Storytelling vs. Advertiser Infrastructure: The Creator Survival Question for 2026
A CES panel revealed who captures value in the $1T ad market of 2026. The question isn't whether storytelling matters—it's whether creators can operate like advertisers or drown in the flood.
Dentsu projects global ad spend will surpass $1 trillion in 2026 for the first time, growing 5.1% despite economic headwinds. In their press release, they quote Will Swayne, Global Practice President, Media and Integrated Solutions: “2026 rewards the marketers who innovate with intent, design for outcomes and meet people in the moments that matter.”
But how do we imagine “the moments that matter” to people? Who or what defines that, especially in this age of changing and expanding content supply from generative AI? And—as a panel on “Balancing AI Ad Innovation With IP Protection” at CES discussed this week—how do both a marketer and a programmer or creator optimally serve the customer in that moment?
A past prediction from Samir Chaudry of the YouTube creator duo Colin and Samir suggests that those moments will emerge from “the best creators” using AI “to make sure human audiences connect with the best storytelling.” He added: “Those at risk will be those who don’t know how to tell a story.” The implication is that both traditional creators and emerging generative AI creators will capture an increasing share of the growing advertising pot.
And the pot is growing, according to Dentsu: Digital advertising spend is forecast to grow by 6.7% in 2026—representing 68.7 percent of total investment—with programmatic accounting for more than four-fifths of digital spend. Retail media will grow 14.1%, online video 11.5%, and social 11.4%.
However, if power laws remain in place on these platforms, none of this will matter to “the best creators”—less than 5% of YouTube’s 67 million creators monetize their content.
It seems deeply problematic that this story of growing advertising spend is emerging without a corollary story of improved monetization for creators.
