It’s 2026. If 2025 taught us anything, it’s that nothing is certain. In our last issue, we covered six key developments of the year.

As we step into 2026, here are a few we believe will take shape during the year:

• If consolidation was the buzzword of 2025, layoffs will be the most discussed word of 2026.
• Independent agencies will continue to grow - both in revenue and the number of them, as more creatives get frustrated by ‘process’ or are laid off due to ‘consolidations’.
• One network will sell its international business, while one will get ‘strategic investments’ or further consolidate its agencies under one banner, because valuations won’t be met for a buy-out.
• The controversy related to India’s wins in 2025 will mean fewer entries to the festival in 2026, which will result in fewer Lions wins for the country. However, India will better its solitary Grand Prix count from 2025 and win more Grands Prix.
• There will be one more controversy post the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, closely connected to AI or scams. The accused agency (ies) could very well be one of those who were unhappy with some of the winners from last year.
• The next trend in advertising will not be as silly as an ‘apology letter.’
• Podcasts will continue to grow as industry reports will talk about their importance. However, the growth will come from creators, as the number of people creating podcasts will surpass the number of people featuring in them.
• The court’s verdict on the ongoing Competition Commission of India case regarding media agencies will not make any difference in the way the latter operate.
• There will be more men’s One Day International (ODI) cricket series added to the calendar year, which will be camouflaged as ‘India prepares for the 2027 Men’s ICC World Cup’, but in reality, broadcasters will try to make the most out of the penultimate (if not last year) of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli playing international cricket.
• Real-money gaming firms will be back in some form (as Dream11 already has) by the time the IPL kicks off in March.
• Manifest’s pessimistic outlook for the industry will end in this article, and we wish to be proven wrong on multiple accounts.

Happy 2026 to our readers!

The author is founder and editor, Manifest.

This story first appeared in the January 2026 issue of Manifest. Get your copy here!