Digital marketing trends food and beverage brands cannot ignore in 2026
The specific 2026 digital marketing trends most relevant to food and beverage brands, prioritised for visual discovery and retail media coordination.
5 min read
Connected TV advertising has continued absorbing budget shifted away from traditional linear television, offering advertisers the large-screen, high-attention format television has always provided, combined with the digital-level targeting precision linear broadcast never could.
Why this shift has genuinely accelerated
- Streaming viewership continues growing at the expense of traditional linear television consumption.
- Connected TV offers precise, digital-style audience targeting that linear TV's broad demographic buying never matched.
- Improved measurement capability connects connected TV exposure to actual downstream conversion, unlike traditional TV's more limited measurement.
The genuine advantage over both linear TV and standard digital video
Connected TV combines the large-screen, high-attention viewing environment television has always offered with the precise audience targeting and measurement capability of digital advertising — a combination neither traditional TV nor most standard digital video placements fully replicate on their own.
Connected TV is not simply 'TV, but on a different screen' — it is TV's attention-grabbing format combined with digital's targeting precision, which is genuinely a different, more valuable proposition than either channel offered separately.
Practical implementation considerations
- Ensure creative is genuinely built for the connected TV viewing context, not simply repurposed digital video ads.
- Leverage the precise audience targeting capability, rather than buying broadly as with traditional TV.
- Connect connected TV exposure to downstream conversion measurement where technically feasible.
Frequently asked questions
Is connected TV advertising accessible to smaller businesses?
Increasingly yes, with programmatic buying options making connected TV more accessible at lower minimum spend levels than traditional TV advertising historically required.
How does connected TV measurement compare to traditional TV measurement?
Meaningfully more precise, given the ability to connect exposure to specific, identifiable households and, in many cases, downstream digital conversion behaviour.
Should businesses fully shift budget from linear TV to connected TV?
This depends on your specific audience's viewing habits — a gradual shift proportional to your actual audience's streaming adoption is more reasonable than an abrupt, complete reallocation.
If you want help building a connected TV advertising strategy, talk to our team.
The takeaway
Test connected TV specifically for the targeting precision linear TV never offered, not just as a cheaper reach substitute — the real advantage is combining big-screen brand impact with digital-level audience targeting.
Written by Fibvo — Bengaluru and Erode, India — working with clients in other time zones. Questions, or think we have it wrong? Tell us.
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