Five 2026 consumer trends you need to know

With billions pouring into sports marketing this year, the stakes are high for brands. Ahead of the FIFA World Cup, and with more advertisers backing women's sports, We Are Social Sport's Joe Weston and Fuse's Matt Bailey join WARC's Anna Hamill to discuss the emerging trends in sports marketing.

How do social values and environmental sustainability boost marketing effectiveness? Goodvertising's Thomas Kolster joins WARC's Amy Rodgers to discuss how sustainability is a driving factor on the most effective advertising campaigns, based on WARC Rankings data.

How does a 175-year-old news brand thrive in a volatile media economy? Amy Weisenbach, Chief Marketing Officer at The New York Times, joins WARC's Anna Hamill to discuss the strategies behind the publication's outsized revenue growth, as well as how to build brand trust and daily habits across news, games, sports and much more.

AI companions, social media concerns and 'comfort spending' are among key trends shaping consumer behaviour in 2026. WARC's Adi Kishore speaks to Stephanie Siew and GWI's Jason Mander about the big changes marketers need to know, based on WARC's 2026 Consumer Trends Report.

Are you stuck in the ROAS death spiral? Marketers have long struggled to prove the ROI of brand building, relying on flawed, short-term metrics that erode long-term value. BERA's Michael Reh and WARC's Ann Marie Kerwin explore how to accurately track and quantify the Multiplier Effect—the compound growth achieved when brand and performance marketing work together.

Meta's ad business funds an aggressive AI programme which, in turn, fuels the flywheel through further increases in ad revenue. WARC's Alex Brownsell joins Anna Hamill explore Meta’s hyper-efficient ad business, evaluate usage across its apps, and assess the performance of Meta campaigns.

WARC's research The Multiplier Effect proved that stronger brand equity acts as a multiplier, driving greater impact and efficiency for performance advertising. Ahead of the next stage of the project, WARC's Ann Marie Kerwin spoke to David Tiltman and the ANA's Stephanie Fierman about new survey data and what we've learned so far.

Michael Kaminsky, co-founder of Recast, joins Paul Stringer to discuss media's shift to outcomes measurement and the impact of AI on measurement, as they try to disentangle AI hype from reality.

Not all time spent with social media is equal, according to new research. Social effectiveness varies significantly by time of day, giving out of home media an important role in priming and amplifying social media campaigns. Posterscope's Russell Smither and Dentsu's Ciara Smyth join WARC's Alex Brownsell to discuss.

Effectiveness expert James Hankins joins the pod to analyse influential ideas in marketing effectiveness, including the Hankins hexagon, share of search, digital availability, and the gravity of e-commerce. Hosted by WARC's David Tiltman.