January is the month of fresh starts, ambitious New Year’s resolutions, freezing cold mornings and… an overwhelming flood of trend reports. Everywhere you look, someone is predicting the thing that will “change everything” in the year ahead.
If you’re feeling fatigued, you’re not alone. And don’t worry - we’re not here to add another crystal-ball prediction to the pile.
Instead, we’re taking a slightly different approach.
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be dissecting six trend predictions for 2026 that are already doing the rounds. We will unpack what’s being predicted, why we think these trends won’t happen in the way people expect, and, more importantly, what we believe will actually play out in the next year.
Predicted Trend 1/6: The rise of creative participation
First up, is a debate that’s been hovering around marketing decks for a while now, the idea that ads will start to become a conversation:
At face value, this sounds exciting. A future where audiences aren’t just watching ads, but collaborating creatively, where marketing becomes a two-way dialogue rather than a broadcast. But can we really see this happening among the majority of consumers?
In practical terms, this might look like:
- Consumers co-creating ads or content with brands.
- Campaigns built around conversations rather than messaging.
- Interactive formats becoming the default.
- Audiences wanting a say in brand decisions, narratives and outputs.
This trend paints a picture of highly engaged, creatively involved consumer who want to lean in and take part, assuming a level of motivation, time, and interest that most people simply don’t have.
Why won’t the co-creation of ads be a widespread trend this year?
The idea of widespread co-creation is one of those trends that sounds bigger than it actually is.
Yes, there are pockets of consumers, specifically younger consumers, who love getting involved - such as superfans, loyal communities, niche interest groups and creators. For these audiences, co-creation can be powerful and genuinely meaningful. But they are exactly that: pockets.
For the vast majority, brands sit quite low on the priority list. Most consumers are busy, distracted and trying to get through their day with minimal friction. Asking them to actively collaborate on advertising is a big ask and... often an unwanted one.
This trend overgeneralises enthusiasm from small, highly engaged groups and applies it to the entire market. In reality, what we’re likely to see is not a tidal wave of participation, but a few ripples.
Co-creation isn’t a mass strategy. It’s a specialist tool, effective and relevant when used in the right context, but unsuitable as a default approach for the majority. Advertisers still need to capture the attention of consumers through high impact campaigns and strong creatives and be sure not to rely on their desire to engage off their own backs.
What will happen with active engagement and why is passive engagement not necessarily negative for brands?
Rather than a full shift from passive to active consumption, we expect something more nuanced:
- Co-creation and active engagement will stay niche: Within spaces like community-led brands, creator partnerships, loyalty-based ecosystems.
- Passive doesn’t necessarily mean disengaged: Some of the most effective advertising works precisely because it asks very little of the audience. Watching, noticing, and remembering are still powerful forms of engagement. Brands that continue to master storytelling, distinctiveness and emotional resonance will outperform those chasing constant interaction for interaction’s sake.
What does this mean for brands and advertisers reading trend reports?
Advertisers and brands should take trend reports with a healthy dose of scepticism, and a sharper sense of perspective. Many trends often take behaviour from small, vocal, highly engaged groups and project it onto the whole population, ignoring how most people actually live: busy, distracted and largely indifferent to ads. If brands follow these predictions too literally, they risk designing strategies for an audience that barely exists at scale.
Listening to trend reports shouldn’t mean chasing every new idea or reorienting strategy around the loudest signals. Instead, try to interrogate the assumptions: who is this really for, how big is the behaviour, and what problem does it solve?
And be sure not to abandon the fundamentals we know work, like reach, storytelling and distinctive creative and planning.
The Final Word
A word from our Chief Strategy Officer, William Hamner-Lloyd:
"People have been talking about advertising becoming more of a ‘conversation’ since the rise of social media in around 2010. That’s a 15-year debate, and the reality is pretty simple – the majority of people don’t actually care about advertising - they’re just getting on with their lives. The real opportunity for brands isn’t to force conversation where none exists, but to try and produce ads that genuinely cut through the noise, through stand out creativity and differentiated planning.
When consumers do co-create ads, they tend to be people who already engage with and buy the brand - and the data shows that these are the people advertising is least likely to influence anyway. The long tail of light buyers, the ones that actually drive brand growth, aren’t going to show up to co-create ads with brands. And let’s be honest, no one really wants to watch ads made by Bob from down the road anyway."
