VML’s Future 100: Why 2026 Marketing Will Be Built on Contradictions

In The Future 100: 2026, the agency’s latest annual forecast, the headline isn’t a single platform shift or shiny new channel. 

It’s a cultural temperament: a world where people can feel anxious about where things are heading, yet still want to believe something better can be built. 

That tension runs through the report’s biggest watch-outs for marketers – and it’s why the “future-facing” playbook now needs to accommodate both excitement and unease at the same time.

Sci-Fi Trends, Real-World Consequences: Algospeak, Hyperreality, Omnisurveillance

The report spotlights several tech-tilted trends that sound like they belong in speculative fiction, but land very directly in everyday life. “Algospeak” captures how digital platforms don’t just host conversations – they shape them, nudging people into coded language to dodge moderation or avoid being deprioritised by feeds. 

“Hyperreality” reflects a deeper blur: digital behaviour isn’t an add-on anymore; it’s increasingly woven into offline identity, shopping, humour and social life. “Omnisurveillance” sits behind it all, describing the sense that we’re always being tracked, measured, scored or watched – by platforms, devices, and sometimes each other.

That convergence is especially pronounced with Gen Z. Four in ten Gen Z respondents agreed there’s little distinction between virtual and physical reality – a striking signal that “blended reality” isn’t a niche or future state; it’s a lived experience for a large chunk of the next primary spending cohort.

The 2026 Leadership Test: Design for the Ambitious and the Anxious

The report’s core challenge for brands is less “keep up with AI” and more “keep up with humans” – humans who are being pulled in two directions at once. 

Naomi Troni frames it as a leadership requirement: brands positioned to lead in 2026 will be those that can operate confidently in blended realities, while designing for both the ambitious and the anxious sides of consumers. In other words, you don’t get to pick a single emotional lane anymore.

And the report argues marketers can’t afford to become “Luddites” in response to fast change – but they also can’t let strategy become sterile. Joy, human connection and meaning are no longer nice to have brand gloss; they’re the counterweight to a world that can feel increasingly artificial.

Mascots, Microdramas and the Return of Brand Personality

One of the more pragmatic recommendations is that brands may need to feel more alive – not just consistent. 

The report points to brand anthropomorphisation (think mascots with distinct voices and behaviour, like Duolingo’s owl) as a way to create familiarity and emotional stickiness in crowded feeds. Alongside that, it highlights emergent content formats such as microdramas – short, serialised storytelling designed for high repeat viewing and fast emotional payoff.

But there’s a warning stitched into that same opportunity: consumers aren’t necessarily asking brands to become “unifiers”. 

The appetite for entertainment and comfort doesn’t automatically translate into permission to lead social cohesion – which makes messaging a fine needle to thread, especially when politics can ignite at speed.

Levity Becomes a Coping Mechanism: Awe, NanoTrips and “Treatonomics”

If there’s one statistic that reads like a creative brief, it’s this: 86% of consumers say they’re seeking experiences that inspire awe or refresh their worldview. 

That’s a huge green light for brands to think beyond value messaging and into perspective-shifting moments – but without ignoring the economic reality most people are budgeting against.

The report argues that some classic reset behaviours (like big holidays) are changing shape under cost pressure. Instead, consumers are prioritising “nano trips”: ultra-short getaways optimised for time saved and cost control. 

It also flags “treatonomics” – small indulgences that function like emotional punctuation marks when bigger luxuries feel out of reach.

Price Pressure Dominates, but Values Still Steer Spend

Economic anxiety is one of the most consistent shadows across the report’s themes. Cost of living was cited as the number-one societal problem by 48% of respondents – 10 percentage points higher than both war/unrest and violence/crime. 

In a separate poll referenced in the report, 32% of consumers said a brand’s role is to save them money, followed by making life simpler (31%) and improving health and wellbeing (30%).

That hierarchy contrasts sharply with more mission-led expectations: 22% believe brands’ top mandate is to create a more hopeful or positive future, while just 13% prioritise brands bringing people together and fostering community. 

Yet the moral compass hasn’t disappeared – 79% of consumers still want their money to go to brands aligned with their values.

And the political crossfire risk is real. The report points to a wave of cancellations that hit Disney+ after The Walt Disney Company temporarily pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live! from air – an example of how quickly brand decisions can become lightning rods, whether or not the original intent was political.

AI: Hopeful Tool, Human Connection Threat

Perhaps no topic captures the moment’s uncertainty better than Artificial Intelligence. On one side, 76% of consumers agreed AI can make the world a better place. On the other, 71% believe it’s a deterrent to human connection. 

In practice, people appear more relaxed about AI-made advertising than many creatives fear: over half said discovering an ad was primarily made with AI wouldn’t affect their opinion of it.

This is the contradiction brands will have to live inside: AI can scale imagination and convenience, but it can also erode trust, authenticity and warmth if the output feels generic – or if audiences suspect they’re being handled by machines rather than heard by humans.

From Uncanny Perfection to “Dirty Design” and Metamorphosis

VML also flags a creative shift away from squeaky-clean, uncanny-valley polish – a look often associated with generative AI – towards aesthetics with grit, dirt and decay. 

The report frames “dirt” as a cultural signal that the status quo has run its course, and suggests brands can treat breakdown as a reinvention brief rather than a reputation risk.

In that framing, the winning posture is metamorphosis: designing for change, repair and regenerative systems – showing consumers that the brand isn’t pretending everything is fine, but is actively building what comes next.

Conclusion: The Future Belongs to Brands That Can Feel Human in an Inhuman Moment

VML’s 2026 outlook is, fittingly, “dysoptimistic”: it doesn’t deny the stressors – cost of living pressure, political volatility, surveillance fatigue, AI-driven uncertainty – but it insists there’s room for joy, reinvention and connection if brands behave with care. 

The report’s clearest takeaway is that modern marketing isn’t just about embracing new tech; it’s about earning permission in a world where reality is blended, attention is fragile, and trust is hard-won. Those that balance value with meaning, levity with sensitivity, and innovation with unmistakable humanity are the ones most likely to lead.