What are your New Year’s marketing resolutions?

Erin McCallion, chief marketing officer, Perion: “As we head into 2026, our resolution is both ambitious and necessary: make every story perform. Consumers don’t move through channels – they move through experiences – and those experiences now unfold everywhere: CTV, DOOH, retail media, social platforms, and the open web. The opportunity is to make those moments feel connected, coherent, and accountable. In 2026, we’re deepening our commitment to AI that drives transparent, real-time decisions, not just dashboards. Marketers need intelligence that links creative, media, and measurement into a single learning loop where exposure leads to engagement, and engagement to outcomes. If 2025 taught us anything, it’s that complexity isn’t going away. So our aim for 2026 is simple: turn intelligence into clarity, clarity into performance, and make every impression not just reach someone, but move someone.”

Harjot Singh, global chief strategy officer, McCann: “As we step into 2026, my resolution is to hold firm to what gives our work undeniable impact. Technology will continue to accelerate, offering new forms of optimization, scale, and endless iteration, but the responsibility to create ideas with the power to move people and move markets remains profoundly human. At McCann, we are unwavering in our focus on ‘radical creativity grounded in truth well told.’ This means choosing clarity over noise, substance over novelty, and cultural intelligence over convenience. It also means resisting the temptation to simply produce more and instead commit to work that genuinely earns attention and delivers lasting impact. If 2025 reminded us of anything, it’s that bravery endures, and blandness doesn’t. So, my resolution is this: stay courageous, stay curious, and stay committed to making and shaping the kind of work that doesn’t just participate in culture, but shapes it.”

Ben Rothman, VP of customer experience, Rightpoint: “At Rightpoint, our mindset as an agency heading into 2026 is simple. Focus beats noise. The shift we are making is from AI experimentation to AI accountability. The last few years were about exploring what was possible. The priority now is turning that experimentation into repeatable, outcome-driven delivery that creates real value for clients. Technical excellence is foundational because it directly impacts speed, cost, and confidence. Predictable delivery and clear ownership help clients move faster, reduce risk, and trust their platforms to support growth. Innovation also must earn its place. AI is no longer about demos or one-off experiments. Client value comes from applying AI and agentic systems to real problems. Reducing manual effort. Improving decision-making. Accelerating content, experimentation, and customer experience. If it does not drive measurable impact, it doesn’t ship. Partnership matters because it compounds value over time. Clients see the most benefit when their agency operates as an extension of their team and aligns strategy, design, and technology around shared outcomes. Our aspiration for 2026 is to make that model the norm, not the exception, and to help our clients turn emerging technology into a durable operating advantage.”

Emrah Doğru, co-founder & creative director, Ba’ndo: “As we move from 2025 into 2026, Ba’ndo is not setting rigid marketing targets. Instead, we are choosing to be more precise about how we work. Our main decision for 2026 is to continue operating not as a traditional agency, but as a true partner – sitting at the same table as the brands we work with. Our focus this year is not on producing more, but on starting with the right questions, shaping work through strategy, and building long-term systems. Rather than thinking in campaigns, we concentrate on defining a brand’s purpose, cultural position, and long-term direction. In 2026, we aim to be more selective. We want to collaborate with brands that treat sustainability as a core business principle rather than a communication tool, and that see design not as decoration, but as a strategic driver. We are entering this year without grand promises – with clarity, flexibility, and deeper collaborations. The rest, we are leaving to the natural flow of work and life.”

Steven Filler, UK country manager, ShowHeroes: “In 2026, the digital advertising industry has a real opportunity to make waves, not only through the ‘tech-celeration’ of AI and immersive media, but by choosing to be a stabilising force in an increasingly fragmented, divided world. In a challenging political and economic climate, there has been a noticeable shift in focus over the last two years. Important commitments around sustainability, DE&I, and broader humanitarian responsibility have too often slipped down the agenda. At the same time, the industry has become more inward-looking, with a growing ‘me-first’ mindset that prioritizes short-term wins over collective progress. 2026 can, and should be, the year we rebalance. A year where advertisers, media owners, and technology partners consciously choose to re-center inclusion, kindness, and collaboration alongside performance, as essential drivers of growth.”

James Donovan, head of client strategy, GumGum: “My resolution for next year – and one I’d extend to the rest of my team – is simple: a significant commitment to quality, face-to-face client time. While this may sound cliched, it's one of the most crucial and enjoyable parts of my role, and it's something you can never over-invest in. Real, human connection holds exceptional power today, especially as we become saturated with AI. Identifying genuine knowledge and intelligence is increasingly complex, making sitting down and listening more important than ever. We have spent considerable time in 2025 developing GumGum's market position, equipping us to deliver greater strategic value to our partners. However, none of this innovation matters unless it starts with active listening, thorough questioning, and getting to the heart of what advertisers truly care about. So, next year, everything will be built on the foundation of trust that only authentic presence can create.”

James Lawton-Hill, marketing & agency director, APS Group: “My biggest resolution for 2026 is to start focusing more intently on the concept of ‘efficiency’. While it may seem unexciting to some, from my perspective, it’s rapidly becoming the defining challenge for modern marketing. We need to start looking past shiny new tools and cutting through the noise of these to make sense of the madness. Brands and agencies are under pressure to juggle an expanding repertoire of platforms, processes, AI tools, and more – while still securing those all-important results. It is with this in mind that I want to go into the new year focusing on how we can simplify the tools we have, and how we can make smarter decisions about how we can use them, while also reviewing where the essentials like time, budget, and creativity are best spent.”

Pasi Voho, CEO, Luxid: “Luxid’s new year’s resolution is the same as we came into 2025 with: growth. We all know how easy it is to talk a big game, but we’re genuinely putting skin in the game, and we will continue to do it all over again in 2026. This year, we acquired TriComB2B, a US-based integrated agency focused on B2B marketing. This acquisition took us to the next level in our international growth strategy. We’re now a global agency with over 160 people in offices across the UK, US, and Finland. We’re all about driving growth for businesses at the intersection of creativity, data, and technology. And we know that to do this properly, we have to keep growing as a business. So, in 2026, we will be looking to scale up our capabilities in the UK. We will be actively seeking the right partners to help us grow by acquisition. We’re looking for super smart, successful businesses in the ideas economy that share our belief in harnessing AI to drive growth for our customers. In a world of AI, we are re-conceiving what's possible.”

Kate Cox, CEO, Bray Leino: “At Bray Leino, we’re doubling down on the human at the heart of our work. That means real, kind, and candid relationships between our people and our clients.It means facing down the challenges the industry faces with a belief in original ideas. And it’s doing what we’ve always been great at – being bold for clients big or small, and shepherding everyone over the line to realize those ambitions. Of course, we’ll have a bleeding-edge agency operating system to ensure we are as efficient and effective as possible. And yes, we’ll use AI, but always purposefully – when it’s right to help make something happen, to enhance an insight, drive media effectiveness, or automate the boring stuff. But in 2026, the human will remain the grit at the heart of our story.”

Chris Bagnall, CEO & founder, Transmission: “2025 was a busy year for Transmission. But between the launch of our brand storytelling doc, ‘Who is… Watson? The Day AI Went Prime Time’, B2B’s first dedicated behavioral science report, ‘The Yes Advantage’, and our B2B-only Cannes Lions itinerary, we've not had much time to show off the amazing work our global team has produced over the last 12 months. 2026 is shaping up to be another big one in which we lead the charge with unique B2B insights and continue showcasing the commercial viability of creativity in B2B. But most of all, it'll be the year we put the hard work our clients and teams invest, day in, day out – and the business impact of that work – front and center.”