2026 Pharmaceutical & Healthcare Advertising Outlook

How pharma and healthcare marketers are reallocating spend, embracing AI, and closing the orchestration gap

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DIGITAL VIDEO & CTV LEAD HEALTHCARE MEDIA SPEND

Digital and streaming channels drive budget growth in 2026

Pharma and healthcare marketers are prioritizing channels that deliver scalable reach with measurable performance, led by digital display/video (70% increase) and CTV (60%). Investment is also growing across AI media (50%) and influencer channels (44%), while traditional TV and print continue to face declining budgets as marketers shift toward more flexible, data-driven media environments.

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AI & STREAMING SHAPE CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

AI, streaming, and social video reshape how audiences discover health information

Generative AI (83%) leads all consumer trends that pharma and healthcare marketers are watching, reflecting growing reliance on AI-driven search and information discovery. CTV and streaming (67%) alongside social video platforms (67%) further highlight how audiences increasingly engage with health content across digital video environments.

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MEASUREMENT & AI LEAD PRIORITIES

Marketers prioritize performance and smarter execution

Pharma and healthcare marketers continue to prioritize measurement and attribution (64%) alongside performance-driven media (55%) to ensure investments deliver outcomes. The rising importance of AI and cross-platform orchestration (both 45%) shows growing focus on connecting insights and activation across campaigns while maintaining compliance and control.

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AI ACCELERATES CONTENT & CAMPAIGN EXECUTION

AI supports faster production and smarter optimization

Pharma and healthcare marketers are applying AI broadly across workflows, with copywriting (50%) leading adoption, followed by campaign optimization, creative development, and data analysis (40% each). AI increasingly supports content production, campaign personalization, and operational efficiency as campaign complexity and requirements grow.

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DATA, GOVERNANCE, & CONNECTIVITY LIMIT AI SCALE

Data quality and system integration remain key obstacles

Despite strong adoption, broader AI deployment is slowed by data quality and access challenges, along with difficulty connecting insights across systems and governance concerns (55% each). Ethical oversight (55%) and compliance (36%) remain central priorities, reinforcing the need for integrated and trusted marketing systems.

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TRUST & CONTROL DOMINATE MARKETING CONCERNS

Balancing AI innovation with compliance and brand protection is critical

Pharma and healthcare marketers cite fragmentation across platforms and publishers (64%) as their top challenge, followed by concerns around balancing AI adoption with brand safety (55%), maintaining brand safety and control (55%), and managing cross-channel measurement complexity (55%). Marketers also highlight risks tied to the loss of third-party data and uncertainty around AI governance and compliance (both 55%), underscoring the need to maintain effective, compliant engagement strategies.

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ORCHESTRATION IS NOW ESSENTIAL

Unified execution across systems is critical for pharma and healthcare marketers

All pharma and healthcare marketers surveyed say orchestration across ad tech systems is important, with 60% calling it extremely important. With marketers lacking the systems to share data, coordinate decisions, and unify workflows, closing this orchestration gap will be essential to delivering consistent, compliant, and efficient audience engagement in 2026.

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The Pharma & Healthcare Takeaway

Pharma and healthcare marketing in 2026 is defined by AI-driven engagement, digital-first investment, and rising governance demands. Success will depend on balancing innovation while orchestrating data, media, and creative systems to deliver measurable, compliant, and consumer-first experiences.

For more insights across all verticals, download Mediaocean’s 2026 Advertising Outlook Report.

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