Global marketing faces a more challenging 2027 as businesses contend with growing economic pressure, changing social media habits, artificial intelligence and climate-related shifts in consumer behaviour, according to a new report by research firm Warc.
The report, The Marketer’s Toolkit 2027, identifies five developments expected to influence how brands reach customers, allocate advertising budgets and measure campaign performance. It also reveals declining confidence among marketing executives, with only 46 per cent expecting business conditions to improve next year, marking the third consecutive annual fall in optimism.
The findings have implications for Nigerian brands and advertising agencies navigating changing consumer spending patterns and the growing influence of digital platforms. Brandspur Brand News reports that the research draws on a global survey of 1,000 marketing executives conducted in September and October 2026, alongside interviews with industry leaders and analysis by Warc’s international research team.
One of the biggest changes is the growing use of artificial intelligence agents to assist consumers with shopping decisions. Warc found that 69 per cent of marketers expect customers to use AI agents for product research within the next three years, although only eight per cent anticipate that consumers will fully delegate purchases to the technology.
Projections by PHD and Warc suggest spending facilitated by AI agents could reach $944 billion in 2026 and rise to $3.4 trillion by 2030. The development could change how consumers discover products and compare brands, forcing businesses to consider how their products appear in AI-generated recommendations.
Social media is also undergoing a significant shift. Although global advertising investment on social platforms is projected to reach $394.6 billion in 2026, an increase of 21.3 per cent from 2025, confidence in their effectiveness is becoming less certain.
Warc found that 43 per cent of advertisers believe social media advertising is losing effectiveness, while 58 per cent say their media-buying practices are too entrenched to remove platforms from their plans, even if traffic declines.
The report argues that algorithms now play a greater role in determining what users see than their personal connections on social networks. Brands may therefore need to produce more varied and relevant content to remain visible, while relying on stronger audience insights rather than simply increasing the volume of posts.
Short-form video is another major development reshaping marketing. About 83 per cent of marketers surveyed said consumers favour the format, but 40 per cent questioned whether it can create the same lasting brand impact as television, films and live events.
Warc describes this growing focus on short video clips as the clip economy, where individual moments from larger productions are distributed across platforms by creators, fans and algorithms. It advises brands to plan how content will be broken into smaller pieces from the beginning and work with creators as strategic partners rather than treating them solely as content producers.
Climate change is also emerging as a business consideration for marketers, particularly those operating in sectors affected by seasonal demand, travel and consumer spending.
The report found that 45 per cent of marketers had not seriously considered how rising summer temperatures could affect their industries, while only 25 per cent had taken action. Changing weather patterns are already influencing travel preferences, with some tourists showing greater interest in cooler destinations and travelling outside traditional peak summer periods.
The fifth trend concerns the growing tension between the commercial opportunities offered by AI and consumer concerns about its use. While 42 per cent of marketers expect AI to improve marketing effectiveness, another 42 per cent remain uncertain and 19 per cent anticipate negative effects.
Warc recommends that businesses establish clear standards for using AI in advertising, communicate transparently with consumers and retain human judgement in creative decisions. The report cautions against simply transferring existing marketing processes to AI without reconsidering how work is designed and delivered.
The economic outlook adds to the pressure facing the industry. Warc Media forecasts that global advertising expenditure will grow by 8.4 per cent to $1.46 trillion in 2027, a slower pace of expansion than the market has experienced in recent years.
Aditya Kishore, Warc’s insight director, identified economic pressures, including rising living costs, sovereign debt and the weakening of the middle market, as factors weighing on marketers’ expectations.
The 2027 report is the 16th edition of Warc’s annual Marketer’s Toolkit. Its findings point to a marketing landscape in which brands must adapt to new technology and distribution models while maintaining consumer trust and responding to changing economic and environmental conditions.
