TLDR: Today we’re covering the signals we’re seeing in the market to help you build a competitive edge in your comms programs in 2026. I’m a big believer of signals > trends, because once something is trending, you’re already too late.
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2025 felt like the ground was constantly shifting under the comms industry. Not sure if anyone else saw this, but the Association of National Advertisers announced their ‘Marketing Word of the Year’ and for the first time ever, they picked two: "authenticity" and "agentic AI." The ANA’s inability to just pick one word meshed with the emotional tension the words ‘Authenticity’ and ‘Agentic AI’ create should tell you everything you need to know about the trends we saw this year and, if you know where to look, could also point to where we’re headed as well.
In order to do this, we need to look at some signals (not trends). Let me explain: Every 12 year old knows that once something is mainstream, it’s no longer cool. The same rule should be applied to how we treat market trends in our comms programs. So instead of calling out emerging trends, we’ve put together some signals happening in the market today that will help you kill it next year.
Signal 1: Everyone is a writer
The written word has is being, as people like to say, democratized by AI. I feel like it’s maybe been …. I’m trying not to use the word ‘ruined’…. diluted? Point is, everyone has a blog now because everyone can be a writer. So, if everyone is a writer, and more content is coming online than ever before, and as a result everyone is growing tired of reading ... then what format is easier to consume and therefore resonate the most with customers in a sea of text? The answer is video.
Future Trend: 2026 will be the year that executives need to show their face.
Yes, we realize that video has been discussed as a way to game an algorithm, but let’s take the algorithm out of it and examine what’s left.
We already know that video consumption vastly outweighs reading for engagement and retention, with consumers preferring video to learn about products (78% prefer video vs. 9% text), retaining 95% of video messages (vs. 10% from text), and driving 82% of internet traffic.
Stats aside, think about it this way: How do you feel when you’re watching two people you respect in conversation vs. reading their ideas on a page? Why do we love attending panels, watching TEDTalks about a piece of research, vs. reading the research itself? It’s because audiences want to feel like they are in the room through the interpretation of meaning. Video makes us feel a connection directly through the speaker’s tone and passion, vs. trying to conjure those same feelings through reading.
This is not the type of video I mean!!!
Your action items:
Start building video muscle now. The comms people who crack this code in 2026 will drive deeper connections with customers—and likely build stronger relationships with their executives as a result of creating this content together.
Make it easy for execs to execute. Most executives resist video because it feels high-effort and high-risk. Your job is to lower both barriers: simple formats, minimal prep, authentic rather than polished.
Frame video as a moat. In a world of AI-generated text, an executive's face and voice is genuine differentiation. Make that case to leadership.
And yes, I see the irony of writing this vs. making it a video.
Signal 2: People are already burning out on LLMs.
"AI fatigue" has entered the chat. Audiences report feeling "tired of AI and turned off by what they see as inauthentic attempts by companies to connect with them."
I think this wave is only going to get bigger as the understanding of how LLMs actually work becomes more common-knowledge. The industries that rely most on writing and the creation of company messaging will burn out on the beige content they create and go back to what I like to call ‘doing words the hard way.’
My personal relationship with AI over the last six months
Future Trend: Authentic, unpolished, imperfect, humorous, humble, spicy-take content will be the foundation of our favorite companies and spokespeople
So, if authenticity is the characteristic that wins everyone over, that means that the comms people who continue to write, plan, connect, and hone their craft with intention will be the communicators selected to build these new storytelling empires.
Here’s what you can do now to avoid struggling with creativity, authenticity, and eventually credibility once we start to see this signal come to life:
Keep honing your craft. Take an extra 20 minutes to map things out first before inviting AI to collaborate with you. This will keep your knowledge of processes and comms nuances from atrophying through AI automation.
Document your human process. When the pendulum swings back to valuing human-created content (and it will), you'll want proof of how your work gets made.
Watch for the credibility gap. As AI detection improves and audiences grow savvier, the reputational risk of obvious AI content will increase.
Signal 3: ‘Comms needs to move at the speed of culture’ was the hot advice of the year
The conversations worth entering are likely not a part of your 6 month plan. I mean, go ahead and create a plan - it’s the only sense of control we have in our increasingly reactive world - but in order to be a part of the conversations, you’ll have to be online, ready to engage, and sharing a unique POV in real-time.
Gemini’s interpretation of measuring vibes & honestly I’m not mad at it.
Future Trend: ‘Vibes’ will become an acceptable comms measurement
The result of this is that ROI will become how you make people feel, and most of the time, the feeling you’re aiming for is relief. Because a good comms program will make people feel seen and have more clarity on the path around a topic in our swirling, accelerated AI world. Yes, this likely means that we will have to continue to improve the ways we articulate what we do to other business units and continue to work hard to align our strategies to business goals. But the reward for the comms people who can quickly jump on the opportunities that the vibe train produces will far outweigh your moldy old launch calendar.
How to lay the tracks for your vibe train:
Develop your "vibe vocabulary." Learn to articulate feelings to other business units: trust signals, sentiment shifts, community warmth. These are real outcomes even if they're hard to quantify.
Align vibes to business goals. The comms people who can connect program outcomes AND emotional outcomes to business objectives will earn the respect needed to get to ride the vibe train.
Build systems for speed. Real-time engagement requires approval processes that match the pace of conversation. Start negotiating that flexibility now.
The comms people that are able to identify and lean-in early to the signals we’re seeing in the market will be the ones that absolutely crush next year. But unfortunately, identifying signals isn’t as easy as it sounds. It requires original big-picture thinking, the ability to observe human activity without having an emotional reaction, and the cultural awareness to stitch it all together. Those who can do this will drive better, deeper connections with audiences, and will also likely have stronger relationships with their clients.
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