Future of Brands 2026: What to expect
Tomorrow (29 April), The Media Leader will take over 180 The Strand for the annual Future of Brands conference, connecting and inspiring brand marketers about the future of media and advertising.
This year’s theme centres around one question: What becomes possible when exceptional people have exceptional tools? As AI continues to rise in media, the role of people and how they collaborate with technology is going to be key to success.
With over 100 speakers on the lineup, the very best voices from across the industry will provide insights and take part in discussions on the central issues facing marketers in 2026. Here’s The Media Leader’s guide to what to expect from Future of Brands 2026.
Artificial Intelligence
AI is dominating almost every conversation around the future of work, and media is no different. These talks will uncover how brand leaders are using AI-powered tools to make sense of audience behaviour, brand discovery and buying journeys.
From panels on winning authority in LLMs and how to build distinctive brands in the age of AI to workshops on whether you can build a campaign in a day with AI and a talk on responsible AI use, these conversations are sure to be stimulating as we look at what this uncertain future could hold.
Building famous brands
As a result of this rapid technological advancement, leaning into human skills is integral for brands to make an impact. In these talks, our speakers will show you how to set yourself apart as a marketer in the midst of the noise.
To kick off the event, Manfredi Ricca, global chief strategy officer at Interbrand, will share the company’s ranking of the top 100 global brands and discuss the role that ‘brand’ plays in driving revenue and creating market value. This will be followed by conversations about cultural moments that have been integral to some of the world’s biggest brands.
Netflix’s senior director for marketing partnerships, Jordan Peters, will share how to star in culture, and Samsung’s head of UK sales, Lauren Barnett, and Minai Bui, director of product marketing EMEA, will talk about turning cultural TV moments into brand opportunities.
Channel strategy
Platform proliferation has made channel planning feel impossible. If you’re in need of some clarity, these talks will offer a guide to the latest updates to media channels to help support your decision-making.
It will help you understand where your audience pays attention, how to evaluate emerging platforms without burning budget on experiments, and how to balance proven channels with strategic bets.
Bookmark the 4 pm panel titled ‘The Big 2026 Channel Audit’, where senior media heads will explain what should be on your mind when making decisions about media spend in 2026.
Culture, community, and influence
Being creative has always been essential to make your brand stand out, but in the rise of AI, it’s a non-negotiable. Combine this with major cultural moments and community-driving activities, and you’ll have an audience that feels like they’re part of something bigger.
For this theme, our speakers will discuss the major moments that captivate audiences and the media trends, spaces, and places where brands can make a lasting impact.
Highlights include Global’s branded sport director, Becks Martin, who will discuss how to turn spots passion into brand partnership gold; CEO and janitor at Global Street Art, Dr. Lee Bofkin, will offer practical ways to exercise your creative muscles; and a session on ‘Culture Hacking’ will uncover how media can unlock brand relevancy and help ensure brands are at the centre of the national conversation.
Driving business outcomes and measurement
For marketers keen to prove that their spend drives business outcomes, these sessions are essential. With curated best-in-class case studies from marketers who have been there when it comes to marketing effectiveness and efficacy, you’ll get an insight into what’s been working and what hasn’t, how you can measure what matters, and how to create an ongoing impact.
Head of SEM and paid growth lead at Wise, Li Peng, will be chatting with The Trade Desk’s general manager of client services, Simone Krakowiak, to unpack how Wise measures what is really driving impact across the funnel. Similarly, the measurement revolution in OOH will be discussed by representatives from Channel 4, Talon, and On Device, while Seena Samani, head of marketing effectiveness at Lloyds Bank, will argue that effectiveness isn’t a tooling problem; it’s failing because of culture.
Finally, the not-to-be-missed panel on attention and memory, featuring global marketing effectiveness expert Les Binet, will discuss findings from dentsu’s Brand Reset project.
Created in partnership with Lumen Research and Kantar, it measured for the first time the relationship between attention to advertising and both long- and short-term memory formation, and this session will offer an analysis of the findings.
Watch the highlights from last year’s event below and find all the panels and speakers for 2026 on the Future of Brands agenda.