A new year brings a fresh start and new challenges. And what marketer doesn’t like a challenge?

While some bumps in the road are unpredictable, others can be prepared for, so we asked CMOs and other top marketers from companies like Duolingo, Adobe, and American Eagle what they think will be their biggest obstacles in 2026. From AI disruptions to building for Gen Alpha, they’ve thought of it all. Here are some of their answers—and after that, be sure to check out what marketers are planning on prioritizing in the new year, AI and otherwise.

Communicating to price-conscious consumers: “Right now, the market is more volatile than it has been, with a lot of financial strain and uncertainty. While this is a macroeconomic challenge, our category (and our Ferrara brands) has an opportunity to provide small moments of joy and delight; to be that treat and that positive moment. We continue to keep that focus and understand what our consumers are going through every day, so we can play that positive emotional moment of joy.”—Greg Guidotti, CMO, Ferrara

Keeping the focus: “The hardest part will be focus. Culture is speeding up, and the volume of “reactable moments” keeps multiplying. But chasing everything is a trap. Our job is to stay selective so the work feels sharp and true to our brand. We want to move quickly, but not at the expense of originality. Finding that balance is getting harder as the pace accelerates, but it’s also what makes the work exciting.”—Manu Orssaud, CMO, Duolingo

Continue reading here.—AM, JS, JN, KH, KM

Ahead of the Winter Olympics, NBCUniversal is raking it in. The company sold out of ad inventory for the 2026 Milan Cortina Games this week, with more than 100 new advertisers joining the fray and marketing the most linear and digital revenue the broadcaster has brought in in Winter Olympics history, according to the company.

But it’s not just the Olympics that NBCU will air next month. With NBA All-Star Weekend and the Super Bowl, the latter of which saw ad inventory sell out at a record pace, next month, NBCU is unveiling several new Peacock streaming features and trotting out some old hits to support what it is calling “Legendary February.”

“These three events are an incredible opportunity for our company and an important time for us to really be strategic and clear about our marketing and promotion,” Jenny Storms, NBCU TV and streaming CMO, told attendees at a press event in New York on Wednesday. “We want to take people from each event, but we also want to build the audience as we go.”

Watch these rings: For the Olympics, which kick off in early February, NBCU is introducing Rinkside Live, a feature geared toward ice hockey and figure skating that features a “Coaching Cam” for certain figure skating events showing skaters’ coaches as well as a separate “Training Room” cam documenting athlete preparation, while ice hockey is getting a “Bench Cam.” Rinkside Live will also include a highlights hub displaying vertical video clips from the ice hockey and figure skating events.

Read more here.—JS

Even before Netflix announced its bid to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, entertainment marketers everywhere were pondering what a new year could bring in the theater and movie marketing industry. With the streaming giant set to possibly alter theater exclusivity windows if the deal goes through, the question has only become more prudent.

In 2025, theaters continued to battle to get butts in seats. Overall theatergoing activity has been about the same since 2019, with 70% of those surveyed for last year’s S&P Global Market Intelligence Kagan US Consumer Insights report saying that they’ve gone to the movies at least once over the past year. But the percentage of frequent moviegoers—those who hit the theater at least once a month—has dropped from 39% to 17% in the same time period, with cost being the driving factor for fewer visits.

And while a summer of blockbuster titles had industry forecasters hoping for a $4 billion summer, the pivotal season came in just short at $3.67 billion, about even with the previous summer, per Deadline.

So how to convince movie lovers and advertisers to come—and keep coming—to the movies in 2026? With strategies aimed at creating cultural moments and spreading the excitement over more touchpoints during the year, some stakeholders are taking on the new year in stride.

“2026 is going to be the year of fandom,” Manu Singh, chief data and innovation officer at National CineMedia (NCM), told Marketing Brew. “You sit in a conference room talking to clients, and you see their eyes go like, ‘Oh my god. I have so many things I can tap into.’”

Continue reading here.—JN

Everyone wants to talk about what AI can do right now. Howard Pyle wants to talk about what comes after that. In this session, he’ll dig into how AI is shaping the future of business and society and why marketers should start thinking a few steps ahead. Consider it a reminder that “future-proof” is less about tools and more about mindset.

Executive moves across the industry.

• Nvidia has its first-ever CMO: Alison Wagonfeld, who joins from Google.
• Puma has appointed Hugo Boss’s top marketer, Nadia Kokni, as VP, global brand marketing.
• Stagwell tapped WPP alum Wendy Lund to serve as global CEO of Allison Worldwide and vice chair of health.
• Anthropic appointed Amazon vet Steven Maheshwary as its strategic partnerships go-to-market lead.
• Pinterest global CMO Andréa Mallard is leaving the company.