NEW SCREAM HITS THEATERS AS AUDIENCES BUZZ WITH ANTICIPATION. BRANDS TAP INTO THE POPULARITY OF HORROR IN ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS

2. 3. 2026 Three years have passed since the release of Scream 6, and the seventh instalment is now racing into theatres. The trailer for the new film premiered during this year’s Super Bowl, leaving fans of the franchise eager for more. The sixth film was a major commercial success, grossing over $168 million worldwide and becoming the highest-grossing entry in the series on the North American market. It also received positive reviews from both audiences and critics. Horror films are generally popular with viewers, so anticipation is high for the next addition to the franchise. But terror doesn’t come only from movies. Sometimes, audiences let out frightened screams while watching TV ads, too. And let’s be honest, some of them are truly worth it.

GLOBO CREATES HOME SCREEN PROMINENCE FOR FREE-TO-AIR TV ON SMART TVS

26. 2. 2026 Globo, Brazil’s largest commercial TV group, is rolling out DTV+, a next-generation free-to-air TV standard designed for connected TVs. It brings broadcast channels into the TV operating system, with app-like navigation, login and interactive layers placed directly on top of live programming.

THE VISUAL TRANSFER EFFECT: HOW SOUND BUILDS BRANDS

24. 2. 2026 In collaboration with neuro-marketing agency Unravel, Talpa Media has produced the scientific proof that audio does not just complement TV. It actively reactivates it, reconstructing visual brand memories in the consumer’s mind through sound. The findings carry significant implications for how audio is planned, sold, and valued within the wider media mix. Context Talpa Media is one of the Netherlands’ largest media companies, operating a broad portfolio of TV, radio, and digital platforms. That multiplatform reach puts them at the centre of a question: what actually happens in the brain when consumers encounter TV and audio advertising together? Specifically, Talpa aimed to explore whether prior exposure to a TV commercial changes how the brain processes a matching audio ad, and whether that effect can be measured without relying on conscious recall. Research Forty participants were fitted with EEG caps to capture real-time brain activity and exposed to commercial breaks from 14 brands. The study used a two-group design:

TV ADS TOP THE CHARTS FOR PURCHASES, AND FOR ANNOYANCE

24. 2. 2026 TV ads drive purchase behavior for 49% of consumers, making them the most effective channel, even though 36% find them disruptive, according to a January report from DISQO.

RMB TURNS QR CODE VOTING INTO A SHARED VIEWING MOMENT THAT STRENGTHS BRAND IMAGE FOR SPRITE AND DELI CHOC

24. 2. 2026 Campaign objectives The chocolate snack Deli Choc and soft drink Sprite brands worked with RMB to reach younger audiences by becoming part of Belgian hip-hop show “PLAYGROUND”, supporting new rap talent through a live QR vote and cross-platform content. This helps the brands appear as enablers of the format rather than separate ads.

CANADIAN SUPERSTAR ANDREW PHUNG HELPS VIA RAIL CHALLENGE CAR CONVENIENCE ASSUMPTIONS WITH LONG-FORM STORYTELLING ACROSS CBC’S TV ECOSYSTEM

24. 2. 2026 Campaign objectives VIA Rail, the company operating Canada’s national passenger rail service, combined a new product launch with brand building, using long-form content to tackle misconceptions that tend to block conversion in travel: comfort, ease, and whether rail feels like a realistic alternative to driving for intercity trips. The objectives behind this campaign were to increase consideration, turis, and improve overall impression of VIA Rail.

HOW L’ORÉAL PARIS AND RTL MADE STREET HARASSMENT HARD TO IGNORE

24. 2. 2026 Context Sexual harassment in public spaces is one of the most common forms of gender-based violence in the world. Two figures frame the issue: 80% of women have experienced street harassment, but 85% of people say they lack training on how to intervene. Ad Alliance and L’Oréal created a campaign to respond to this problem with a practical idea: show what intervention looks like in a situation viewers recognise, then point them to an online training called “Stand Up”. A program against street harassment that L’Oréal Paris and Right To Be launched in 2020.

HOW AD ALLIANCE USED VIRTUAL SET GRAPHICS TO RESKIN THE LET’S DANCE STAGE FOR UNIVERSAL PICTURES

24. 2. 2026 Context This campaign promotes a film by changing the look of a well-known TV studio during the ad break, so the show setting becomes part of the idea.

CHANNEL 4 SHOWS HOW PUTTING ACCESSIBILITY FIRST BENEFITS BOTH CUSTOMERS AND COMMERCIAL WITH CURRYS’

24. 2. 2026 Context Channel 4’s Diversity in Advertising Award 2025 set its brief under the theme “Inclusive by Design”. It asked brands to embed inclusive practices into the creative, rather than at the end of production. The initiative linked that ambition to airtime: £1m of advertising space across Channel 4’s portfolio sat behind the winning campaign. The brief framed the size of the audience affected by sight or hearing loss at nearly 20% of the UK population, putting an access gap into plain planning terms.

HOW BMW USED A COUNTDOWN TO HOLD ATTENTION FOR TWO MINUTES

24. 2. 2026 The iX3 launch in Belgium used prime time to make a first impression quickly. The plan did not rely on many repeated 30-second ads. Instead, it opened with a two-minute film that ran without interruption.

