Ryan Ferguson, managing director, Snapchat ANZ
This next year promises to be one with connection and culture at the heart of it, especially among Gen Z. Success for brands will lie in turning these moments into real community and trends into opportunities for growth.
Of course, AI and new technologies are unlocking creative opportunities and empowering marketers to create at speed and scale but when everyone has access to AI, that’s table stakes. 2026 will reward the brands that can use technology to stand out in the spaces where humans interact, online and offline.
Expect to see more brands ‘marketing for the group chat’ through unmissable activations, cultural touchpoints and human-centred creativity.
Marketers will meet Gen Z where they are
Gen Z continues to be an audience many Australian advertisers find hard to reach, simply because they still don’t understand HOW to reach them.
What makes Gen Z consumers so special is also what continues to stump marketers - their behaviour can’t be split neatly into channels because they move through the world in a really different way, through digital and real-world experiences simultaneously.
But while they are a fluid generation - they are also the most open to brands that meet them meaningfully in these blended moments.
In 2026 the most effective brands will be the ones that align spend with this behaviour. We’re already seeing a shift from chasing impressions and toward investing in work where attention feels natural and earned.
From maps, augmented reality, chat-led real-estate and real-world activations that connect directly with them, these experiences make connection simpler, more human and more powerful. This is where Gen Z is genuinely engaged with brands, and where we’ll see the strongest performance from brands next year.
Finding growth in the year of cultural moments
Next year promises to be shaped by defining cultural moments, from the FIFA World Cup to the Winter Olympics. And while advertisers will undoubtedly search for sponsorships and premium placements with rights holders, the businesses that will see true growth and ROI will be those who recognise where the bulk of their addressable audiences actually gather: within the online and offline communities that form around these events.
For Gen Z, these moments are far from passive viewing opportunities.
They are shared, participatory cultural experiences. This generation enters the conversation, celebrates victories, expresses identity, and remains closely connected to the creators and communities that matter to them.
These emotional high points represent rare and valuable strategic opportunities for brands to engage with authenticity, empathy and purpose.
Next year will be competitive for advertisers, but real cut-through won’t come from simply running ads between highlights or slapping logos on broadcast moments.
It will come meeting audiences exactly where they are, in the moments that matter, with meaningful, platform-native experiences that turn cultural participation into outsized returns.
AI will bring human connection to the fore
AI will accelerate almost every part of the advertising process in 2026 from planning and optimisation to creative and content production. But the clearest signal we’re hearing from our advertising community is that efficiency alone won’t be the differentiator.
As AI scales, the standout work will come from the brands that use efficiency to redirect energy into something consumers are demanding again: direct, personal and creative communication.
People crave real moments, not generic messaging and certainly not algorithm-first campaigns - but advertising that recognises the individual on the receiving end.
At Snapchat we’re seeing early signs of this shift already - more brands testing conversational formats, open dialogues with consumers and content that feature real people - a return to advertising that feels like a real interaction rather than a broadcast.
Everyone will be using AI in 2026, but the smartest brands will combine it with meaningful connection, creating work people want to spend time with, and delivering long-term outcomes as a result.
The CMO role gets rewritten
The pressure is mounting on marketers, and as a result, the definition of the CMO is being rewritten as marketing becomes inseparable from business growth. In 2026, we’ll see CMOs acting as connectors across creative, product and commercial functions, using data and AI to prove the financial value of brand building.
The pendulum has swung from brand storytelling alone to brand performance and now the challenge is to merge both. The most successful marketing leaders will be those who can champion creativity, embrace technology and deliver measurable outcomes without losing sight of what makes a brand distinctive.
We will also find success in community. CMO's teams will never look the same again, we marketers need to hold hands and lean on each other as we learn.