Brand is back, back again: What are the 5 brand growth trends shaping every CMO agenda in 2026?

As Hall & Partners joined senior leaders at the recent CMO Insight Summit, one theme became unmistakably clear: CMOs across the world are feeling both the pressure, and the opportunity, of a marketing landscape reshaped by AI, economic scrutiny and rapidly shifting consumer expectations. The Summit brought together senior marketing leaders to explore the brand strategy and brand growth in the age of AI, the forces transforming the industry and how organisations are adapting.

In conversations with over 30 CMOs, we heard a consistent message: brand is firmly back at the top of the agenda for 2026. That sentiment is reinforced by new research from McKinsey & Company, which finds that branding is the number-one priority for CMOs this year, outranking GenAI, social media and every other emerging trend. This renewed focus reflects a broader recalibration of CMO priorities 2026, as leaders look beyond short-term efficiency gains toward sustainable growth.

When everything sounds the same, how does a brand break through in an AI-driven market?

AI is changing how people discover and decide. Instead of bouncing between search, reviews and social feeds, they are getting one blended response: part brand, part creator, part consumer opinion. This shift has profound implications for brand salience, trust and decision-making. And when anyone can create decent content at scale, standing out is no longer about volume. It is about the things machines cannot fake, such as clarity, character, distinctiveness and trust.

After several years of economic uncertainty, budget challenges and tension between short- and long-term investment, brand has re-emerged as the clearest growth lever in a market full of uncertainty. The long-running tension between brand vs performance marketing has become harder to ignore, as CMOs recognise that efficiency without distinctiveness rarely delivers durable returns.

And as AI shifts from a novelty tool to what increasingly feels like a colleague embedded in the workflow of marketing teams, CMOs are under pressure not just to keep up but to redesign how their organisations operate – not endlessly cleaning out my closet each cycle but building brand coherence that lasts.

At the same time, audiences have moved past the excitement of AI-made content. Preference for AI generated creator work has fallen sharply, from 60% in 2023 to just 26% in 2025, as feeds become crowded with low-effort outputs, and consumers are asking for more intent, more effort and more humanity from the brands they follow. CMOs are being asked to deliver quick wins and rebuild long-term equity simultaneously, often with teams stretched thin and rising expectations.

Five brand growth strategy shifts CMOs must master in 2026

These shifts reflect the most consistent themes emerging from CMO Insight Summit and Hall & Partners’ ongoing brand research across markets.

Here, we outline five shifts shaping brand growth strategy, brand research priorities and creative effectiveness in 2026, and the actions CMOs say matter most.

1. Balancing AI-driven hyper-personalisation with mass brand reach

AI has made hyper-personalisation faster, cheaper and more tempting than ever. It promises relevance at scale, but it also pushes brands to slice audiences into smaller and smaller segments. The risk is obvious: losing sight of the broad reach and mental availability that actually drive long-term brand growth. And as AI churns out more derivative, same-sounding content (let’s call this AI ‘slopification’), brands risk becoming just another Real Slim Shady imitation—repetitive, predictable and forgettable.

The challenge for CMOs then is to avoid leaning too far into microtargeting at the expense of creative distinctiveness. Personalisation works best when the brand behind it is different, instantly recognisable and built on ideas people genuinely care about. This is where the classic 60/40 brand strategy balance still matters. Short-term performance tactics need to sit on a strong brand foundation that builds memory, meaning, and momentum over time. Hyper-targeting may deliver quick wins, but only brand reach sustains long-term growth.

2026 is the year to treat AI as a creativity amplifier, not a shortcut. The most effective programmes combine AI and brand building by using technology for smarter decisions, who to engage, when and about what, and then rely on creators to bring the story to life with empathy and authenticity. AI should scale great ideas, not replace them, ensuring personalisation deepens and grows the brand rather than diluting it.

2. AI search and discovery, the new battleground for brand presence and authority

Search is undergoing its biggest transformation in decades. AI answer engines now collapse the messy, multi-tab journey into a single conversational response that blends brand content, reviews, authority signals and creator insights. The shift is dramatic, from who ranks highest to which brands are trusted enough to appear at all.

Human conversation and empathy are returning to centre stage. Brands that understand how meaning, memory and tone influence these AI-driven journeys will show up more credibly and more often. Meaning is the role a brand plays in people’s lives, memory is whether it comes to mind instinctively, and tone is how human and believable it feels when it shows up. Our work shows that brands that are clear on all three are easier to recognise, trust and choose by people and, increasingly, by AI systems that reflect human judgement. Without them, brands may appear briefly but lose their ‘stickiness’. Those that rely on shallow optimisation risk being forgotten entirely. Don’t lose yourself in the minds of consumers by ensuring your authority and quality are driving your brand forward.

Search is no longer about optimising for platforms. It is about optimising for meaning and brand authority, a defining pillar of brand leadership in the AI era.

3. The evolving creator economy: new rules of trust, influence and brand growth

Influencers are increasingly important to how people discover, trust and choose brands. But the creator economy has shifted. Growth is coming from niche creators, micro communities and platforms expanding far beyond TikTok and Instagram. These voices offer intimacy, credibility and understanding that traditional advertising cannot replicate.