TURNING PEAK TV SHOW ATTENTION INTO TRUSTED CONTEXTUAL SPOTS AND FAN FOLLOW UP CONTENT

24. 2. 2026 Context A plot cue inside a flagship soap can set the terms of the next ad break, because viewers stay anchored in the same scene and characters. Emmerdale’s familiarity, plus its own show social channels, gave the message a recognisable voice on TV and somewhere to continue after broadcast.

USING ELECTION NIGHT VIEWING HABITS TO MAKE A RETAIL MESSAGE FEEL LIKE ENTERTAINMENT

24. 2. 2026 This campaign connected Bauhaus’s retail messaging to a major national television event. In Finland, municipal and regional elections feature hours-long results TV programmes that track vote counting as results come in. Bauhaus (a major home improvement retailer) partnered with the biggest national broadcaster, Sanoma, to create branded entertainment within this format, using “price” as the central theme.

WHEN DISNEY CAME TO DANCING: A LIVE SHOW BECOMES A FAIRYTALE

24. 2. 2026 Inspired by Disneyland Paris’s Disney Music Festival, where performances by Disney-movie characters fill the park with dance and live music, DPG Media’s creative team proactively conceived an unprecedented brand integration: a dedicated Disney-themed episode of Dancing With The Stars. The concept was not driven by a client brief. Knowing the client’s wishes and dreams, and recognizing the natural connection between the Disney Music Festival and Dancing With The Stars, Team Integreate (the creative team within DPG Media) pitched this unprecedented collaboration, which Disneyland Paris immediately embraced.

WHEN A CROSS-FORMAT APPROACH MULTIPLIES IMPACT: BOL × HUIS GEMAAKT ACROSS CONTENT & CONTEXT

23. 2. 2026 Description Bol is Belgium’s largest e-commerce platform, a household name for buying books, electronics, and everyday items online. But furniture and home décor? That was not what consumers associated with the brand. DPG Media set out to change this perception through a multi-format partnership with Huis Gemaakt (“Home Made”), a popular Flemish TV show where couples compete to renovate run-down properties, with the winning couple keeping their fully transformed home.

A SPECIAL CHRISTMAS AD BREAK AS PRIMETIME ENTERTAINMENT

23. 2. 2026 Background In the Netherlands, Christmas commercials hold a special place in television culture. Much like the Super Bowl in the United States is known for its spectacular commercials, the Dutch festive season is the moment when brands showcase their most creative, emotional storytelling. Over the years, several Christmas campaigns have achieved iconic status, moving and entertaining millions of viewers and winning the Ster Gouden Loeki, the public award for best commercial. These campaigns demonstrate how advertising can contribute to the collective holiday spirit.

GIVING SUSTAINABLE BUSINESSES THEIR FIRST TV SPOTLIGHT

23. 2. 2026 Background B Corp certification is a globally recognised standard for businesses that meet high levels of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. The certification is awarded by B Lab, a non-profit organisation. In the UK, there are thousands of certified B Corps, many of them small businesses with ambitions to reach mainstream audiences at scale. Channel 4 saw an opportunity to use its platform to spotlight these purpose-driven businesses while supporting its own sustainability commitments under the Ad Net Zero Action Plan, an industry initiative to reduce the carbon impact of advertising.

ELEVATOR PITCHES MADE REAL: GIVING BLACK ENTREPRENEURS A NATIONAL STAGE

23. 2. 2026 Black-owned businesses in the UK face significant barriers to success. Only 0.24% of venture capital funding reaches Black founders, and one-third of Black entrepreneurs struggle to gain belief in their ventures. Channel 4, in partnership with Lloyds Bank (one of the UK’s largest retail banks), created the Black in Business initiative to address these disparities. Rather than simply highlighting the problem, the initiative addressed it by removing barriers to accessing national television advertising, enabling Black-owned businesses to scale.

WHEN ADS DON’T STOP THE RACE: HOW BRANDS CARVE OUT A PLACE IN WINTER SPORTS STORYLINES?

22. 2. 2026 Winter sports events are more than just ad space for brands – they are fully formed worlds with a distinct atmosphere, visual identity, and an audience that knows exactly why it is watching. That’s why campaigns work best when they don’t try to overpower the action but instead build on it. From the nighttime energy of the Winter X Games to the alpine precision of the World Cup, to the calm intensity of the biathlon range, it’s clear that when a creative concept respects the event’s pace, aesthetics, and values, advertising stops being an interruption. It becomes a continuation of the experience. Progressive prime-time revolution Anyone who considers themselves a fan of modern winter sports like snowboarding or freeskiing undoubtedly knows the Winter X Games. Held every year – usually in January – in Aspen, Colorado, they serve as a key showcase of the very best in Big Air, Slopestyle, SuperPipe, and many other disciplines. A significant portion of the programme takes place in the evening and at night, meaning the event is designed from the start for television prime time. The schedule is carefully planned well in advance to fit ABC and ESPN broadcast slots while also accommodating streaming on ESPN platforms. This setup aligns with the established aesthetics of the event and explains the enormous interest from advertisers wanting to be visible at an event of this scale.