One of the last things on my to-do-list before signing off for a rum and eggnog is to press send on this newsletter. As my festive gift to you, I’ve sifted through the mountain of trend decks that have flooded my inbox and feeds over the past few weeks to bring you my annual 12 Trend Decks of Christmas.
This marks the third edition of this holiday gift. In past years, Santa made an appearance reading my newsletter.
In 2023 using DALL-E:
In 2024 using Sora:
And this year, using Veo-3 / Google - a quick reminder of how fast GenAI is evolving.
Thank you to everyone who has read, shared, or reached out this year. I truly appreciate your support and wish you a wonderful holiday.
Now, onto the decks…
1. Let Them Eat Lore (OK COOL):
A creative, fun report that goes deep on trends impacting social media and Internet culture. Lots of current examples and tips for brands. Great for marketers and creators looking to increase reach and engagement in social media and community spaces. Highlight: The growing influence of comments in social media – “the culture is in the comments, and the hot take is currency.”
2. 1,000 Tiny Pieces (Hopeful Monsters):
Explores how culture has fragmented through changes in our media ecosystem, and how brands must rethink how to engage through participation in fandoms and distributing new types of content. Great for marketers and media planners rethinking how to be more culturally relevant in their categories. Highlight: Brands must earn permission to be present within micro-communities (bottom-right).
3. 2026 Global Consumer Predictions (Mintel):
Explores three global consumer trends shaping marketing today: resistance to algorithmic influence, a redefinition of youth, and a retreat into self-contained personal bubbles. Great input for big picture brand planning, with lots of nuggets from across the globe. Highlight: 74% of Canadian consumers agree that deepfake AI videos and pictures make it hard to tell what is real.
4. Trending 2026 (Foresight Factory):
Explores trends revolving around the concept of Cognitive Crossroads – how consumers are navigating the tension between what it means to be human and the growing use of technology. Great for those interested in exploring the impact of bigger picture societal trends and consumer behaviour. Highlight: Most people (US / GB) agree that our use of AI will have a future intellectual cost.
5. 2026 Trend Report (Trendhunter):
Explores emerging trends across consumer categories, spotlighting AI’s growing impact and showcasing standout products, services, and campaigns. Great for sparking ideas or fueling an innovation-focused brainstorm. Highlight: Too many to pick just one - skim through and you’ll leave with a new start-up idea.
Explores 5 trends that will impact marketers in 2026 based on GWI research spanning AI, Gen Alpha, and the World Cup. Great for marketers scanning for signals for their 2026 plans and want to avoid blind spots. Highlight: Social media isn’t really social anymore…
7. Generative Realities (Dentsu):
Explores 5 trends that marketers and agencies can consider to inform creative work for 2026, focusing on connections between culture, technology, and vibes. Great for marketers and creative teams looking for some fresh consumer and cultural insights. Highlight: ‘Analog Futures’ – younger generations embracing more simplistic (and hedonistic) activities and times as a resistance to algorithmic sameness.
A survey that explores the impact of AI in the lives of consumers, and the implications to designing modern, effective customer experiences. Great for marketing and UX leaders in high-touch industries like banking, healthcare, telecom, and travel. Highlight: People are far more open to AI offering proactive support or alerting them to a potential security issue, than to the technology making payments on their behalf or acting as a personal assistant in all areas of their life.
Explores 10 emerging digital technology trends and their potential impact, risks, and value for organizations. Very detailed, data-backed material. Great for leaders figuring out digital pilots or digital roadmap investment decisions. Highlight: The report uses The Value Compass to consider how digital transformation initiatives relate to public values.
10. 2026 Digital Advertising Trends (Smartly):
Explores digital advertising trends based on a survey of marketers who are actively planning and managing campaigns. Great for digital marketers and media teams to take stock of what their peers are thinking and doing heading into 2026. Highlight: About half of marketers are using AI for visual asset generation for digital advertising campaigns, with adoption growing.
11. 2026 Marketing Trends (Meltwater):
Explores 15 marketing and communication trends including the rise of AI Search Optimization and LLM reputation management. Great for marketers and agencies considering what adjustments to make from their 2025 media plans. Highlight: To optimize for AI Search, marketers should publish authoritative content, human-attributed explainers, FAQs, and a brand source-of-truth hub with consistent facts easy for LLMs to ingest.
12. 2026 Trend Report (Pinterest):
Outlines 21 trends based on Pinterest behaviour across categories like food and drink, fashion, beauty, and interior design. Fun to see how this behaviour is synthesized into broader themes. Great for marketers and content creators considering new ways to be on trend. Highlight: Pen pals are back!
Bonus: I fed all of the decks into Google NotebookLM and created an Infographic that synthesizes them. Filing this under “kind of cool, kind of useless” - for now.
