinfluencers, longâterm creator partnerships, and social commerce formats like live shopping to drive measurable sales rather than vanity engagement.
AI and data reshape how brands run influencer campaigns
Marketers are increasingly deploying **AI tools and advanced analytics** to identify ideal creators, forecast ROI, optimize content, and personalize influencer messaging. Campaigns now emphasize sentiment, engagement quality, and real business outcomes over simple follower counts, tightening accountability for creator spend.
Professionals emerge as a new class of social media creators
Industry experts such as doctors, lawyers, founders and consultants are becoming powerful **creator-personal brands**, not just entertainers. Their expertise-driven content helps brands tap into highâtrust communities, shifting social strategies toward knowledge, credibility, and B2Bâfriendly storytelling.
Organic social content gains priority over paid ads for brands
Brands are rebalancing from heavy performance spend toward an **âorganic content renaissance,â** recognizing that their bestâperforming ads often mirror top organic videos. Strong organic reach is being used to lower customer acquisition costs and improve ROAS, with paid media supporting rather than replacing owned communities.
Culture-based content and identity storytelling surge in marketing
Marketers are leaning into **culture-based content**âincluding spirituality, mythology, and identity-focused narrativesâas audiences seek material rooted in their own traditions. A wave of startups is emerging to serve this demand, making culturally resonant storytelling one of the fastestâgrowing digital content sectors.
Personalized marketing becomes a key response to rising business costs
With higher overhead and cautious consumers, brands are investing in **hyper-personalized outreach and segmented campaigns** to build loyalty and justify pricing. Data-driven targeting, native content, and dedicated email marketing are being orchestrated in multiâplatform plans, with frequency across channels seen as crucial to driving purchase actions.
Email and retargeting reaffirmed as highâROI channels for small businesses
Email remains one of the **highestâROI** channels because businesses own the audience and can run loyalty offers and personalized promotions costâeffectively. Retargeting via platforms like Google and Meta is highlighted as a top conversion driver, focusing spend on users who already showed intent by visiting a site or viewing products.
Affiliate and partnership marketing gain prominence in performance mix
Gen3 Marketing being shortlisted in four categories at the 2026 **Partnership Awards** underscores the growing strategic importance of affiliate, omnichannel, and performance PR programs. Brands are leaning on partnership ecosystems to diversify acquisition, share risk, and tie spend more tightly to attributed outcomes.
AI-first search and âGenerative Engine Optimizationâ reshape brand visibility
Agencies are beginning to optimize for **AI-driven answer engines**, not just traditional search, through approaches described as Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). As consumer queries shift toward large language models, brands are seeking prominence inside AI-generated responses, making trust and credibility critical new visibility currencies.