Welcome to the age of infinite signals
Consumers now live in an always-on signal ecosystem - where every scroll, search, shelf glance, creator story, reorder nudge, and AI-generated answer becomes data.Retail, RMNs, media, social, search, and LLMs now feed each other in a continuous loop. This is the growth flywheel your brand competes in - where success goes to brands that are predicted, preferred, and primed, not just present.
To help brands win, Kantar’s experts introduce pentagon imperatives - an AI-powered framework to focus marketing on what truly drives growth.
Download the 2026 brand building playbook to learn:
- The 5 imperatives redefining marketing effectiveness in 2026- Evidence-based insights and expert perspectives behind each imperative
- Practical guidance for brand and marketing leaders shaping future-ready strategies
Use these insights to focus your marketing strategy, prioritise what matters, and shape your brand growth in 2026.
Get in touch if you would like Kantar experts, tools and IP to guide you.
-Build a single future‑ready segmentation rooted in missions, motivations, tensions, and emerging desire spaces—not categories.
- Innovate from signals: Use Search & Social foresight to detect rising aspirations, shifting language, and new contexts that signal where demand is forming.
Read more about the cultural and sectoral trends that drive this imperative:
Think meta spaces: Zoom out of My brand, Zoom into People
Winning in India means stepping beyond “my brand / my category / my competition” and tuning into real, messy, many‑Indias lives instead of monolithic cohorts.
INDIA: Search shows the future
India’s future isn’t linear—it's a mosaic of shifts reshaping everyday life. The brands that win will read these micro‑signals early and act with cultural intelligence.
- Build an emotionally resonant meaning with consistent personality, semiotics, and cultural nuance across every touchpoint.
- Craft assets that hook instantly, build memory quickly, and perform across CTV, social feeds, personalised media, and RMNs.
Read more about Creative and Media trends that will shape your communication success in 2026:
Media planning in a fragmented and attention deficit world
When every screen screams, only the brands that decode attention survive. Media planning is no longer buying reach—it’s buying relevance.
The emerging role of Generative AI in Creative development & testing
From traditional animatics to GenAI‑powered visualisation: the shift reshaping modern advertising craft
- Understand how platforms rank, recommend, and curate choices; use cues optimised for low attention, high automation environments.
Read how AI is changing the shopping process:
Think shoppers decide in the aisle? AI changed that long ago
Discovery hasn’t vanished—AI has simply relocated it. The moment of influence now lives in the micro‑nudges of daily life.
- Track Meaningful Difference, digital behaviour, cultural relevance, and AI mediated visibility to build future commercial advantage.
Read why your brand’s salience in LLMs matter: