This Year-Opener under BRIEF26 has been authored by Nikhil Kumar, Chief Growth Officer, mediasmart, exclusively for Mediabrief.com. Insights and inspiration for tomorrow.

As I look back at 2025, one word stands out: acceleration. The advertising industry moved faster than it ever has before. New channels scaled rapidly, AI adoption surged, and digital became even more deeply embedded in how brands plan, activate, and measure media.

But speed alone does not define progress. What 2025 truly did was set the stage for a more important shift ahead. Growth is no longer sufficient, and accountability becomes a non-negotiable requirement.

2025: A Year of Rapid Growth and Structural Shifts

In 2025, global advertising crossed the $1 trillion, with digital accounting for more than three-quarters of total spend. Even amid economic uncertainty, digital-first channels continued to outperform, driven by their ability to adapt, optimize, and measure impact more effectively than traditional media. 

Programmatic advertising became the backbone of this growth. Automation, real-time bidding, and data-led targeting moved from being tactical advantages to essential infrastructure. With programmatic spend projected to approach $800 billion by 2028, it is clear that algorithm-driven buying is no longer optional. It is foundational. (Statista, 2025)

Connected TV was one of the strongest beneficiaries of this shift. As budgets steadily moved away from linear television, CTV emerged as one of the fastest-growing video environments globally.

Advertisers followed audiences to streaming platforms, connected screens, and addressable environments where reach could finally be paired with precision. In the U.S. alone, CTV ad spend was set to grow 15-16%, while global placements jumped, showing CTV’s rise as one of the fastest-growing video media areas. 

AI’s Impact on Marketing in 2025

Artificial intelligence moved from experimentation to execution in 2025. Marketers who embedded AI across functions saw measurable impact in productivity, personalisation, and return on investment. For many businesses, sales ROI improved by 16% when AI was applied thoughtfully across the funnel.

But 2025 also taught us an important lesson. AI alone does not guarantee effectiveness.

AI excels at scale, speed, and optimisation. What it cannot replace is context, judgement, and strategic intent. Campaigns that relied on AI without human oversight often delivered efficiency but fell short on relevance and impact. The real impact came when machine intelligence was paired with human insight, where data informed decisions rather than replacing them.

CTV Moved Beyond Brand Awareness

In 2025, CTV had evolved beyond top-of-funnel awareness. The era where Interactive formats gained momentum. Interactive CTV ads like shoppable experiences, gamified experiences, cross-device targeting, and advanced measurement frameworks began delivering tangible business outcomes.

CTV campaigns were no longer judged only on reach or video-through rates. They were evaluated on how effectively they drove downstream actions across mobile, web, and commerce environments. Brands increasingly expected TV investments to perform across the full funnel, and programmatic CTV platforms rose to meet that expectation.

This evolution laid the groundwork for what comes next. In 2026, CTV will not just complement performance media. It will actively drive it.

​The 2026 Outlook for Marketers

User Attention and Brand Safety: The New Metrics

Looking ahead, companies are moving beyond just counting impressions or reach. The focus is now on understanding what truly captures people’s interest, how engaged they are, and what actually drives results. Paying attention to user engagement is proving to be far more meaningful than old-fashioned metrics. At the same time, keeping brands safe in automated ad spaces remains a top priority. The companies that succeed will be the ones that balance trust, compliance, and real impact.

New features of ours, like mediasmart’s Maximize User Awareness (MUA) and CTV AI Safe, show this shift. MUA identifies high-attention users who have not been overexposed and prioritizes them in real time, ensuring impressions are both meaningful and valuable, while  mediasmart’s CTV AI Safe illustrates how trust, compliance, and effectiveness can coexist – turning responsible AI into a competitive advantage rather than a constraint.

The Rise of Multiscreen and Cross‑Device Journeys

Consumer behaviour increasingly reflects simultaneous engagement across screens rather than linear, sequential use. 

CTV often acts as the focal “anchor” screen, while mobile and personal devices serve as drivers of further exploration and action. This multi‑screen reality challenges last‑click and single‑touch attribution models. Research from digital measurement authorities highlights the limitations of last‑click frameworks for upper‑funnel channels such as video and television, prompting accelerating adoption of holistic, multi‑touch measurement approaches that reflect real consumer journeys. 

AI Is Quietly Running the Show

AI’s role in marketing has matured beyond bid optimization. Predictive modelling identifies impressions most likely to convert, dynamically adjusts strategies, and personalizes creative in real time. Dynamic Creative Optimization (DCO) now allows advertisers to deliver thousands of message variations, tailoring product, CTA, or tone to each viewer’s context.

Where Investment Will Focus and Where It Will Pull Back – Marketer’s Guide

In 2026, investment will focus on integrated, cross-screen media solutions that provide relevance, attention, and measurable outcomes while maintaining privacy-first and compliant data practices.

Experimental efforts will be scaled back unless grounded in clear hypotheses and demonstrable business impact. Testing and innovation remain important but must be outcome-oriented.

Marketers should focus on connecting attention, context, and results, ensuring every campaign is aligned with business objectives and delivers measurable value across screens and devices.

AI is no longer a nice-to-have but a necessity. Unlike the year 2025, where AI was a “best-have” for optimization, in 2026, AI will be the foundation for predicting high-value impressions, personalizing creative, optimizing in real-time, and ensuring scale translates to engagement. Marketers who leverage AI will be able to convert data and automation into insights and outcomes.

Looking Ahead with Clarity

The key lesson from 2025 is clear: complexity does not equal effectiveness. In 2026, leaders will be those who prioritize relevance, engagement, and accountability, using technology to bring clarity, not confusion, to a fragmented media landscape.