Published in the whitepaper The Three Trillion Dollar Question, the six-month study found that conventional engagement metrics—including attention, dwell time, and emotional response—did not reliably predict whether consumers would remember a brand months after seeing its advertising.

The research tracked 24 branded advertisements across 81 participants, measuring brand recall immediately after viewing and again after one week, one month, three months, and six months.

One of its key findings was that advertisements designed around Rebel & Soul’s neuroscience-based INVOLVE framework were up to 52% more memorable after six months than campaigns that scored below the framework’s memorability threshold. 

According to the report, the recall gap remained consistent throughout every measurement period and continued to widen over time.

The study also found that physiological signals commonly used to evaluate advertising performance—including EEG brain activity, eye tracking, galvanic skin response, and facial expression analysis—did not accurately predict which brands participants would still remember six months later.

Instead, the report found a stronger relationship between long-term recall and the creative design of an experience. Campaigns that scored highly against the framework’s seven neuroscience-based principles consistently achieved higher recall than those that did not.

Among the principles identified were the use of curiosity to encourage memory formation, novelty to capture attention, vivid sensory elements to strengthen recall, structured information to reduce cognitive overload, physical engagement, multisensory experiences, and emotional peaks that make experiences more memorable.

The report also points to a broader disconnect between how marketing effectiveness is commonly measured and what ultimately influences purchasing decisions. 

While brands continue to optimize for metrics such as impressions, reach, and engagement, Rebel & Soul argues these indicators do not necessarily reflect whether consumers will remember a brand when making future purchase decisions.

Kristy Castleton, Founder of Rebel & Soul, said the findings distinguish between immediate attention and lasting memory.

“Attention in the moment and memory over time are different outcomes, and the study shows they can diverge significantly. What the brain responds to during an experience is not the same as what it keeps.”

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The inaugural 2026 APAC Believability Index: The Power of Proof, conducted in partnership with YouGov, surveyed 7,176 respondents across Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Hong Kong SAR, and Mainland China to examine how consumers determine what—and who—to believe.

Among the report’s key findings is that brands are more likely to lose customers through quiet withdrawal than public criticism. 

While 93% of respondents said they would silently disengage after losing belief in a brand or organization, only 55% said they would voice their dissatisfaction publicly, and just 10% would post about a negative experience on social media.

The research also found that consumers place greater importance on brands delivering their core promises than on their stated values or purpose. 

Around 42% of respondents said they had stopped engaging with an organization because its products or services failed to meet expectations, compared with 29% who cited poor business ethics as the reason.

Consumer expectations also vary across the region. 

According to the study, respondents in Singapore and Malaysia tend to place greater trust in institutional authority and official sources, while consumers in Australia and the Philippines rely more heavily on peer recommendations and lived experiences when evaluating credibility.

Despite the consequences of losing consumer belief, the report suggests that trust can be rebuilt. 

Eighty-five percent of respondents said organizations can regain their confidence, although more than half (57%) believe fixing the underlying issue is more important than issuing an apology.

Richard Brett, President of Ogilvy PR APAC, said the findings reflect a shift in how reputation affects business performance.

“As AI slop and synthetic content reshape the communications landscape, believability has evolved from a PR challenge into a commercial imperative. Traditional reputation metrics no longer tell the full story because the greatest risks are now invisible. The true cost of lost belief is measured in lost revenue, rather than negative headlines.”

Alongside the report, Ogilvy introduced its Believability Diagnostic Tool, an AI-powered platform designed to help organizations assess the gap between brand promises and customer experiences. 

Built within WPP Open, the tool combines Ogilvy’s proprietary believability data with behavioral science models to help organizations identify reputational risks and anticipate customer churn before it affects business performance.

The report positions believability as an increasingly important measure of brand resilience, suggesting that consistent delivery of products and services—and not just messaging—has become a critical factor in maintaining consumer confidence across the Asia-Pacific region.

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The Brand Finance Real Estate 25 2026 report found that China remains the world’s largest real estate brand market, with the combined value of its ranked brands reaching US$27.6b. 

