New year, new trends: What we’re expecting in 2026

Wearing dad flannel and Doc Martens. Making wild “Harlem Shake” videos to post on YouTube. Planking in public places, just because.

These were once all popular trends—and for the most part, no one saw them coming.

But for the annual trends anticipated in the agency space, there’s typically more precedent to help predict which advertising and marketing tactics will be key to employ in the coming year. In most cases, it’s an amplification of something that started to progress in the previous year. In others, it’s a shift to answer social or economic concerns set to take root in the coming months.

As for the rest, it’s probably something to do with artificial intelligence (AI).

At The Martin Group, we’ve spent the past few months researching prognostications across our main verticals, all to position ourselves to best guide our clients. Anticipated trends across their industries are wide-ranging, but we found a handful that we feel will be particularly important to these clients and their customers in the coming year—and could have more staying power than your old Juicy Couture tracksuit.     

Food and beverage: Healthy-forward messaging

Whether with their meals or mocktails, consumers are continuing to seek out products that can contribute to a healthier lifestyle. That’s why this year’s Innova Market Insights expects companies will look to amplify the benefits—like functional ingredients, adaptogens, plant-based proteins, or anything that could possibly aid gut health—of any entrée, snack, or non-alcoholic seltzer they’re trying to sell.

Healthcare: Virtual care bridging gaps

With healthcare costs continuing to rise and inflationary impacts still in play, healthcare companies will need to employ as many cost-effective care options as possible to address the needs of patients. According to those at Global Healthcare Resource, this will include maximizing the possibilities of virtual care for applicable individuals. Promoting these options could help those in need while minimizing the costs that come with in-person assistance; and perfecting them could help one provider become more accessible than others.

Finance: Value, simplicity paramount to consumers

Product costs are still rising and economic concerns are top of mind for the typical consumer. That’s why, according to credit leader Experian, it’ll be important for those in financial services to support customers now yearning for value and simplicity in their purchases and services. This could translate to their own services to navigate inflation and interest rates, or putting customers in the best financial position as they aim to get maximum bang for their buck. 

Nonprofit: Investment in people

As we noted in our trends rundown last year, AI is being accessed in every industry and sector—but the companies that find a balance between technological advancement and human-applied connection will be the ones who surge to the forefront. This is the case in the nonprofit world, where organizations will need to invest in the people leading their efforts and serving their communities, not just mechanisms that could eliminate redundancies. It’s still a people-helping-people business, and this needs to be supported in 2026.  

Sports: AI to personalize fan experience

But despite the need for some industries to prioritize person-to-person connections, others—like those across sports marketing—are indeed leaning on AI to enable product-to-customer success. Specifically, those vying for the attention of fans across the globe—especially with FIFA World Cup on the immediate horizon—they’ll be accessing the capabilities of AI and data collection to personalize the fan experience like never before.

From teams to venues to the games themselves, those interviewed by Sports Business Journal expect experiences will need to cater to specific fan identities, all to make one’s emotional connection to their favorite games more impactful—and make the wins and losses even more personal than they already are.

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