The global advertising industry is preparing for another major expansion. According to WARC’s latest forecast, worldwide advertising expenditure will grow by 9.1 percent in 2026, reaching approximately 1.3 trillion dollars, a figure that reflects how dramatically the market has expanded since the pandemic period.

Indeed, the advertising economy has now doubled in size compared to pandemic years, translating to roughly 150 dollars in advertising investment per person globally.

As a result, marketers, agencies, and media planners are increasingly reassessing how communication strategies are designed and executed.However, beyond the numbers lies a deeper structural shift that is redefining how media investment works across the world.

 

Ad Spend Projection Signals Continued Digital Dominance

First, and most significantly, digital platforms continue to absorb the majority of new advertising investment. Retail media, paid search, and social platforms now account for nearly 80 percent of global ad spend, leaving the remaining 20 percent to traditional media channels combined.

Consequently, advertisers are no longer able to rely on long established planning frameworks built around predictable channel allocations. Instead, they must respond to a media environment that is becoming more fragmented, data driven, and platform centric.

Therefore, industry observers say the future of media planning will depend less on static allocations and more on dynamic coordination across multiple touchpoints.

Paul Stringer, Managing Editor of Research and Insights at WARC, explained that the traditional media planning model is rapidly losing relevance.

“The established model for media planning and buying is breaking apart, and nobody knows exactly what comes next,” Stringer said, adding that the industry is only beginning to lay the foundation for a new planning framework.

 

Systems Planning Emerges as the New Strategic Framework

As media complexity increases, systems planning is gaining attention as a replacement for traditional planning models. Unlike older frameworks built around fixed personas and channel definitions, systems planning focuses on adaptive influence across the entire brand ecosystem.

Dan Gilbert, CEO of Brainlabs, describes the approach as designing adaptive systems of influence that shape consumer decisions across different contexts, categories, and experiences.

In practice, this means marketers must rethink how campaigns are structured. Instead of treating channels as isolated silos, planners must now orchestrate connected brand experiences that evolve in real time.

Moreover, the shift demands new professional capabilities. Agencies and marketing teams must develop talent that can connect data, commerce, and creativity, particularly as AI enabled marketing platforms become more central to campaign execution.

In other words, planning is moving away from rigid media allocation toward continuous optimisation across interconnected systems.

 

AI Search Redefines Visibility and Discoverability

At the same time, artificial intelligence is transforming how consumers search for information and how brands remain visible.

Increasingly, people are using AI powered search engines to conduct longer, more complex queries, seeking deeper insights before making decisions. This behavioural shift is forcing marketers to rethink content strategy.

As a result, Generative Engine Optimisation, known as GEO, is emerging as a new discipline, replacing traditional search engine optimisation practices in many contexts.

Unlike SEO, which focuses on ranking web pages, GEO prioritises structured, credible, and authoritative content designed for both humans and AI systems, including large language models and automated agents.

Furthermore, owned media and earned media channels are becoming more important in ensuring discoverability within AI driven search environments.

According to WARC’s Future of Media 2026 report, this transformation effectively introduces a secondary marketing audience: machines.

 

Creator Economy Expands but Efficiency Concerns Remain

Meanwhile, investment in creator marketing continues to accelerate globally, reinforcing the importance of user generated content in modern brand building.

Research cited in the report shows that the creator economy could exceed 376.6 billion dollars in revenue by 2030, more than doubling its current size.

However, despite this rapid expansion, a significant portion of creator marketing investment fails to deliver measurable value. Analysts attribute this to unclear definitions, poor alignment between brands and creators, and weak measurement frameworks.

Consequently, WARC advises marketers to adopt clearer performance metrics, stronger brand creator alignment, and more disciplined evaluation methods.

In addition, the report emphasizes that creative quality and the careful selection of brand assets remain essential to campaign success. Marketers must also adopt structured learning approaches, balancing analysis of past performance with experimentation to unlock growth opportunities.

Preparing for the Future of Media

Ultimately, WARC’s Future of Media 2026 report positions these three forces as central to the next phase of marketing communications:

• Systems driven planning models
• AI influenced search behaviour
• Expansion of the creator economy

Together, these trends are reshaping how agencies plan, how brands invest, and how consumers interact with media.

As Stringer noted, the industry is still in transition. The new planning model is emerging, but it is not yet fully defined.

For marketers willing to adapt, however, the changing landscape presents not just disruption, but opportunity.