However, prolonged weakness in the country’s property sector—including softer home sales, falling property prices, and ongoing liquidity pressures—has weighed on overall brand performance.

Leading the global rankings is Poly Development, which became the world’s most valuable real estate brand for the first time despite a 12% decline in brand value to US$5.9b. 

Brand Finance attributed the company’s rise to its state-backed positioning, relatively resilient market performance, and stronger perceptions of financial stability.

Meanwhile, China Resources Land retained its position as the world’s second most valuable real estate brand, with a brand value of US$5.1b, supported by recurring income from its commercial property portfolio despite softer development sentiment.

Other Chinese developers in the global top 10 include Vanke, China Overseas Land & Investment, and Greenland, although all recorded declines in brand value amid continued market challenges.

According to Scott Chen, Managing Director for China at Brand Finance, the findings reflect a structural shift within the country’s property sector, where stakeholder confidence has become increasingly tied to financial resilience and operational stability.

“China remains the world’s largest real estate brand market, but the sector is undergoing a profound structural adjustment,” Chen said. “Developers perceived as financially resilient, operationally stable, and capable of delivering long-term value are proving better positioned to maintain stakeholder confidence.”

The report also highlighted Country Garden as the world’s strongest real estate brand, achieving a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score of 89 out of 100 and an AAA rating despite a 68% decline in brand value. 

Brand Finance noted that the developer continues to benefit from strong legacy awareness in China’s residential market, even as perceptions of trust and financial stability remain under pressure following its debt restructuring.

Brand Finance added that state-backed developers have generally strengthened their relative standing as investors and homebuyers increasingly favour companies perceived to offer greater stability and government support, while privately owned developers continue to face heightened scrutiny.

Despite ongoing market headwinds, the consultancy said Chinese developers remain central to the global real estate industry, with the sector’s long-term recovery expected to depend on rebuilding buyer confidence, improving market fundamentals, and restoring stakeholder trust.

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The campaign features six prominent personalities from Hong Kong and the region spanning sport, finance, business, and public service, each sharing the belief that informed decisions begin with credible news and trusted reporting. It also expands SCMP’s wider community of 30 influential individuals who have participated in previous editions of the campaign.

Featured personalities include Stephanie Au, a five-time Olympian from Hong Kong; Frederick Chin Voon Fat, head of group wholesale banking and markets at UOB; Christina Gaw, managing principal, global head of capital markets and co-chair of alternative investments at Gaw Capital Partners; Dr Peter Lam, chairman of the Hong Kong Tourism Board; Li Xiaopeng, Olympic gymnastics champion; and Michael T. Smith, group chief executive at Hongkong Land.

Running from 17 June to 31 August, the campaign will appear across print, digital and video channels, alongside out-of-home placements in high-traffic locations, including the Hong Kong International Airport baggage reclaim hall, MTR stations, five “Ding Ding” trams, and various SCMP events.

The campaign is accompanied by a new study conducted by SCMP in partnership with HarrisX, titled ‘The Intersection of Influence’, which examines how audiences engage with trusted news environments and the implications for brands.

Among its findings, the study revealed that 68% of Hong Kong adults consume news apps with full or major focus, the highest level of active attention recorded across digital channels surveyed. Meanwhile, 61% of respondents said news content remains with them long after reading, with the effect even more pronounced among higher-income, highly educated readers and business decision-makers.

The research also found that 70% of business decision-makers feel significantly more positive about brands that advertise or partner with news sources they trust, pointing to the value of trusted editorial environments for marketers seeking to strengthen brand perception.

Commenting on the campaign, Paul Phillips, Marketing Director at SCMP, said, “News is influencing the influential, and that insight drives our new brand campaign, ‘Influence Reads SCMP’, which features our reader and partner communities across Hong Kong, the Chinese Mainland and ASEAN. It celebrates our readers who don’t just read to stay informed; they read to lead, relying on SCMP’s unrivalled perspective about China and Asia. Brands that stand with trusted news media drive lasting influence.”

