Three behaviours — simplicity, sociability and attention — will shape how brands grow in a world increasingly guided by algorithms, says dentsu’s 2026 Media Trends report ‘Human truths in the algorithmic era’. Now in its 16th edition, the annual report decodes the shifts reshaping global marketing and media investment. Says Will Swayne, Global Practice President, Media and Integrated Solutions, dentsu, “Brands must focus on what remains stable over time by rooting their strategic thinking in core, invariable human behaviours to rigorously evaluate where to invest in the algorithmic era.”

New opportunities include ‘search experience optimisation’ across conversational and multimodal environments, strategic deployment of agentic AI and the rise of the ‘Friction Paradox’ (the theory that suggests we need to have friction in our lives to build expertise, but AI removes the necessary friction). As influence decentralises, the report explores how communities and creators now define culture, from Reddit forums to streaming fandoms. Brands must leverage AI-generated audiences for sharper insights.

From concept to creation, in a jiffy

Adobe MAX, the world’s largest creativity conference, has just concluded, and there were a slew of announcements and updates. Adobe Firefly, the all-in-one creative AI studio, got new audio and video tools, including ‘generate soundtrack’ to create fully licensed audio tracks, ‘generate speech’ for clear voiceovers, and a new timeline-based AI video editor. Firefly also got a new Image Model 5, which generates photorealistic images in 4MP resolution and handles prompt-based editing in everyday language.

Adobe also previewed Project Moonlight in Firefly, a conversational interface powered by agentic AI that can work across Adobe’s apps and draws insights from creators’ social channels to help them brainstorm new ideas and create new content faster. With Project Moonlight, creators can deploy an agent to help them go from concept to creation in minutes, simply by describing in their own words what they want to accomplish or how they want something to look and feel. Project Moonlight is in private beta and will be available in the coming months.

Fashion spend: More intentional buying

Affordability, self-expression and financial awareness are shaping youth behaviour in today’s retail landscape, finds Under25, a platform for students and young professionals. The platform recently conducted a survey on how India’s revised GST structure is influencing the fashion spending habits of Gen Z and millennials.

In the apparel sector, items priced up to ₹2,500 are taxed at 5 per cent, while higher priced garments attract 18 per cent.

The survey found that the GST rate cut had modestly stimulated shopping frequency, especially among tax-savvy buyers. Respondents said they mostly buy clothes for personal satisfaction (61 per cent ), with fewer driven by the desire to impress friends (20 per cent) or create social-media content (5 per cent). Most shoppers were price-conscious, with a spending comfort of up to ₹2,500 per item and modest monthly purchase frequencies. Overall, the findings highlight opportunities for brands to combine competitive pricing with appealing designs and transparent tax information to engage with this segment effectively.

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Published on November 3, 2025