Ceating Value, Relevance and Connection in the Modern World

2026 Marketing Report Summary

Access the full report here.

Kasari’s 2026 Marketing Outlook Report: The Quiet Transformation Changing How Companies Win, is a comprehensive analysis of 25 years of shifts in economics, sociology, and technology, their combined impact on how companies create value, relevance, and connection, and insights for how companies can stay ahead. 

Over the past 25 years, marketing has shifted from a peripheral business function to a central engine driving how companies grow, create value, and earn their place in culture. That transformation wasn’t driven by any single platform or shift; it was driven by the three enduring forces of economics, sociology, and technology. These disciplines underpin what Kasari has defined as the strategic imperatives of marketing: value, relevance, and connection (VRC). Kasari’s VRC Framework™ provides a marketing tool for businesses to navigate in an ever-changing landscape.

The Marketing Outlook Report introduces the Kasari Value Relevance Connection (VRC) Framework™, a proprietary insight-driven system designed to help business leaders navigate change, foresee opportunity, and build a lasting competitive advantage. The report draws on decades of firsthand industry experience alongside deep analysis of economic cycles, cultural movements, and technological waves to provide a framework for business leaders to stay ahead of change. 

By leveraging our experience and analytical themes from the past 25 years, we’ve developed a marketing forecast for 2026 and beyond.

Marketing Trends Overview

• 2001–2005: Pressure Creates Performance
• 2006–2010: Marketing Gets a Seat at the Adult Table
• 2011–2015: The Consumer Takes Control and Brands Become Communities 
• 2016–2020: The Algorithmic Turn
• 2021–2025: Uncertainty Rises and Authenticity Responds

Kasari’s Marketing Forecast for 2026: The Era of Convergence

As we reach the halfway point of 2026, we are beginning to see how the next five-year period will be defined for businesses. Not only have each of these signals changed, but we can see that they are no longer truly distinct and in recent years have begun to converge ever more closely.

ECONOMIC INSIGHT: Mass Market is a Losing Game

The K-shaped U.S. economy has created a distinct audience bifurcation. Because consumer spending is being driven by top earners, and the rest of the market is facing increasing affordability pressure, value perception is in stark contrast at opposing ends of the socioeconomic spectrum. Companies will need customized one-to-one messaging tailored to either luxury or cost-driven consumers, which coincides well with the proliferation of AI-driven personalization. Without buying power in the center, we believe the consequences of getting it wrong may be more significant in the future.

SOCIOLOGY INSIGHT: Tipping the Scales

The current power dynamics, wealth disparity, and influence of tech on society have the power to change the cultural equilibrium, access to resources, and what we attach meaning to in everyday life. We believe new product and service offerings that enhance and protect the human experience may have a unique opportunity in the coming years ahead and that companies that create an interplay of synthetic and natural experiences may be positioned at the ideal intersection of innovation and nostalgia. 

TECHNOLOGY INSIGHT: Now, That’s a Showstopper

The growth of AI has revolutionized what’s possible and is completely revamping the tech stack. According to Chiefmartech.com, the multi-billion-dollar martech industry has grown exponentially from roughly 150 solutions in 2011 to more than 15,000 in 2025¹, with each innovation changing the playbook for marketers and reshaping how companies create connection. The rise of agentic AI will have a profound effect on marketing and the customer experience. Companies will need to prioritize managing their brand as autonomous conversion events are integrated into the customer journey. AI agents represent an entirely new channel and audience segment for marketers with AIs becoming a new category of influencer. We expect a proliferation of new paid programming opportunities as companies view for machine trust and buying power.

What will be important for leaders as the drivers of value, relevance, and connection continue to shift? Access the full article here to learn more.

Contact Kasari Consulting for more information.

Footnote: ¹ Scott Brinker, “2025 Marketing Technology Landscape Supergraphic,” Chiefmartec.com, May 2025.