Meanwhile, Kevin Huang, Chief Operating Officer at SCMP, said the campaign reflects the publication’s long-standing emphasis on trust and editorial integrity.

“Decision-makers read with purpose and act on insight, making them the priority audience for brands. By leveraging highly influential news platforms rooted in editorial integrity, brands can seamlessly align themselves with trusted content to drive deeper engagement. Trust has always been the cornerstone of SCMP, a value that is becoming increasingly essential yet rare today. This study’s findings and our recent brand campaign ‘Influence Reads SCMP’ highlight these fundamental values and the deep-seated trust SCMP shares with prominent leaders and changemakers,” Huang said.

Alex Braun, Chief Strategy Officer and Global EVP at HarrisX, added that the study shifts marketers’ focus from simply measuring reach to understanding audience attention.

“The job is not just to buy more exposure, but to understand which environments create the right kind of attention for the task at hand,” Braun said.

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The findings, drawn from Amperity’s The 2026 Consumer Priorities Report: The New Rules of Loyalty in the Age of AI, examine how generative AI is reshaping the way consumers discover brands, make purchase decisions, and define loyalty. The study is based on a survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers aged 18 to 65 conducted in May 2026 using Pollfish.

The research shows that consumers are increasingly relying on AI tools such as ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini to compare products, plan travel, and evaluate services, placing new pressure on brands competing for attention and loyalty. 

While personalisation remains important to consumers, the report notes that its effectiveness depends on whether experiences are perceived as relevant, timely, and trustworthy.

According to the report, 80% of generative AI users said they use tools like ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini to research products, compare services, or plan travel, while the same proportion said they sometimes or often act on AI-generated recommendations by clicking links, making purchases, or booking services. In addition, 60% of respondents said AI has led them to choose a brand they had not previously considered, while only 23% said they go directly to familiar brands without first considering AI recommendations.

The study also found that 63% of consumers would switch brands for a better offer, underscoring the increasingly conditional nature of loyalty. It added that loyalty programmes, rewards, and consistent cross-channel experiences remain among the strongest drivers of customer retention, although respondents indicated they are typically loyal to only a small number of brands within each category.

On personalisation, 72% of consumers said tailored experiences are somewhat or very important when choosing a brand, while 58% said invasive or “creepy” personalisation makes them less likely to engage. Meanwhile, 78% said they are more likely to interact with personalised experiences when they trust how their data is being used. Consumers also reported growing frustration with irrelevant, repetitive, and poorly timed brand interactions.

Overall, the findings point to a broader shift in how brands compete in an AI-driven marketplace, where consumers increasingly depend on AI tools to surface options and compare offerings. The report suggests that brands will need to move beyond static campaigns and fragmented customer journeys toward real-time decision-making grounded in trusted customer context.

“Consumers are increasingly turning to AI to help them decide what to buy, where to travel, and which brands to trust. That means loyalty can no longer be taken for granted,” said Derek Slager, Co-Founder and co-CEO of Amperity. “In an AI-driven marketplace, brands need more than customer data. They need trusted customer context that helps them recognise intent and respond with relevance in the moments that matter.”

“Personalisation isn’t the goal. Relevance is,” Slager continued. “Consumers are willing to share data when they see value in return, but they expect brands to use that information responsibly and intelligently. As AI becomes a bigger part of how consumers discover and evaluate brands, the ability to act on trusted customer context becomes a competitive advantage.”

The 2026 Consumer Priorities Report: The New Rules of Loyalty in the Age of AI explores how AI is reshaping customer expectations, loyalty, personalisation, and brand discovery across retail, travel, and service industries.

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Called ‘Connected Content’, the framework positions content as an adaptive ecosystem rather than a single creative asset, enabling brands to continuously refine messaging across touchpoints based on audience, context, platform dynamics, and consumer mindset. Instead of focusing solely on consistency, the approach emphasises content continuity to deliver connected brand experiences throughout the consumer journey.