Power is also shifting away from glossy one-way endorsements and towards trusted creators who mix lived experience with smart use of AI tools. The most effective brands now treat creators as co-authors rather than reach vehicles, reinforcing a more human and participatory future of brand strategy.

The brands winning now are those treating creators as extensions of the brand experience, not rented media but real partners. Influence is no longer a channel; it is an ecosystem.

4. Authenticity and brand trust, the new competitive moat in 2026

With political turbulence, rising misinformation and synthetic data everywhere, trust has become the defining competitive currency of 2026. Audiences are pushing back against clinical, over-polished work and gravitating instead toward communications that feel honest, effortful and grounded in real people. In sensitive categories, such as banking, health and pharma, this shift is even more pronounced. Leaders want communication that feels human and imperfect, not machine made.

Brands now need to show credibility through transparent behaviour and consistent experiences. Measurement must keep up. CMOs need diagnostics that separate content that drives performance and builds brand trust from content that delivers short-term results but may be quietly eroding equity.

Brand trust is the moat competitors cannot easily copy. In 2026, it is your brand’s greatest differentiator.

5. AI and human teams: the new brand and marketing capability model

AI has become a central part of many marketing conversations, but its limits are becoming clearer. The novelty has faded, and consumers can spot generic, low-effort content instantly. Distinctiveness, cultural sensitivity and emotional nuance still require human judgement.

This is reshaping teams. The most effective organisations are building well-rounded marketers who understand brand strategy, storytelling, experimentation and data–people who know where AI adds value and where it must step back. Overreliance on automation can leave brands sounding generic or overprocessed, breaking the human connection audiences expect. In a world where emotional intelligence matters more, you cannot just rely on AI to play Superman and fix everything.

For early career talent, this means shifting from repetitive execution to developing judgement, voice and creative confidence.

The real brand advantage in 2026: being human when everyone else sounds the same

As AI makes it easy for anyone to produce acceptable content at scale, the real opportunity lies in the things machines cannot replicate: clear positioning, distinctive assets, consistent experiences and credible advocates. Brand is back because it remains the only system that builds memory, meaning and momentum over time.

AI may be rewriting the mechanics of marketing, but people still choose with emotion, memory and trust. That is why brand has returned not as nostalgia, but as a renewed advantage. CMOs now have an opportunity to define what their brands stand for and shape how AI represents them in the moments that matter.

The CMO brand strategy agenda for 2026 and beyond

The agenda is simple, but not easy. It demands clarity on where brand drives growth, discipline in how AI and creators are used, and confidence in protecting what makes your brand distinctive.

• Put brand at the heart of your growth strategy

• Have a clear view on where AI and creators bring the most value

• Build operating models where humans, AI and influencers each play to their strengths

• Protect creative distinctiveness with smart, confident guardrails

• Anchor everything in transparency so the whole system works with integrity

You don’t need to go it alone. The next era of brand growth will come from greater collaboration between CMOs, agencies, creators and the brand insight partners who can connect every dot. That is exactly where Hall & Partners plays; helping brands stay human, influential and differentiated in a market where AI is everywhere, and originality is the greatest opportunity of all.

Meet our authors

Farid Jeeawody, Partner, Hall & Partners
Kurt Stuhllemmer, Partner, Hall & Partners

FAQs

• How should CMOs balance AI-driven hyper-personalisation with mass brand reach?

The most effective CMOs treat personalisation as an expression of a strong brand, not a replacement for it. AI should be used to decide who to engage and when, while creative ideas, brand assets and tone remain consistent at scale. Broad reach builds mental availability; personalisation works best when it amplifies recognisable brand ideas rather than fragmenting them.

• Is the 60/40 brand-to-performance rule still relevant in 2026?

Yes - arguably more than ever. While AI has accelerated performance marketing, brands that over-index on short-term activation risk long-term erosion of distinctiveness and trust. The 60/40 balance remains a useful guide: brand building creates future demand, while performance converts it. AI should enhance both, not tilt investment entirely toward the short term.

• How should CMOs evolve measurement to protect long-term brand equity?

Traditional performance metrics are no longer sufficient. CMOs need diagnostics that distinguish between content that drives short-term results and content that builds trust and preference over time. Measurement must capture authenticity, creative intent, and the role of creators in shaping long-term brand outcomes—not just clicks or conversions

• How should CMOs rethink brand growth strategy in an AI-dominated marketing landscape?

CMOs should treat AI as a force multiplier rather than a strategy in itself. Effective brand growth strategies use AI to enhance decision-making, personalization, and scale, while protecting human-led elements such as positioning, tone, creativity, and cultural relevance. The strategic focus shifts from “doing more” to reinforcing what makes the brand distinctive at every touchpoint.

• How does Hall & Partners support CMOs navigating these shifts?

Hall & Partners helps brands connect brand strategy, creativity, and evidence-based insight to ensure they remain human, distinctive, and influential in an AI-driven landscape. By aligning meaning, memory, and momentum, Hall & Partners enables CMOs to build brands that grow today while staying resilient for the future.