Every January, the tech world descends upon Las Vegas for CES, turning the city into a living laboratory for the future. But for those in the advertising and media space, the real action isn’t just on the showroom floor it’s at C Space.
As we look toward the 2026 circuit (Jan 6–9), the industry conversation has moved past “experimental AI” and “fragmented screens.” The upcoming agenda signals a year where technology stops being a series of separate tools and starts acting as a unified, intelligent ecosystem.
Here are the three core shifts from the 2026 horizon that every brand leader needs to prepare for:
1. The Death of the Linear Funnel
For decades, we’ve visualized the consumer journey as a funnel: Awareness at the top, conversion at the bottom. The upcoming industry discussions, particularly around “The End of the Funnel,” suggest this model is officially obsolete.
In 2026, growth isn’t a journey, it’s an instant. With the integration of AI-driven commerce, a high-impact Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) screen or a Connected TV (CTV) ad is no longer just a “top-of-funnel” awareness play. These screens are now direct conversion points.
- The Insight: The “instant” customer journey is replacing the long road. When an ad can trigger a mobile checkout or a voice-activated purchase in real-time, the distance between seeing and buying disappears.
2. Retail Media’s Great Migration (The Multi-Screen Stack)
Retail Media has officially broken out of the “website” box. A major theme surfacing for the 2026 outlook is the “Full-Funnel Future of Retail Media.” We are moving into an era where first-party retail data that people actually buy in-store is the fuel for the “Big Screens.” Imagine a grocery retailer’s purchase data optimizing the programmatic bidding for a CTV ad in a shopper’s living room or a DOOH screen at the very mall where they shop.
- The Insight: Success in 2026 requires a “New Media Stack.” Brands are shifting away from fragmented UIs and moving toward platforms that can orchestrate retail data across every programmatic pipe unifying the store shelf with the digital screen.
3. Creative Intelligence: Static to Cognitive
The AI conversation is maturing. The industry is moving away from just “generating” content to “Creative Effectiveness.” As highlighted in the upcoming 2026 media tracks, the focus is now on how AI ensures an ad is actually relevant to the person seeing it at that exact micro-moment. We are entering the age of Cognitive Customer Experiences (CCX), where ads adapt their creative elements based on real-world triggers like local inventory, weather, or audience sentiment.
- The Insight: It’s no longer about how many people saw your ad; it’s about how many people connected with it. AI is the bridge that makes mass-media screens feel like 1-to-1 personalized communication.
The Thought Leader Perspective: Orchestration Over Everything
While the bright lights of Las Vegas will showcase a thousand new inventions, the takeaway for the programmatic industry is singular: Convergence is the new standard.
The most successful players in 2026 won’t be those with the most data or the biggest screens, but those who can orchestrate them. At Lemma, we are at the forefront of this shift, providing the technology that connects the dots between AI, retail data, and a multi-screen programmatic strategy. Our goal is to take the “Full-Funnel” promise and turn it into a reality for brands navigating this complex ecosystem.
As we look toward 2026, the blueprint is clear: stop managing channels in silos and start building an ecosystem that moves at the speed of the consumer.