The framework also leverages AI-powered orchestration across creative development, media strategy, audience intelligence, production, optimisation, and performance measurement, allowing brands to tailor content not just to audiences but also to specific platforms and contexts.

Connected Content stems from Omnicom Media’s latest study, which argues that traditional content-at-scale models centred around a single hero asset are becoming less effective as consumer attention becomes increasingly fragmented across platforms, formats, creators, AI-powered discovery tools, and commerce environments.

Findings from the research suggest that static creative approaches are contributing to advertising fatigue and weaker brand outcomes. Among respondents, 78% said a bad advertisement is worse than no advertisement at all, while 32% said a poor advertising experience reflects more negatively on the brand than on the platform carrying the ad. Meanwhile, 52% said better advertising experiences would improve their perception of a brand, and 40% said it would increase their likelihood to purchase.

The study also highlighted the importance of relevance and context in driving engagement. Some 78% of consumers said they connect more strongly with ads that are relevant to the content they are consuming, 84% said they appreciate advertising tailored to specific platforms, and 76% said they feel more connected to ads that appear at the right moment.

Beyond relevance, respondents also indicated that intent and utility influence how they perceive advertising. Seventy-five percent said they connect more with ads that speak to emotions rather than purely commercial motives, while 31% said they care about how an advertisement is made, not just the final output. In addition, 86% said useful information helps them connect with advertising, and 81% said relatable ads strengthen brand affinity.

According to Omnicom Media, the findings point to the need for brands to move away from interruptive experiences and towards more connected, additive interactions. The company said marketers should bring media, creative, production, commerce, and measurement teams together earlier in the planning process and use audience insights and contextual signals to continuously optimise creative experiences.

Nina Fedorczuk, Chief Enablement Officer, Omnicom Media Asia Pacific, said, “The old-school spray-and-pray method no longer reflects the reality of the average Asia-Pacific consumer who is hyperlocal, hyperconnected, and, more importantly, hyperaware of brand motivations. Those of us in the advertising industry must rearchitect the way we ideate, strategise, deliver, and even learn from ads in such a way that they not only fit our target audiences, but our target contexts and moments.”

The research has also informed a series of advertising solutions unveiled by Omnicom Media during the 2026 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Developed with media platforms, streaming services, publishers, and technology partners across APAC, North America, and EMEA, the solutions aim to apply Connected Content principles at scale by aligning creative, media, audience signals, and platform context.

The study forms part of Omnicom Media Intelligence’s ongoing research into advertising effectiveness, media innovation, and emerging technologies. In addition to the US report, local versions of Connected Content: The Force Multiplier for Maximising Brand Influence will be released across APAC, EMEA, LATAM, and Canada.

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According to the study, nearly half (49%) of Asia Pacific travellers use AI to discover destinations and travel ideas as its most common use case, while also utilizing it to gather reviews (41%) and discover local tours and experiences (35%), complementing traditional travel websites and social media.

This suggests that travellers are becoming more deliberate in how they plan holidays amid rising costs and global uncertainty, using AI and digital tools to make trips more practical, flexible, and personalised while reducing uncertainty before they travel rather than travelling less.

Travellers are also increasingly carrying out detailed research before booking, checking accommodation, insurance, visa requirements and local developments before departure, with AI simplifying their planning process by making information easier to access and compare.

Alongside AI, payment confidence has become a crucial part of pre-trip planning, with 33% of respondents citing payment security as their biggest travel concern and 27% worried about card acceptance, which reflects a growing reliance on digital payments as 73% of travellers now carry payment cards or mobile wallets during their trips.

The report also highlights that travellers are balancing careful planning with flexibility. Nearly four in five (79%) book accommodation before travelling, while only 51% secure activities in advance. 

Most dining (72%) and transport (65%) decisions are made after arriving at their destination, allowing travellers to adapt their plans based on local recommendations and experiences.

While planning habits are evolving, Asia Pacific travellers continue to favour destinations closer to home. Around 63% travelled within the region, with Japan remaining the most popular destination, followed by Australia, Thailand, South Korea and Hong Kong. 

