Approach springs from report revealing what US consumers expect from advertising, and how they punish brands that don’t deliver
NEW YORK, NY–A new Market Intelligence study from Omnicom Media Intelligence, the research arm of Omnicom Media, introduces a new strategic framework designed to help marketers navigate an increasingly fragmented media landscape and improve advertising effectiveness by creating more relevant, adaptive, and contextually connected brand experiences.
The study – Connected Content: The Force Multiplier for Maximizing Brand Influence – lands as traditional content-at-scale approaches built around a single hero asset and adapted across channels are struggling to keep pace with the realities of consumer attention that is increasingly divided across platforms, devices, formats, creators, AI-powered discovery tools, and commerce environments.
Backed by consumer research1, the study offers a stark warning for brands: continuing to rely on static creative models is contributing to advertising fatigue, diminished attention, and weaker brand outcomes, as evidenced by the insights:
Advertising quality matters
- 80% of consumers say a bad ad is worse than no ad at all
- 51% say a poor advertising experience reflects more negatively on the brand than on the platform carrying the ad
- 49% say a better advertising experience would improve their perception of a brand
- 30% say an improved advertising experience would increase their likelihood to purchase
Context and relevance drive engagement
- 76% connect more strongly with ads that are relevant to the content they are consuming
76% appreciate when brands tailor creative to specific platforms and environments
78% say they feel connected to ads that appear at the right moment
Connected storytelling influences outcomes
- 40% say sequential storytelling makes them more likely to purchase from a brand
37% say connected storytelling increases their likelihood of recommending a brand
Utility and relatability strengthen brand connections
- 87% say useful information helps them connect with advertising
- 84% connect with ads that feel relatable to their lives and experiences
“Consumers no longer experience brands through linear campaigns,” said Joanna O’Connell, Chief Intelligence Officer, Omnicom Media Group. “They move fluidly between streaming platforms, social media, creators, commerce environments, AI-powered discovery tools, and real-world experiences. Connected Content reflects that reality. It’s a framework for creating advertising that fits the moment, fits the environment, and ultimately builds stronger consumer relationships over time.”
What Is Connected Content?
Connected Content is a new creative and media paradigm that treats content not as a finished asset deployed into market, but as part of an adaptive ecosystem that continuously learns and evolves across touchpoints, aligning creative messaging, media context, consumer mindset, and platform dynamics to create stronger cumulative influence over time.
Rather than relying on consistency alone, the framework emphasizes content continuity – ensuring consumers experience a connected, relevant brand narrative across platforms, formats, and moments throughout their decision-making journey.
Connected Content in action means the ability to optimize a brand’s content not only to the audience, but also to the platform, and the context. The approach is enabled by AI-powered orchestration across an integrated marketing ecosystem, combining creative development, media strategy, audience intelligence, production systems, optimization, and performance learning into a connected operating model designed to maximize both immediate engagement and long-term brand influence.
The implications for marketers are clear: brands need to reframe their messaging around continuity, rather than consistency; focus on additive and augmentative vs interruptive experiences; bring media, creative, production, commerce, and measurement teams together earlier in the planning process to create these more connected experiences; use audience intelligence, contextual signals, and performance data to continuously refine creative experiences and design for cumulative influence, measuring success not only through immediate engagement but also through the long-term impact of connected brand experiences.
Building the Framework
The Connected Content research has provided the impetus for a suite of first-to-market advertising solutions that Omnicom Media Group unveiled last week during the 2026 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
Co-developed in partnership with Disney, NBCUniversal, Netflix and Paramount in the US; and with Amazon in Australia, AdAlliance in Germany, JioStar in India, and Tesco in the UK, the innovations translate the study’s findings into real-world applications designed to help brands deliver more personalized, seamless, and contextually relevant advertising experiences. Collectively, the solutions demonstrate how Connected Content principles can be activated at scale–enabling brands to align creative, media, audience signals, and platform context in ways that enhance consumer experience while driving stronger business outcomes.
The study is part of Omnicom Media Intelligence’s ongoing research agenda exploring the future of advertising effectiveness, consumer influence, media innovation, and emerging technologies. The research examines how evolving consumer behaviors, media environments, and AI capabilities are reshaping the relationship between brands and audiences; and identifies new frameworks for sustainable growth.
In addition to the US report, local market versions of Connected Content: The Force Multiplier for Maximizing Brand Influence supported by in-country research have been published across EMEA, APAC, LATAM and in Canada.
Omnicom Media, an Omnicom (NYSE: OMC) Connected Capability, is the world’s largest global media management network. Powered by the Omni Intelligence Platform, Omnicom Media agencies leverage $75.6 billion in billings, 40,000+ specialists across 70+ markets, and the industry’s most powerful portfolio identity, commerce, and intelligence assets to design dynamic Growth Ecosystems that enable the world’s most ambitious businesses to grow faster and smarter. The Omnicom Media portfolio includes global media agency brands OMD, Initiative, PHD, UM, Hearts & Science, and Mediahub; core Omnicom Integrated Media offerings Acxiom, the world’s premier identity solution, and the Flywheel digital commerce practice; and specialty services across the cloud consulting, creator, financial, healthcare, and sports & entertainment categories.
