Five Trends We Fell in Love With in 2025 (and Five We're Saying Goodbye to in 2026)

The ball has dropped, and the calendar has started anew. It's officially 2026, and we're looking at a few marketing trends we're eager to leave in the rearview mirror. Here's our take on what worked, what didn't and what we hope defines the future of marketing.

The Trends That Stole Our Hearts

1. AI for Good: Liberation, Not Replacement

This year, we finally cracked the code on artificial intelligence in advertising. Instead of viewing AI as a threat to creativity, forward-thinking agencies embraced it as the ultimate creative liberator. By automating tedious tasks like media trafficking, budget reconciliation and preliminary data analysis, AI freed up creative departments to do what they do best: create. The result? Campaigns that feel human. Real. When your team isn't drowning in administrative work, they have the mental space for breakthrough ideas.

2. Depth Over Numbers: The Influencer Relationship Revolution

Gone are the days when brands measured influencer success by follower counts alone. In 2025, savvy marketers discovered what really matters: the quality of the relationship between influencers and their communities. We saw micro-influencers with 10,000 engaged followers outperform mega-influencers with millions of passive scrollers.

The winning formula? Authenticity, consistent interaction and genuine trust. Brands started asking better questions: Does this influencer respond to comments? Do their followers actually trust their recommendations? Does their audience align with our values? This shift has produced partnerships that feel less like advertisements and more like trusted recommendations from a friend.

3. Values-Driven Marketing That Actually Means Something

2025 was the year brands stopped virtue signaling and started walking the walk. Consumers have always been able to smell inauthenticity a mile away, and this year they demanded proof. The brands that thrived were those that embedded their values into every decision—from supply chain choices to employee benefits to community investment.

Faith-based and mission-driven organizations particularly excelled here, showing secular brands how to build campaigns around purpose without being preachy. The key was demonstrating impact through action, not just proclamations.

4. Privacy-First Advertising Gets Creative

As third-party cookies crumbled and privacy regulations tightened, marketers had to get resourceful. Instead of mourning the loss of intrusive tracking, innovative teams discovered the power of first-party data, contextual advertising and—revolutionary concept—simply asking permission.

Brands that prioritized transparency and gave consumers control over their data didn't just comply with regulations; they built trust. Turns out, people are willing to share information when they know how it'll be used and see the value exchange.

5. Short-Form Video Done Right

While short-form video isn't new, 2025 was the year brands finally figured out how to do it well. Instead of treating every platform like TikTok, smart marketers learned to match content to context. They hired creators who actually understood the medium instead of repurposing TV spots. They embraced imperfection. They told stories in seconds, not just shouted messages.

The best part? This trend democratized advertising. Small businesses with limited budgets competed alongside Fortune 500 companies because creativity mattered more than production value.

The Trends We're Ready to Ghost

1. Generative AI Fakery: The Trust Killer

While AI proved invaluable for automation, its darker application nearly destroyed credibility across entire sectors. The proliferation of AI-generated fake videos—from fabricated celebrity endorsements to manipulated testimonials—created a crisis of trust.

Even when brands used generative AI "harmlessly" to create synthetic influencers or entirely fabricated scenarios, audiences felt deceived. The backlash was swift and severe. In 2026, we need a hard line: AI should enhance truth, not manufacture it. Consumers deserve to know what's real, and brands that blur this line will pay the price in lost credibility.

2. Performative Diversity: When Representation Becomes Exploitation

Tokenism reached peak exhaustion in 2025. Brands that showcased diversity for the sake of fitting in faced justified criticism. Consumers started asking uncomfortable questions: Who created this campaign? Where does the money go? Whose stories are being told, and who's doing the telling? Are people being tokenized or weaponized for the sake of a campaign?

It's time to move beyond surface-level representation toward structural change. God's design is diverse, and His Kingdom is and will be, too. But diversity for the sake of the status quo? That's out.

3. Cookie-Cutter Influencer Campaigns

Despite the positive shift toward relationship quality, too many brands still treated influencers like billboards with faces. The formulaic approach—generic talking points, identical content across creators, no creative freedom—produced lifeless campaigns that fooled no one.

Audiences can instantly distinguish between authentic endorsements and paid recitations. In 2026, brands need to either trust influencers to be creative partners or admit they're just buying ad space.

4. The "Authenticity" Paradox: Overproduced Casualness

There's something deeply ironic about spending $50,000 to make a video look like it was shot on an iPhone. The pursuit of "authenticity" became so calculated that it lost all authenticity. Brands hired actors to play "real customers," scripted "spontaneous" moments and workshopped "casual" language until it sounded anything but.

Real authenticity doesn't require air quotes. It requires honesty, vulnerability and the courage to show up as you actually are—flaws included.

5. Attention Hijacking: The Race to the Bottom

The desperate quest for engagement led to increasingly manipulative tactics: rage-baiting, deliberately confusing content designed to prompt comments, misleading headlines and sensationalism that prioritized clicks over truth. These tactics might boost metrics temporarily, but they corrode brand trust and contribute to a more toxic digital environment.

As faith-based publishers and ethical marketers, we have a responsibility to reject these tactics. Attention earned through manipulation isn't attention worth having.

Looking Ahead

The through-line in both our loved and loathed trends is authenticity. The campaigns that succeeded were those rooted in genuine value creation, honest communication and respect for audiences. The failures shared a common thread of manipulation, whether through fakery, tokenism or attention hijacking.

As we kick off 2026, the path forward is clear: Use technology to enhance and strengthen human creativity, not replace it. Build relationships based on actually being relational, not transactional. Tell the truth, even when fiction might be easier. Respect your audience's intelligence, discernment and time.

The future of advertising isn't about more sophisticated manipulation; it's about more sophisticated humanity. Let's build that future together.

Ready to leave gimmicks behind and embrace advertising that honors truth, creativity and human connection? Dive into 2026 with strategies that amplify your message without compromising your values. Contact us today to get started.