Beyond familiar locations, travellers are increasingly planning holidays around food, culture and major live events, with 37% prioritising unique local experiences and one in four travelling for sporting or entertainment events.

“The latest Global Travel Intentions study  affirms the importance of travel to Asia Pacific. Travel is not slowing – it is becoming more planned,  purposeful, and intentional,” explained Danielle Jin, Chief Marketing Officer at Visa Asia Pacific. 

“As digital-first travellers seek familiar sights and plan more practically, what  matters is how destinations, businesses, and issuers enable every traveller to explore the places they love 

in their own way, from using AI to help travellers pursue their passions, values, and aspirations to  delivering secure and seamless payment experiences at every stage of their journeys,” added Jin. 

The findings are based on Visa’s 2026 Global Travel Intentions study, which surveyed more than 47,000 consumers worldwide, including over 17,000 respondents across Asia Pacific. 

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According to Salesforce’s latest State of Marketing report, 87% of marketers in Singapore confessed to running generic campaigns, while 86% said they struggle to respond promptly to customers—well above the Asia-Pacific average of 71%.

The findings, based on a survey of 4,450 marketing professionals globally including 100 respondents in Singapore, suggest that the issue is less about ambition and more about the quality and accessibility of customer data.

In fact, 100% of Singapore marketers surveyed reported facing barriers to personalisation, citing siloed systems, poor data quality, and overwhelming volumes of information as their biggest challenges.

“Singapore marketers are under immense pressure to deliver personalised, real-time experiences, but they’re being held back by the very foundation they’re building on,” said Nipun Sharma, Vice President of Marketing for India and ASEAN at Salesforce.

“When data is siloed and fragmented, AI tools can’t deliver on their promise. As customer journeys become more conversational, brands that unify their data across the customer journey will be better placed to deliver personalisation at scale, and build stronger customer relationships.”

The report found that 80% of Singapore marketers believe customers now expect two-way conversations with brands, where consumers can respond to marketing messages and receive meaningful replies. Yet many teams lack access to the data needed to support those interactions.

Only 61% have complete access to service data, while access drops to 58% for sales data and 57% for commerce data. Artificial intelligence is increasingly viewed as a way to bridge this gap.

Three in four Singapore marketers said they require more personalised content than they are currently able to produce, while 81% are already turning to AI to help scale their efforts, with content personalisation emerging as the leading use case.

However, the effectiveness of AI remains closely tied to the quality of underlying data.

Globally, Salesforce found that marketing teams satisfied with their data infrastructure are 42% more likely to regularly respond to customers and 60% more likely to use AI agents to scale campaigns compared to those dissatisfied with their data foundations.

The study also highlighted how AI is reshaping discovery and customer engagement.

While 77% of Singapore marketers said they struggle to keep pace with shifting consumer behaviour, 53% admitted they have yet to adapt their strategies to the widespread adoption of AI.

At the same time, 84% said AI is changing their approach to search engine optimisation, while 86% have already begun optimising for AI-generated responses on platforms such as ChatGPT and Google’s AI Overviews.

Salesforce noted that high-performing marketers globally are 2.2 times more likely than underperformers to optimise for AI search, underscoring the growing importance of answer engine optimisation as consumer discovery habits evolve.

The findings suggest that while enthusiasm around AI continues to grow, marketers may first need to solve a more fundamental challenge: ensuring the data powering those tools is connected, accessible, and fit for purpose.

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Valued at US$31.8 billion and growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.8%, the market is seeing Malaysians dedicate around 40% of their discretionary spending to wellness, surpassing spending on education. 

However, despite rising consumer interest, many wellness campaigns continue to rely on broad and undifferentiated messaging that struggles to resonate with increasingly goal-driven audiences.

The research points to a growing disconnect between how consumers approach wellness and how many brands communicate it, with people rather adopting more personalised and goal-oriented wellness journeys while much of the marketing in the category still focuses on generic lifestyle messaging that fails to address specific needs or motivations. 

