New Delhi: Traditional media planning models are rapidly becoming obsolete as advertising investment, technology and consumer behaviour undergo fundamental shifts, according to WARC’s latest report, The Future of Media 2026.
WARC’s new forecasts reveal that global advertising spend is expected to grow 9.1% in 2026 to reach $1.30 trillion, effectively doubling since the pandemic and equating to approximately $150 spent per person worldwide. However, the growth is being unevenly distributed, with digital platforms absorbing the bulk of new investment.
Nearly 80% of global ad spend now flows into retail media, paid search and social platforms, leaving just 20% shared across the rest of the media ecosystem, including traditional channels. This concentration is accelerating the breakdown of long-established planning and buying models.
Paul Stringer, Managing Editor, Research & Insights at WARC, said, “The established model for media planning and buying is breaking apart – and nobody knows exactly what comes next. The groundwork for a new model is just beginning.
“This year’s Future of Media report maps the contours of this emerging model. First, by looking at how structural changes inside client organisations and across the media landscape are giving rise to a new model for planning, inspired by systems-thinking. Second, by examining how AI is rewriting the rules of search and simultaneously creating a secondary audience for marketing: machines. And finally, how growing investment in user-generated content and creator marketing represents a new form of brand-building that, at this stage, most marketers seem underprepared for.”
Shift towards ‘Systems Planning’
At the centre of WARC’s analysis is the emergence of ‘systems planning’, a new approach designed to replace traditional planning frameworks built around static media plans, rigid personas and fixed channel definitions. Structural changes within organisations, combined with rapid advances in AI-enabled media, have rendered these approaches increasingly ineffective.
‘Systems planning’ focuses on designing adaptive systems of influence that shape decisions across the entire brand experience, recognising that the impact of touchpoints varies by context, category and consumer.
According to Dan Gilbert, CEO of Brainlabs, this approach demands new mental models, frameworks and planning tools that are still in the early stages of development. It also places greater emphasis on developing talent with connective capabilities across data, commerce and creativity, skills considered critical for navigating increasingly automated and AI-driven marketing platforms.
Visibility in the age of AI-powered search
The report also highlights how AI-driven search is reshaping discovery and decision-making. Consumers are increasingly turning to AI-powered search engines for longer, more complex queries that span multiple intents, categories and contexts.
As a result, marketers are being forced to rethink how they optimise content. Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) is emerging as a new discipline, moving beyond traditional SEO to focus on producing structured, credible and authoritative content that performs well for both human audiences and machine audiences, including large language models (LLMs) and AI agents. WARC notes that owned and earned media are becoming increasingly important drivers of success in this new search environment.
Creator marketing under scrutiny
While the creator economy continues to scale rapidly, with revenues expected to exceed $376.6 billion by 2030, WARC warns that a significant portion of current investment is being wasted. Challenges include unclear definitions of creator marketing, weak brand fit and inadequate measurement frameworks.
To improve ROI, the report recommends that marketers work more closely with creators who align with brand values, establish clear and measurable objectives, and adopt more robust evaluation methods to assess real business impact. Creative quality, asset selection and a commitment to structured learning and experimentation are also highlighted as critical success factors.
Navigating the future of media
The Future of Media 2026 draws on WARC’s proprietary insights alongside external research to provide marketers and strategists with actionable guidance for navigating ongoing disruption. The report forms part of WARC’s Evolution of Marketing programme, which aims to help brands and agencies respond to major industry shifts and drive more effective marketing outcomes.
The report follows recent WARC publications including Voice of the Marketer 2026, The Marketer’s Toolkit 2026 and The GEISTE report. A companion podcast to The Future of Media 2026 is scheduled for release in early February.
