As UK businesses prepare for gloomy financial measures in next week’s Autumn Budget, new industry research suggest marketers are planning to spend through the economic headwinds next year. The ‘2026 Media Budgets Survey’ from ISBA, Ebiquity and the WFA suggests that 65 percent of UK marketers expect to see increased budgets next year, compared with the global average of 50 percent.
The findings fall in line with broader optimism among UK business reported in S&P Global’s ‘UK Business Outlook’ data released on Monday. The S&P survey found that sentiment around UK business activity remains subdued heading into 2026, but is more upbeat than confidence levels in Europe and globally. The UK outlook for next year was one of “cautious optimism”, according to S&P Global, with AI deployment and digital marketing singled out as areas for increased investment.
But amid forecasts of higher prices and weak consumer spending, marketers are assessing their spending mix to ensure their investments are well placed next year. This year’s geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty has helped drive spend into performance channels, where advertisers can easily adjust their spending levers in response to real-time data and tariff announcements, using AI tools to manage spend across digital platforms.
However, the ISBA study forecasts a shift towards more branding activity next year, as UK marketers seek to maintain brand visibility. While half of respondents said they expect to maintain their current marketing mix in 2026, 37 percent plan to increase their share of brand advertising, compared with just 14 percent increasing their share of performance activity. Again this bucks the global trend, where the average allocation is much more evenly split between brand and performance, at 32 and 28 percent respectively.
“With the geopolitical and economic pressures of the last 12 months continuing into 2026, we can be encouraged by the cautious confidence shown in expectations of greater budgets and in the value of brand building,” said Stephan Loerke, CEO of the WFA. “The results show an industry energised for change, not paralysed by it.”
The 2026 mix
The ISBA survey also sheds light on the channels where UK marketers plan to invest next year. In line with falling consumption, linear TV and print spending are on track to decline in 2026, with 60 percent of respondents expecting to decrease their linear TV spend. But new video channels also emerged as the highest-growth areas, reflecting the reallocation of linear TV budgets. The survey found that 70 percent of UK marketers expect to increase their digital video budgets next year, and 83 percent in addressable/connected TV.
“We’re seeing a clear shift in advertiser priorities, with the majority planning to increase their budgets and a strong move towards brand-building and more targeted, data-driven TV formats,” said Bobi Carley, Director of Industry Relations at ISBA.
And when it comes to planning that media mix, the report notes that AI is playing a growing role. According to the survey, around one-third of UK marketers use generative or agentic AI for media strategy and planning (30 percent), media buying (30 percent), media reporting (30 percent), and media monitoring and measurement (32 percent). Meanwhile 52 percent said they or their partners use AI for media optimisation.
But global marketers also expressed concern over how AI is being used by their media agencies, citing a lack of transparency between agency partners and advertisers. Some anonymous quotes picked out by ISBA included one respondent who was “not sure where partner agencies use AI,” and another flagging there was “no full transparency” from their media agency.
At the same time, the use of AI by media agencies is driving appetite for updating agency pricing models, as tech-enabled efficiencies prompt corners of the industry to pivot away from traditional models based on billable hours, and towards the outcomes and business results produced by agency work. While half the UK marketers said they foresee no significant change in their agency pricing structures in the coming years, 23 percent of respondents expect to include outcomes in their agency renumeration models.
“As UK advertisers adopt varied pricing approaches, the focus must remain on aligning agency partnerships on business goals,” said Michelle Morgado, MD UK&I at Ebiquity. “Outcome-based models can help ensure accountability while fostering efficiency and collaboration in a competitive, tech-driven environment.”
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