The findings suggest that wellness is no longer viewed as a single category, as consumers are instead organising their habits and purchasing decisions around specific objectives such as eating better, feeling better, moving better and ageing better, creating new expectations for brands to communicate with greater relevance and precision.

Consumer behaviour reflects this growing focus on purposeful wellbeing, with around 61% of Malaysians actively monitoring their food choices, while seven in 10 employees report experiencing burnout, highlighting a significant demand for solutions that address physical and mental wellbeing. 

At the same time, participation in social sports continues to rise, with activities such as pickleball recording substantial growth at 132% as consumers seek both fitness and community.

Trust is also becoming a defining factor in wellness marketing, with more than half of consumers prefer clear and credible claims, with 54% placing greater trust in “all natural” messaging over vague wellness promises. This indicates that consumers are increasingly looking for evidence-backed benefits and practical outcomes rather than broad health narratives.

For marketers, this signals the need to move beyond traditional demographic targeting and adopt a more goal-based approach, creating an opportunity for brands to develop tailored solutions and messaging around specific consumer priorities such as better sleep, improved nutrition, stress management, or mobility rather than speaking to broad audience groups. 

“What this research makes clear is that Malaysia’s wellness market is no longer a broad, abstract space. It is deeply personal and goal driven. Consumers are actively making choices to eat better, feel better, move better, and age better, and they’re expecting brands to support those goals in clear and meaningful ways,” shared Sue-Anne Lim, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at UM Malaysia. 

“The opportunity here for brands is significant, but so is the responsibility. Those who truly understand these evolving behaviours and respond with relevance, credibility, and tangible value will be the ones that lead the next phase of growth in this category,” added Lim. 

As Malaysia’s wellness sector continues to mature, brands that deliver clear value propositions, credible claims, and relevant experiences are likely to build stronger consumer connections, whereas those that continue to rely on broad wellness positioning may find it increasingly difficult to stand out in an increasingly competitive and sophisticated market. 

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The Inside Digital & eCommerce 2026 report from Arktic Fox, Six Degrees Executive, and Amperity found that while 89.1% of retailers consider personalisation strategically important, only 10% believe they have the mature capabilities needed to deliver it effectively. 

Just 12% said they were fully confident their customer and product data foundations were ready to support AI-driven use cases.

The report, based on responses from more than 100 Australian marketing, digital, ecommerce and retail media leaders, points to a widening gap between AI ambition and execution readiness.

“Retailers and brands understand where the market is heading, particularly as AI reshapes how consumers discover, evaluate and purchase products,” said Teresa Sperti, Director, Arktic Fox. “However, many organisations are still operating across fragmented customer data, disconnected systems and siloed teams, making it difficult to turn customer signals into connected, real-time engagement.”

More than 80% of retail leaders said their identity resolution and single customer view capabilities are still developing, while 73.3% described their martech and data ecosystems as only partially integrated.

The challenges extend to omnichannel experiences. According to the report, 83.7% of retail leaders said their ability to enable seamless movement across channels remains underdeveloped, while 77.1% reported immature capabilities in delivering integrated fulfilment and returns experiences.

Retailers identified AI-powered product content creation, search optimisation and AI-driven personalisation as top priorities over the next 12 to 18 months. 

Meanwhile, 57.8% plan to invest in customer data platforms, making CDPs the sector’s leading martech investment priority.

The report also highlighted growing concerns around retail media measurement. While 52.9% of consumer brands plan to increase retail media spending in the coming year, only 4.9% said they have high trust in retail media networks, and 73.2% cited difficulties measuring return on investment.

“Brands are under growing pressure to prove business impact, but many still struggle to connect digital engagement, in-store behaviour and customer outcomes in a consistent and privacy-safe way,” said Billy Loizou, Area Vice President for Asia Pacific at Amperity.

The findings suggest that while retailers are moving quickly to adopt AI and prepare for emerging trends such as agentic commerce, many still need to address fragmented data and measurement challenges before they can fully deliver on those investments.

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