What Every Business Leader Needs to Know About Marketing in 2026

As the year draws to a close and we start looking ahead to 2026, we’re hosting a special session for business leaders – CEOs, CFOs, COOs and Directors – who may not work directly in marketing but want to understand what their organisations need to plan for in the year ahead.

The session will be led by our Co-Founder and industry expert, Alastair Banks, who will share key insights on the trends and opportunities shaping the next 12 months.

While much of today’s business narrative focuses on stagnation and uncertainty, we want to challenge that view. This session will highlight the real opportunities available to forward-thinking organisations and show you how to position your business to capitalise on them.

We’ll also create an open, non-judgemental space for non-marketing leaders to ask the questions they might not normally feel comfortable asking.

In this jargon-free session, we’ll unpack the most important shifts happening in marketing today and what they mean for your business:

• AI in Marketing – How artificial intelligence is transforming the marketing landscape and the practical ways it can support and strengthen your marketing team.
• Search – The way your potential customers find and choose businesses has changed more in the past 12 months than in the previous two decades. From AI-driven search engines to conversational discovery tools, this shift is transforming how visibility works online. We’ll explain what’s happening, why it matters, and what business leaders need to do now to stay ahead of this market change.
• The Importance of Brand – Why brand matters more than ever (especially in the AI world we’re moving into) and how it directly impacts business growth.
• Personal Branding for Leaders – How to lead from the front and build visibility, credibility, and trust in your market.
• Budgets – How do you know how much to budget for marketing.
• Recruitment – What kind of marketing team do you need to build? What skills should you prioritise, and how can you find and assess the right talent?