We speak with leaders in marketing, advertising and technology across the APAC region to unveil key ad campaign and audience trends every brand should know across the region for the year ahead.
This year we saw significant shifts in the way AI has impacted advertising, marketing, customer experience and audience engagement. In this piece, we speak to industry experts who reveal some of the critical trends to expect for the year ahead.
Southeast Asia's Market Maturity Will Demand Smarter Measurement
Southeast Asia's streaming ecosystem is projected to continue growing in 2026, driven by rising usage, platform availability and rapid adoption of Connected TV (CTV) and Over-the-Top (OTT) services.
According to Media Partners Asia, premium video-on-demand (VOD) viewership in the region increased by 7% in 2024, reaching 440 billion minutes, with subscriptions growing by 12% across key markets including Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore.
A recent study conducted by Nexxen on Navigating the Future of OTT marketing in Singapore supports this trend, highlighting strong engagement with ad-supported content and shifting viewing habits across screens and streaming services.
Amresh Kumar, Director of Sales for Southeast Asia at Nexxen, notes that this growth presents both opportunities and challenges for advertisers.
"We're seeing a surge in streaming adoption across Southeast Asia, with Smart TVs quickly becoming one of the fastest-growing screens for video consumption," Kumar says. "While this presents advertisers with more opportunities to reach audiences, it also creates a more fragmented landscape for proper measurement."
Multi-screen consumption is also reshaping the landscape. While 77% of viewers reportedly stream on mobile devices, 64% use smart TVs, followed by 51% on computers and 42% on tablets. Audiences increasingly move across screens throughout the day, creating a fragmented environment that traditional impression-based metrics struggle to capture. Co-viewing in households further complicates measurement, as impression counts can understate the true reach of campaigns.
He emphasises the need for unified data and measurement solutions across multiple viewing environments.
"The next stage of growth won't just be about increasing scale," Kumar adds. "It will be about accountability and precision – understanding who you're reaching across platforms and what outcomes your investment is actually driving. That means moving beyond impressions to true, people-based measurement that captures how audiences in this region consume content across screens."
As audiences in Southeast Asia consume more content across mobile, smart TV, desktop and tablet, advertisers will demand measurement solutions that reflect this multi-screen reality rather than rely on legacy impression-based systems.
"Growth in CTV and OTT across the region will depend as much on transparency as it does on reach," says Kumar. "The brands that can account for co-viewing and connect exposures to outcomes will be the ones that turn this fragmentation into an advantage."
The Home Screen Will Become the New Battleground for Global Attention
According to Media Partners Asia, by 2029, Connected TV penetration will reach 85-90% in Australia, Korea and Japan.
As audiences continue to engage with content across both broadcast and streaming environments, the home screen on Connected TVs is emerging globally as one of the most valuable spaces in TV advertising.
In 2026, competition for this space will intensify as advertisers look to capture attention on the biggest screen in the home. Even in markets where home screen advertising is still developing, its strategic importance will grow as adoption increases.
As consumers spend more time browsing their home screens to decide what to watch, these moments of discovery will become premium inventory for brands seeking visibility and engagement.
Masatsune Shironishi, Vice President, Country Manager for Japan at Nexxen, says the next challenge will be ensuring creative relevance as brands compete for attention in this space:
"Reaching unique and engaged audiences on the home screen is just the first step. Real success will come from delivering messages that feel personal and relevant within each market," he said.
"In markets like Japan, culture and context matter deeply. With solutions like Nexxen Studio, global brands can test and localise creative across regions to ensure campaigns resonate with viewers wherever they are."
As access to premium CTV environments expand globally, the combination of high-impact environments like the home screen and creative optimisation tools will position advertisers to capture attention where it begins and convert it into measurable outcomes across the entire Connected TV ecosystem.
AI's impact on Advertising Strategy and Execution
In 2025, Nexxen unveiled nexAI, a comprehensive suite of artificial intelligence-powered assistants and features vertically integrated across its unified advertising technology platform.
The launch represented what the company described as an elevation of every stage of the advertising lifecycle, taking a transparent approach to planning, activation, optimisation, insights and monetisation. The reveal sets a tone for what the organisation believes will be transformative changes across the advertising industry in 2026 and beyond.
Janice Chan, VP of Platform and Client Services APAC at Nexxen, expects AI assistants to not only transform advertising workflows in 2026, but also empower marketers with real-time visibility into performance and outcomes.
"From a client perspective, AI-driven capabilities like those offered by nexAI are driving accessibility and efficiency. They simplify the process of translating complex data into actionable insights and campaign strategies, which can then be directly activated within the platform. What once required platform and optimisation specialists is now becoming more intuitive and seamless for marketers," she said.
Chan also anticipates AI-driven campaign optimisation will reach new levels of sophistication and automation in 2026.
"nexAI monitors and optimises campaigns in real time, leveraging machine learning to maximise performance and ROI; this includes advanced algorithms that evolve and adapt with predictive modelling of audiences, bidding, pacing & budget allocation, exponentially improving over time through iterative learning."
Additionally, she expects AI automation will enable marketing teams to focus on higher-value initiatives.
"By automating repetitive tasks such as data collection and campaign optimisation, nexAI enables teams to shift focus toward strategic priorities - from uncovering growth opportunities to deepening client relationships. This shift also compels leaders to accelerate plans and initiatives aimed at upskilling teams and evolving organisational capabilities to keep pace with AI-driven transformation." she adds.
For Chan, 2026 will mark a turning point where, with AI embedded into day-to-day operations, marketers can expect to see complex analysis and campaign optimisation handled automatically, while they dedicate their attention to strategy, creativity and delivering long-term value.
Streaming Partnerships Will Unlock Scale and Flexibility for Advertisers
As audiences continue to embrace streaming alongside traditional broadcast TV, the availability of premium Connected TV (CTV) inventory is expanding rapidly. Nexxen predicts that in 2026, partnerships will become a key driver for growth – not just for scale, but for flexibility.
Adam Hunt, VP of Business Development and Partnerships, JAPAC at Nexxen, explains: "Streaming platforms are experiencing rapid audience growth, but reaching viewers effectively will require greater flexibility between technology partners, key broadcasters and streaming providers to deliver a more seamless experience for advertisers."
"Different streaming services have different technology needs – some integrate on the supply side, others prefer demand-side partnerships, and many want both. Our role is to support each platform's approach," he said.
Hunt emphasises that Nexxen's position across both the buy and sell sides enables the company to provide streaming partners with audience insights that help both platforms and advertisers identify better reach opportunities.
"In 2026, the ability to deliver incremental audiences will be a key differentiator, and partnerships powered by data and insights will be essential to reaching audiences effectively and driving return on investment," he adds.
