WARC identifies five marketing trends for 2027

Its Marketer's Toolkit 2027 report finds that marketer optimism has declined for the third consecutive year, although emerging industry shifts could create opportunities for growth.

WARC has identified five trends expected to shape global marketing in 2027, highlighting the growing influence of artificial intelligence, changing social media dynamics, short-form video, climate change and consumer attitudes towards AI.

According to WARC research, 46 percent of marketers expect business conditions to improve in 2027, down nearly 20 percentage points from three years ago. However, fewer marketers anticipate budget cuts. WARC Media forecasts global advertising expenditure will grow by 8.4 percent to reach $1.46 trillion in 2027.

AI delegation reshapes consumer purchasing

The report identifies the growing use of AI agents in consumer purchasing as one of five significant developments. While 69 percent of marketers expect consumers to use AI agents for product research within the next three years, only 8 percent anticipate that customers will fully delegate purchases to these tools.

PHD and WARC estimate that agent-facilitated consumer spending could reach $944 billion in 2026 and $3.4 trillion by 2030. As AI assistants become more sophisticated, consumers are expected to delegate more everyday activities, including shopping. WARC advises marketers to consider how this shift will affect their categories, build brands that appeal to both people and AI systems, and encourage collaboration across internal teams.

Social media moves towards algorithm-led engagement

WARC's second trend, the post-social era, highlights how algorithms increasingly determine content discovery and engagement, replacing traditional social connections as the primary driver of platform experiences.

Although social media advertising investment is forecast to reach $394.6 billion globally in 2026, up 21.3 percent from 2025, concerns about its effectiveness are growing. Forty-three percent of advertisers believe social media advertising is becoming less effective, while 58 percent say established media-buying practices make it difficult to remove platforms from their plans, even when traffic declines.

Marc Pritchard, Chief Brand Officer, Procter & Gamble: "You need to make sure that you create memory in the algorithm. What we’ve learned is that you need a much higher volume of content, a much higher variety of content, at a much higher velocity."

WARC recommends that marketers prioritise relevant creative diversification, understand audience motivations and pain points, and recognise the different reasons consumers might purchase their products.

The clip economy changes content distribution

The third trend focuses on the growing influence of short-form video and the distribution of content through clips. While 83 percent of marketers say short-form video is popular with consumers, 40 percent question whether it can deliver the same brand impact as television, film and live events.

As content becomes increasingly fragmented, clips are emerging as important drivers of attention, discovery and engagement. Rather than relying solely on original long-form productions, brands must consider how content can be packaged and distributed through creators, fans and algorithms.

David Sandström, CMO, Klarna: "I think that advertising has slowly regained its mojo due to clipping. I feel that advertising was paid for and pushed down people’s throats. It didn’t really understand how people really wanted to consume content. But now with clipping [...] it feels like advertising is back a bit."

WARC advises brands to incorporate distribution into creative briefs, treat creators as strategic partners and develop connected content series in which individual clips build on one another.

Climate change disrupts seasonal marketing strategies

The fourth trend, the summer wildcard, examines how rising temperatures and extreme weather are changing consumer behaviour and established seasonal patterns.

According to the report, 45 percent of marketers have not seriously considered how rising summer temperatures could affect their categories, while only 25 percent have taken action. Climate change is influencing when and where consumers spend, creating challenges for established marketing occasions and demand patterns.

WARC cites Bloomberg's estimate that summer heat caused a €17 billion impact on European GDP. The report recommends that marketers assess how extreme weather affects search behaviour, sales, pricing and supply chains while building flexibility into their marketing plans.

James Thornton, CEO, Intrepid Travel: "Climate change’s impact on travel isn’t going unnoticed by travellers [...] For example, we’ve seen strong growth in demand into the cooler shoulder seasons, particularly in Europe in recent years. When customers do travel within the summer months, there has been notable rising demand for cooler destinations, including Iceland and Norway."

Marketers face challenges balancing AI adoption

The fifth trend, the AI tightrope, explores the tension between the potential efficiency of artificial intelligence and consumer concerns about its use in advertising.

WARC found that 42 percent of marketers expect AI to improve marketing effectiveness, while an equal proportion remain uncertain. Another 19 percent have negative expectations.

Although AI offers opportunities to scale creative production and deliver personalised advertising, consumer mistrust presents challenges for brands adopting the technology. WARC recommends balancing transparency with effectiveness, understanding consumer acceptance of AI-generated advertising and maintaining human judgement in campaign development.

Selina Sykes, Global VP Digital, Social and AI Transformation, Unilever: "You can’t just take the way you worked without AI and replace it with AI. You need to reimagine the workflow […] you need to think about the outcomes – and then work backwards to the process, inputs and where it starts to touch other parts of the marketing ecosystem."

WARC draws on global marketer research

Now in its 16th year, The Marketer's Toolkit uses WARC's proprietary GEISTE framework, which examines macro trends across government, the economy, industry, society, technology and the environment.

The 2027 edition incorporates a global survey of more than 1,000 marketing executives conducted in September and October 2026, interviews with marketing leaders and analysis from WARC's international team of experts.

Aditya Kishore, Insight Director, WARC: "The macroeconomic backdrop remains challenging – a fading middle market, mounting sovereign debt, and a cost-of-living crisis are all still weighing on marketer optimism. But beneath these pressures, important shifts are reshaping the industry. AI agents are starting to influence how consumers shop, algorithms are superseding social connections on social media, and the rise of the clip economy is changing how brands connect with audiences. Marketers who understand these emerging trends – and act on them – have a genuine opportunity to turn disruption into growth in 2027."

A complimentary sample of The Marketer's Toolkit 2027 is available through the WARC website. Subscribers can access the full report. WARC will also release a five-part podcast series exploring the report's findings, beginning on November 12.