Trends to know

Attention is earned with formats people choose to watch or stream, not interruptions. Budgets are moving from spots to series.

Try this: Take your most-engaged social content and ask: what would the 20-minute version be? Pilot one episode before committing to a series.

Platforms increasingly ask for a goal, a budget and creative, then decide the rest. The competitive edge moves to the inputs: strategy, creative quality and clean data.

Try this: Run a controlled test: one campaign on the platform's AI-automated option, one on your manual setup, same budget. Compare cost per outcome, not clicks.

Junior tasks (resizing, first drafts, reporting) are being automated, so the pipeline that trains future leaders is at risk.

Try this: For students and juniors: build a portfolio that shows judgement (briefs, strategy, critique of AI outputs), not just production.

Search is splitting into classic results and AI-generated answers. Third-party proof (reviews, data, citations) appears to matter more than volume of content.

Try this: Ask three AI assistants the questions your customers ask. Note which sources they cite, then earn a place in those sources.

Drinks brands are building shareable physical worlds and letting attendees make the content. Scarcity drives demand; the setting drives the clips.

Try this: Design the photo moment first, then the event around it. Give people a reason to film (a set, a DJ, a surprise).

Game economies and platforms are becoming places for real brand behaviour, not just banner space.

Try this: Find a behaviour your audience already has in-game (trading, collecting, customising) and give it a brand purpose.

Creator work is being standardised with discovery tools, frameworks and certifications. It's moving from experiment to line item.

Try this: Treat creators like a media channel: set briefs, rates and measurement upfront, and keep a bench of repeat partners.

B2B buyers are people too; humour grounded in a real industry truth is being used to cut through.

Try this: List the industry's shared frustrations. The funniest true one is your brief.

More retailers are selling ads against their shopper data. For brands, that means more closed-loop measurement, and more networks to manage.

Try this: Ask each retail partner what sales-linked measurement they can share before you commit spend.